Interview: Greg Swaim

Recently, I reached out to Greg Swaim for an interview regarding the saga that’s WVU attempting to escape the Big East Conference for the greener pastures of the Big 12. However, there’s a big court battle because BE Commissioner John Marinatto is acting like the batsh*t-crazy, clingy ex girlfriend.

Swaim has been very accurate on WVU’s move to the Big 12, and seems to have “inside information” regarding when WVU will move to the Big 12 (spoiler alert: 2012), when the lawsuit will be settled, and which schools are next on the Big 12’s wish list.

A little bit about our guest, from his website: Greg Swaim is the director of BigTime Sports, the BigTime Tournaments and the Greg Swaim Recruiting Service, a national recruiting service subscribed to by over 600 Men’s and Women’s College Programs from all levels across the country. Swaim hosts the daily syndicated Greg Swaim Radio Show, in which he hosts many of the top names in sports and the BigTime Sports Television Show. Swaim also regularly makes guest appearances on over thirty radio stations across the country. Greg is also a member of both the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and Football Writers Association of America (FWAA).

Without further ado, we now go to our interview with Mr. Swaim, after the break. We’d like to thank Mr. Swaim for taking time out of his busy schedule for doing this interview with us.

Jim, HailWV.com: When did you first hear or get wind that the Big 12 was considering WVU, and other than WVU AD Oliver Luck’s connections with Texas AD DeLoss Dodds, what prompted Chuck Neinas & the rest of the Big 12 higher-ups to consider WVU for the conference?

Greg Swaim: When it became apparent that both Texas A&M and Missouri were leaving the Big 12 for the SEC, there was talk that the conference wanted to get two programs to replace them that were more successful. West Virginia had been mentioned to be in line for either an SEC or ACC invite, and right away it seemed like the Mountaineers were the team (other than BYU) which we kept hearing. When the SEC formally accepted Missouri then WVU was the top choice right away, and WVU was the one school that Texas also seemed to like.

Jim: You’ve been hanging on to your position of WVU in the Big 12 in 2012. Elaborate on why you believe you will be right, and Big East Commissioner John Marinatto will be crying next season when he sees WVU matching up against the likes of Texas, Oklahoma St, Kansas St, etc.

GS: While I can’t give away all of my sources, all of them were very confident that WVU would be the team with the guts to call the Big East bluff on the 27-month deal. The Big 12 needed a team for the 2012 season to replace Mizzou, and they not only were the choice of the Big 12, but Oliver Luck said they would get it done, and everything says it will get done soon. While I was at the Fiesta Bowl a lot of national guys who were previously saying that WVU would be in the Big East for 2012 are now also beginning to change their tune.

Jim: Who is next on the Big 12’s wish list to go back to 12, as well as eventually get up to 14 and 16?

GS: Louisville, Cincinnati, Rutgers and USF have been mentioned most often, and BYU is still an outside shot. It’s all about football and TV markets. The one thing I hope is that the Big 12 never makes the mistake of taking schools in only one sport like the Big East did.
Editor’s note: Notre Dame

Jim: WVU was supposed to be announced to the Big 12 conference earlier than they actually were, then Louisville caused an 11th hour trip-up for WVU and the Big 12, and Pete Thamel of the NY Times reported KY Senator Mitch McConnell was the man orchestrating it. Can you comment on what actually happened with that Louisville trip-up?

GS: The Big 12 was only going to take one more for 2012 and WVU stepped up to the plate first to do whatever it took to join for 2012.

Jim: Finally, we gave Mr. Swaim an “open mic” to add any other details regarding the WVU/Big East lawsuits and the move to the Big 12.

GS: Everything I’m hearing is WVU in the Big 12 for 2012, and that will be the beginning of the end for the Big East, as the top current schools are wanting to leave, while the programs they’re adding bring less value.

We’d like to thank Mr. Swaim for answering our questions. You can check him out at GregSwaim.com, follow him on Twitter: @GSwaim, and you can hear him on The Greg Swaim Radio Show, now in its 13th season, airs each weekday from 5-6pm (EST) on the BigTime SportsRadio Network, as well as Pioneer DTV Channels 150 and 152, and streaming worldwide online at GregSwaim.com through SportsRadio 97.7 FM.