West Liberty, aptly named the Hilltoppers at 16-0 overall, 12-0 in the WVIAC and No. 1 in all of Division II basketball, was the alleged sighting of erstwhile WVU players earlier this week.

That might be true — and it might not — but neither Noah Cottrill nor Dan Jennings is going to be a part of the WLU program.

“That rumor has been circulating pretty regularly,” said Crutchfield, who is 158-39 in his seventh year at the school. “I have no idea where it came from. I never talked to them, never seen them here and nobody said they saw them here.

“It’s one of those things, somebody said something and it progressed.”

The Jennings story is just bizarre. After some malcontentedness in spots this season, he left the team in Sunday’s game.

Coach Bob Huggins clarified how it happened. He said Jennings never came out of the locker room after halftime rather than join the team, warm up, watch a little and then leave the bench early in the second half.

Then again, the details are a little foggy. “I was trying to win a game,” he said.

Jennings said goodbye with a message he scribbled on a dry-erase board and eventually left the Coliseum. Assistant coach Larry Harrison met with Jennings later in the day.

Jennings is still on campus and Huggins said the two have spoken since the incident, but I have no reason to believe there will be any reconciliation and return.

Maybe a reconciliation. Not a return.

I’ve been told Jennings is working with the staff to find a new place to play and Jennings, early in the process, wants to stay at the Division I level.

Something to keep an eye on: Jennings was offered by a lot of Big East schools. The Big East forbids intra-conference transfers in football and men’s and women’s basketball.  WVU can block a transfer, too, which makes the way Jennings left matter a little more.