Tony Caridi returned as guest speaker at Inside the Huddle to discuss WVU athletics updates with the audience on Friday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

VIENNA — Play-by-play announcer for the Mountaineer Sports Network, TV host, podcaster and company manager Tony Caridi spoke at the annual Inside the Huddle event on Friday.

Hosted by the Boy & Girls Club of Parkersburg, the event featured Caridi and his inside info on the Mountaineers upcoming seasons in football, basketball, and baseball.

The event started at 5:30 p.m. at the Buzzie Dils Park in Vienna with beer on tap and BBQ for dinner from the North End Tavern catering.

Caridi began his speech by thanking the Boys & Girls Club of Parkersburg for their contributions to the city. All of the funds from their events go directly back to the community.

“This particular event this year is unique because normally we do this later in the summer,” said Caridi.

Kids with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg demonstrated to the crowd a science experiment on how to make slime. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“The reason is because there is so much change going on at West Virginia University.”

Caridi addressed the audience with an overview of upcoming changes in WVU sports. The changes he discussed were followed up with his predictions on player performance and outcomes for the next year.

“There is more going on than ever before in the history of college athletics,” said Caridi. “We’re leaving amateur status and starting July 1 of this year we will become a pay-for-play institution.”

As college athletics ramp up in popularity and demand, the college athletes wanted to be paid for the advertisements and video games that they were being presented in.

O’Bannon v. NCAA changed college sports history when a player sued for not being compensated and challenged the rules of licensing. After a series of similar lawsuits in other cases, the result is revenue pay starting July 1 for college athletes.

Wyatt D., Blake B., and Landly B., spoke about why they joined the Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg at Inside the Huddle on Friday. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“Approximately 75-80% of the $20.4 million will go to football players, approximately 8-10% will go to basketball and the remaining percent will go towards all other sports,” said Caridi.

On average, a Big 12 Conference starting quarterback will make four times more than Don Nehlen did in his final year as WVU’s football coach, which was about $1 million in 2025. Caridi stated that revenue sharing will begin July 1 but the college athletes can receive additional income through sponsorships and booster support.

Caridi said that residents in West Virginia will start to see a professional level of organization such as naming the stadiums and facilities.

Caridi discussed his predictions stating that there will be 75-80 new players on the roster and he had no idea how it would go this season.

After the announcement in 2024 that Rich Rodriquez would be returning as coach at WVU, Caridi said that nothing could be predicted.

Tony Caridi goes in-depth on the changes that will be coming to WVU college sports starting July 1 of this year. His discussion detailed salary increases for athletes as a result of a series of lawsuits over the years. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

“There’s just so many pieces that they’re putting together and how it all ends, we’ll see and we’ll just go along for the ride,” he said.

In terms of WVU basketball, Caridi said that he felt Darian DeVries had originally planned on staying at WVU for longer but he jumped to top of the list at Indiana.

“A couple of weeks ago, JJ Quinerly was drafted, becoming the 11th Mountaineer women’s basketball player to make it to the WNBA,” he said, which earned applause from the audience. “As far as baseball goes, we transitioned from Randy Mazey to Steve Sabins and it’s been an absolutely unbelievable year.”

Caridi concluded his announcements with statements on how different WVU athletics is from other states, because the entire state keeps up with the Mountaineers.

“The greatest victory is that you folks are giving back, continue to do that and continue to change lives,” he said.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg member Kloe H. delivered her speech after receiving a $3,000 scholarship from the club to use towards her college career. (Photo by Amber Phipps)

Caridi has been partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg for about 10 years and said that it’s a good organization with a good mission.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com

Members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Parkersburg used a variety of reactive ingredients to show the crowd how to create slime. (Photo by Amber Phipps)