WVU, Purdue talking hoops

MORGANTOWN - The search for another marquee nonconference opponent for the West Virginia men's basketball has reached Purdue. Mountaineers Deputy Director of Athletics Mike Parsons said Wednesday the schools have talked about a two-year home-and-home series beginning this season. "We have had some discussions with them," Parsons said, "but they again, we've had discussions with a lot of people. Nothing is done until it's done." That may be soon, though. ''We're waiting on a contract, as I understand things,'' Coach Bob Huggins said Wednesday night. Parsons said the conversation hasn't spelled out where each game is played - "It could go either way right now," he said. - yet it's probable WVU travels to West Lafayette, Ind., first. The Mountaineers already play host to another Big Ten team, Ohio State, Jan. 23 on CBS as well as Ole Miss from the SEC . Both are the final games of two-game contracts and WVU could use Purdue as an attraction for the 2010-11 home schedule. The Mountaineers are 0-4 all-time against the Boilermakers, who were 27-10 last year and advanced to the Sweet 16, but the teams haven't played since the consolation game of the 1981 NIT. WVU Coach Bob Huggins was 2-0 against Purdue when he coached Cincinnati. ''It's a TV thing, so you have the schools and the Big East and the Big Ten and then TV, too,'' Huggins said. "And when it's during conference play there are a lot of things involved with the schedule. Things aren't easy anymore.'' Purdue is the latest in a line of possibilities for WVU. A previous gentleman's agreement between Huggins and then-Memphis Coach John Calipari for this coming season fell apart when Memphis committed to another televised game. Huggins said last month it would be unlikely WVU and Memphis played in 2009-10 after his friend Calipari moved to Kentucky. The University of Florida then reached out to WVU, but that disintegrated. A proposed game with Gonzaga as part of ESPN's 24-hour long, season-opening marathon also never materialized. That game would have been in the Coliseum and Parsons said WVU would still be interested in being a host in the event. "We're open to it, but I'm not going to say it's got a high probability of happening," he said. "It'd be something unique to play at midnight, but we'd rather play in one of the prime locations of it, not at, like, 3 a.m. I think you'd have a hard time getting much interest in that." WVU will play in November's 76 Classic, in Anaheim, Calif., in an eight-team field including UCLA, Texas A&M, Butler, Minnesota and Clemson. Duquesne and Marshall are the only other nonconference guarantees. --- WVU's FOOTBALL team announced it will play host to UNLV in 2010, extend for two more years the home-and-home series with Maryland that was set to end in 2011 and switch sites for the 20012-13 series with Florida State. The Mountaineers have never played UNLV and are 4-2 against Mountain West Conference teams (3-1 against Colorado State, 1-0 against TCU, 0-1 against Utah). WVU is 23-21-2 against Maryland, but the teams split the eight games from 2001-07 with WVU winning the final four. The series took a two-year break last year so the Terrapins could play a series against the Pac 10' s California. The series with Florida State came out of the settlement of the Big East lawsuit against the ACC in 2005. WVU, which is 0-2 against the Seminoles, will travel to play the Seminoles in 2012 and play host to the game a year later. "We were looking at a situation where before the switch we wouldn't have been guaranteed seven home games (in 2013), which is something we have to have for our athletic department," Parsons said. "We were fortunate to be able to work with Florida State to where now we can guarantee seven." Maybe eight. WVU's series with Marshall ends with the 2012 game. If the series is to resume, the Mounaineers would probably play host to the 2013 game. If the series isn't extended, WVU already has its seven home games covered that season. --- WVU SENIOR forward Da'Sean Butler is one of 15 players invited to try out for Team USA for this summer's World University Games, July 2-12. The training camp is June 16-24 in Colorado Springs, Colo., and 12 players will travel June 25 to the competition in Belgrade, Serbia. "It gives me the opportunity to play against top competition and to help me get better at my game," Butler said in a WVU release. Also accepting invitations to try out for Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan are James Anderson (Oklahoma State), Talor Battle (Penn State), Trevor Booker (Clemson), Craig Brackins (Iowa State), Sherron Collins (Kansas), Mike Davis (Illinois), Corey Fisher (Villanova), Lazar Hayward (Marquette), Robbie Hummel (Purdue), JaJuan Johnson (Purdue), Quincy Pondexter (Washington), Deon Thompson (North Carolina), Evan Turner (Ohio State) and Jarvis Varnado (Mississippi State). Contact sportswriter Mike Casazza at mikec@dailymail.com or 304-319- 1142. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/wvu.