April 24 (UPI) — West Virginia plans to appeal a recent ruling against the state’s transgender athlete ban to the U.S. Supreme Court, the state attorney general announced Wednesday.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who is running for governor of West Virginia, told reporters Wednesday at the state Capitol in Charleston that he will ask the high court to consider BPJ vs. West Virginia State Board of Education after it declined to take the case last year.
“We will be filing, over the next month, and we’re going to make sure we time our filing to maximize the chance this case is going to be heard, and most importantly, that we will win,” Morrisey said.
“This is a significant case to bring to the Supreme Court, and it will potentially set precedent for the entire country.”
Last week, the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked West Virginia’s 2021 ban on transgender students participating on sports teams that match their gender identity, because it violates federal law.
Appeals Judge Toby Heytens said the ban violated Title IX, after the American Civil Liberties Union brought the suit on behalf of eighth-grade trans teen Becky Pepper-Jackson.
“West Virginia’s transgender sports ban’s sole purpose — and its sole effect — is to prevent transgender girls from playing on girls teams,” Heytens wrote in his opinion on April 16. “Offering BPJ a ‘choice’ between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is no real choice at all.”
“Somehow, defying logic, the 4th Circuit majority still concluded that this law was targeted at transgender students. They are wrong,” Morrisey responded.
West Virginia became the seventh state in 2021 to pass a law, banning transgender women and girls from competing on female sports teams under the Save Women’s Sports Act. It requires public schools and colleges to base sports participation on biological sex rather than gender identity. There are currently 24 states that have similar laws in place.
Fairness West Virginia said Wednesday that Morrisey’s statements about transgender youth create a hostile environment, allowing for more bullying and discrimination.
“Transgender women are women, period,” said Jack Jarvis, communications director for Fairness in West Virginia. “If you want to support women, you need to support all women.”
KenPom predicts how West Virginia will fare in Big 12 play
West Virginia has closed out the non-conference portion of their schedule and is now onto Big 12 play.
KenPomery, an advanced statistical website for college basketball, uses efficiency to measure how good a team is. KenPom also predicts how the Mountaineers will do in Big 12 play and the percentage chance they give WVU to win each game.
Overall, KenPom projects West Virginia to go 9-11 in conference play, having them finish the regular season with an 18-13 record. They also give WVU at least a 40 percent chance to win 12 of their 20 games against Big 12 opponents.
The first month of conference play shapes up to be the hardest for the Mountaineers. Out of the 11 losses KenPom projects, five of them come in the first month of conference play. Two games against Houston, a trip to Kansas, and a home date against Iowa State make the first month of the year very challenging.
There are plenty of close games as KenPom gives WVU a 51 percent chance to beat Arizona at home, a 48 percent chance to beat Colorado on the road, and then a 54 percent chance to beat Kansas State on the road.
In WVU’s four projected wins, their average margin of victory is 4.3 points. In their five projected losses, the average margin of defeat is 6.6 points.
In February, West Virginia has eight games, and KenPom projects the Mountaineers going 4-4 during the month.
Their wins include home dates against Utah, BYU, Cincinnati, and TCU. All their projected losses that month come on the road.
The average margin of victory in the month is 4.8 points, while the average margin of defeat is 6.5 points. During February, West Virginia has a three-game stretch, which includes a road game against Baylor (ranked 18th by KenPom), a home date against Cincinnati (ranked 21st), and then a trip back to Texas to face Texas Tech (ranked 13th). This also all comes in a week, spanning from Feb. 15-22.
The month of March is a quick three-game stretch before the Big 12 Tournament begins. However, two of the games take place in the state of Utah, as WVU faces BYU and Utah, both on the road.
The Mountaineers are projected to lose both games, with an average margin of defeat of 3.5 points. Their win over UCF, they’re projected to win by eight points.
Out of WVU’s 10 home games, they are projected to go 8-2, with the losses coming to Iowa State (ranked fifth) and Houston (ranked fourth).
Out of WVU’s 10 away games, they are projected to go 1-9, with the lone win coming on the road against Kansas State (ranked 90th).
All Big 12 teams are ranked 104th or better, and out of the 16 teams, 14 are ranked inside the top 76. Nine teams are ranked inside the top 48, and WVU’s current ranking of 48th by KenPom is ranked ninth in the league.
The Big 12’s overall rating is +17.19, according to KenPom. That ranks third out of all conferences as the SEC (+20.10) is first, and the Big Ten (+17.39) is second.
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Western Illinois wide receiver Matthew Henry has been in contact with West Virginia and is working on setting up an official visit to Morgantown.
Henry, 6-foot-1, 175-pounds, is coming off a season with the Leathernecks where he hauled in 64 passes for 1,211 yards and 6 touchdowns.
He previously spent two years at DII Livingston where he was productive with 66 catches for 840 yards over two seasons.
The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) announced that hunters harvested 17 percent more fall turkeys in 2024 compared to last year.
“West Virginia is truly a top destination for turkey hunting, and our thriving turkey populations are a testament to the success of sustainable wildlife management,” WVDNR Director Brett McMillion said. “These efforts ensure that hunters, whether seasoned or just starting out, can continue to enjoy abundant opportunities for years to come. We encourage everyone to experience the incredible hunting opportunities our state has to offer by purchasing a 2025 license and planning a trip in the new year.”
According to preliminary hunting data from the WVDNR’s electronic licensing and game checking system, fall turkey hunters harvested 1,130 birds in 2024 compared to 967 birds in 2023. The fall 2024 harvest was also 17 percent above the five-year average of 968 birds and similar to the 10-year average of 1,132 birds. Although fewer counties have a two-week season this year due to a lower spring harvest, the fall harvest was consistent with long-term averages.
Click here to download West Virginia’s 2025 fall turkey harvest numbers by county.
Fall turkey harvest numbers are influenced by hunter participation, but also depend on the current year’s brood production and mast conditions. This year’s brood survey results were 4.5 percent above last year’s and 5.1 percent above the five-year average, indicating that the 2024 harvest might be slightly above last year’s harvest.
Five out of six districts reported increased fall turkey harvest compared to last year. District 3 had the highest harvest with 289 birds, followed by District 1 with 191, District 4 with 180, District 2 with 169, District 5 with 160 and District 6 with 141.
Counties with the most harvests were Randolph County with 77, Nicholas with 66, Greenbrier with 57, Pocahontas with 53 and Mason with 41. All of these counties except Mason County had a four-week season.
All hunters 15 and older are required to have a valid West Virginia hunting license and valid form of identification while hunting, which can be purchased at license agents across the state or online at WVhunt.com.
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