Details still coming in, but looks like WVU had a heck of a time getting to Minneapolis. The team was supposed to leave early last evening and check into the hotel some time around 10 p.m. Probably earlier. Turns out they didn’t leave until after midnight and didn’t check in until around 4 a.m. In  between? Bowling, Dairy Queen and trying desperately not to turn this into a crutch, an excuse, a burden.

I’m not sure this is the same charter company the team always uses, which would be unfortunate. Then again, maybe it’s the start of something big.

(Update follows.)

(Update) The NCAA covers travel expenses for participating teams and bids out charter costs. WVU always travels Delta out of Clarksburg. The NCAA lined up Miami Air. The Miami plane got stuck in Charleston with a mechanical problem and the needed part wouldn’t arrive until today. WVU independently lined up a Delta plane that came from Atlanta to Clarksburg and took the team to Minneapolis. Instead of leaving at 6 p.m. and arriving at  the hotel at 9 p.m., WVU left around 1 a.m. and got to the hotel around 3:30 a.m.

In the meantime, Director of Basketball Operations Jerrod Calhoun took the players to Dairy Queen, a bowling alley and a movie theater and expensed it all out, including 20 or so tickets to see “Taken.” The coaches, cheerleaders and band members stayed at the airport.

None of the players seems worried or even moderately bothered by this. Huggins, however, was miffed. “It’s unfortunate. In fact … I don’t know what I want to say. I want to be smart here … but that should not happen.”

Hey, speaking of the NCAA, the wireless connection was out of service since before I arrived at 10:15 a.m. CT and just started working. I’m totally lost on the progress of the games. The scoreboards showing the scores and status of games — you can’t do that on television — are several minutes behind. There are two televisions in the work room and they have a closed circuit feed, currently of the unoccupied interview area. The channels must not be changed.

God forbid, though, you come or go with your press pass innocently flipped to where the back is showing. And don’t dare take a beverage out of the media perimeter unless it’s in a Smart Water bottle. And yes, I’ll be pouring a Diet Coke into Smart Water bottle. I may also get kicked out of here.

Good news? Gus is here, though decidedly understated watching the teams practice.