It takes only seconds to change the future.

Fans who live through March Madness know it.

The people of West Virginia University know it.

They know it every time they mark an agreement with a handshake, a breakthrough with an equation, a championship with a three-point shot.

As the University’s women’s and men’s basketball teams head to Connecticut and New York City for their respective Big East Basketball Championship tournaments, WVU will share the stories of people who change the world every day.

This year, the University is offering a chance for you to join the story, too – in 30-seconds or less.

A 30-second video entitled You Want WVU will air throughout the tournament as an invitation for viewers to join WVU in its efforts to change the world.

“It’s really a 30-second proposition about community, tribe and engagement,” said Chris Martin, WVU’s vice president of University Relations.

The fast-paced spot will air on the 16-x-20-foot digital video billboard on Macy’s department store at the corner of 34th Street and 7th Avenue across from Penn Station and on game boards at Madison Square Garden and on the Internet. It will also be shown on regional television broadcasts of the games.

A tournament website also lets visitors post messages for the teams via Facebook, on a site that has connected at least 120,000 WVU fans with the University. And a mobile-friendly version of the site offers phone wallpapers for Android, iPhone, iPod Touch and select Blackberry users.

Beginning at the men’s basketball game against Louisville on March 5 in the WVU Coliseum, fans can use a new smartphone feature – Mountaineer Pulse – which will turn their phones into lit icons.

So this year, as the Mountaineers attempt to write basketball history in March, the WVU nation can join the story _ all in the time it takes to touch a button or watch a 30-second video.

The men’s Big East tournament begins March 8 in New York City and the women’s tournament starts March 4 in Hartford, Conn.

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CONTACT: University Relations/News 304-293-6997

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