John Marinatto stepped down as the commissioner of the Big East Conference on Monday morning, and the conference has issued a statement including quotes from Marinatto himself on why he elected to step down, and why he chose this particular moment to do so. You can fin the entire statement here on Big East Coast Bias.
"I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish and would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank both our membership and my staff for their unwavering encouragement, support and loyalty -- especially during this past year. I am extremely confident about the future of this league that I love very much."
The statement, as expected, makes it seem like Marinatto made the decision to resign on his own, but speculation from other sources seem to believe that Marinatto was forced out after the way he handled some of the bigger changes in the conference over the past few years.
Two officials in Big East told me Marinatto being forced out was a long time coming after expansion/TV mess.
— Kelly Whiteside (@WhitesideUSAT) May 7, 2012
More on this particular angle as it develops.
For more on this story and how it will affect the Pitt Panthers during their last few months in the conference, please head over to Cardiac Hill and Big East Coast Bias.