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The University of Southern California and UCLA shocked the sports world two years ago when the schools announced they were abandoning their longtime home in the Pac-12 Conference to join a sports league based in the Midwest – the Big Ten.
That move finally becomes official Friday – a seismic shift that roiled their Pac-12 peers and left behind a digital trail of emails about what happened behind the scenes at UCLA and other Pac-12 schools. As the Big Ten welcomes its new members this week, those records obtained by USA TODAY Sports provide a glimpse into how those initial moves went down (in secrecy), how they were received by other Pac-12 university leaders (flat-footed dismay) and how some West Coast alumni and staff reacted to it (with frustration and anger).
A few of these communications previously were reported in the news media. Others were not. Many weren’t even obtained until this week after they were originally requested in July 2022, shortly after the news of the move broke on June 30, 2022.
What did the emails say?
Among other details, the emails show how then-Pac 12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff had reason to wonder if he had been ghosted on a Zoom call scheduled for that day with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Southern California President Carol Folt amid reports of their schools leaving. The meeting was scheduled for 3:15 p.m. After waiting until nearly 3:20, he sent this message to Block and Folt:
“Carol and Gene,” Kliavkoff wrote. “I am on our zoom call scheduled for 3:15. Please let me know if you are both still able to make this zoom and if I should stay on? Thank you, George K.”
The news had caught Kliavkoff and the rest of the Pac-12 leadership by surprise, forcing some to scramble back from summer travels in order to meet online about what to do next. Not surprisingly, the records also…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/usc-ucla-officially-join-big-100638173.html
Author : USA TODAY Sports
Publish date : 2024-08-02 10:06:38
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