Stephen A. Smith tells West Virginia governor ‘sit yo ass down’ after NCAA legal threat

As Stephen A. Smith continues to mull a future run for president, he jumped into a political spat with West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey Tuesday morning on First Take.

If West Virginia University wasn’t the biggest snub of the NCAA Tournament, they’ve certainly emerged as the loudest and most notable school to be left off the bracket. It’s not just sports fans who were upset by the decision, the governor of West Virginia held a press conference Monday afternoon where he threatened legal action against the NCAA Selection Committee.

And Tuesday morning on First Take, Smith urged Morrisey to find something better to do with his time.

“It’s embarrassing for an elected official to take the position he’s taking…it’s utterly ridiculous, it’s childish and you would like to think our elected officials have something better to do with their time.” Stephen A. Smith on West Virginia Gov Patrick Morrisey pic.twitter.com/WBJTVKBguL

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 18, 2025

“It’s embarrassing for an elected official to take the position he’s taking,” Smith said. “Literally calling for an investigation. You can complain, and he has legitimacy with his complaints. But to go this far and to really, really try to force an investigation, it’s utterly ridiculous, it’s childish and you would like to think our elected officials have something better to do with their time on behalf of their constituency than something of this magnitude. Clearly he does not.”

A sports host calling out an elected official isn’t always notable. But when that sports host might potentially be the future POTUS, it’s especially notable.

Morrisey claims he already asked West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey to open an investigation into the NCAA Selection Committee which is headed by North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham. North Carolina controversially edged out WVU and every other bubble team to slide into the NCAA Tournament.

While Smith agreed UNC’s tournament invite was conspicuous, he wasn’t ready to act like leaving WVU out was a “miscarriage of justice” as alleged by their state’s governor.

“Let’s not act like West Virginia is something to write home about,” Smith said after downplaying their resume. “It’s a rare occasion when it is justified to tell a politician, ‘Sit yo ass down.’ This is one of those situations. Sit yo ass down. This is not something that warrants an investigation.”

Maybe relishing the opportunity to tell a Republican governor to “sit yo ass down” is all the motivation Smith will need to appease his growing base of supporters by announcing his bid as a Democratic primary candidate for president.