MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A U.S. District Court judge's decision on Wednesday provided a ray of light for
RaeQuan Battle in his quest to play his final year of college basketball for West Virginia University during the 2023-24 season.
But there are still plenty of clouds surrounding the situation, as evidenced by WVU's cautious statement released yesterday following the court's 14-day restraining order on the NCAA's transfer waiver process.
Noah Farrakhan
"We are aware of the ruling today handed down by Judge John P. Bailey of the United States District Court for Northern West Virginia," the statement began. "We are consulting with WVU's General Counsel along with outside counsel prior to making a determination on the eligibility status of any of our student-athletes. We will discuss this with our student-athletes to make the best decision possible taking into consideration the potential consequences of our decision."
Basically, for the next two weeks, players who have been denied a transfer waiver can compete at their own risk until a permanent ruling is made near the end of December. The tradeoff is the potential loss of a season's-worth of eligibility if Wednesday's ruling is overturned.
Regarding West Virginia, it not only impacts Battle, a two-time transfer who has not yet earned his bachelor's degree, but also Eastern Michigan transfer guard
Noah Farrakhan, who is currently sitting out this year as well.
Battle was considered one of the top prospects in the transfer portal last spring after averaging 17.7 points per game at Montana State and having several schools pursue his services before he signed with West Virginia. One of the reasons Battle listed for transferring during a recent video posting that has received more than 2.5 million views is the fact that his coach at Montana State, Danny Sprinkle, took another coaching job at Utah State.
"I never wanted to leave Montana State," Battle said in the video. "Good things happen to good people. Coach Sprinkle was offered another job. At Montana State, it felt like it was me and him and without him, that kind of forced me to enter the portal."
West Virginia coach
Josh Eilert is seeking more clarity before making a decision on whether or not to play Battle and Farrakhan in Saturday's game against Massachusetts in Springfield.
"Selfishly, both can really help us, but we've also got to think about the student-athlete and how that affects their overall eligibility," Eilert said earlier today. "RaeQuan has got one year of eligibility left and Noah has two. Those conversations must be had with those two and their families to figure out what's best for them and us as a whole as a program."
To be clear, the court ruling does protect institutions who chose to play those who currently have been denied transfer waivers for the next two weeks, but it is not clear what that means for future eligibility status of the individual players, which is why WVU is proceeding cautiously.
"In 14 days, we play three games," Eilert said. "If the decision is overturned and they played during the course of the season and they lose that year of eligibility, that doesn't seem like the right decision was made. I want all the facts to be laid out for everybody involved before we make those decisions. That's just the right way to handle things and approach things."
Eilert is hopeful word will come from the NCAA soon on how to proceed, but that's not a guarantee. The NCAA could let this go until the court revisits the issue in a couple of weeks, which could put the eligibility status of those who played last night such as UNLV's Keylan Boone in jeopardy.
Boone had an important role in the Runnin' Rebels' 79-64 upset victory over eighth-ranked Creighton with his 10 points and six rebounds.
"I know several schools played their student-athletes last night while others sat them out, so we're still in limbo trying to figure out the answers to those questions," Eilert said.
Battle's court case has made him the face of the NCAA transfer waiver process, much like Curt Flood was once the face of professional sports free agency in 1970 when he challenged Major League Baseball's reserve clause. Flood's lawsuit was unsuccessful and didn't turn out well for him, but it did lead to the reserve clause's demise when it was eventually struck down by an arbitrator in 1975.
Josh Eilert
Eilert is fully aware that Battle is sticking his neck out for the right to play college basketball this season.
"I'm really happy for Rae and the courage it took for him to pursue his eligibility status by testifying," Eilert said. "You've heard me say all along that RaeQuan should be playing basketball, and I firmly believe it's very important to him and his mental health. I think he's met the criteria for immediate eligibility.
"He's done this with so much class and integrity," Eilert added. "It took a lot out of him and his mental state. Having that courage to go up there and testify and put himself out there … it took a lot out of him. I think nerves kind of got to him and he didn't feel all that well and spent the rest of the evening resting."
Naturally, what has transpired over the last 24 hours has become a much bigger issue than
RaeQuan Battle wanting to finish his college basketball career this season playing for the West Virginia Mountaineers.
Eilert is not sure choosing the legal system was Battle's intention before his second transfer waiver appeal was denied last month.
"This is not the route he chose," Eilert explained. "Through the whole process, I said this was an open and shut case. I thought it would be a rubber-stamp issue from the NCAA with the specifics of this particular case.
"By no means did I think RaeQuan wanted to push this thing this far, but he's fighting for what he believes is right, and I'm here to support him," Eilert said. "Does he want the attention? I don't think he does, but I'm here to support him in his quest to fight for his rights in a court of law."
A preliminary injunction hearing is set for Wednesday, Dec. 27, when Bailey is expected to make a more permanent ruling.
Six other states joined West Virginia to file a lawsuit over NCAA transfer rules and that was combined with Battle's case, which is why it's being adjudicated in West Virginia.
3:55 Update: According to a tweet sent out by Ross Dellenger, an athlete who competes in a game over the next 14 days will lose a season of eligibility if the court's ruling is reversed.
