Plans are in place if the status of Brenen Lorient, Javan Buchanan change
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MORGANTOWN - With the eligibility cases for WVU forwards Javan Buchanan and Brenen Lorient still in flux, WVU head coach Ross Hodge said Wednesday there will be a plan in place to cover just about any scenario.
Both Buchanan and Lorient were granted relief by United States District Court Judge John Preston Bailey on Sept. 30 against the NCAA's rule barring them from seeking a fifth year of college eligibility.
"I feel pretty good now," Buchanan said. "Over the summer, it was a little bit challenging, because we didn't have all the stuff in place. It's been good. I've felt like I've been on this team the whole time."
As of now, based on Bailey's ruling, both players are eligible to practice and play for the Mountaineers. They will both be in action when WVU travels to Maryland at 3 p.m. Sunday for the Mountaineers' first exhibition game of the season.
The NCAA filed a Notice of Appeal on Oct. 2, though, putting their eligibility back into focus once the appeal is heard.
The appeal is scheduled for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va. Hodge confirmed no date has yet been set for that hearing.
"You had a pretty good feel for what was going to happen," Hodge said. "You knew (the NCAA) was going to appeal it, but that's been their standard of operating. It wasn't like, 'Oh my gosh.' "
Both players are from the high school Class of 2022. Athletes from that graduating class did not get approval by the NCAA to receive a fifth year of eligibility when the NCAA passed its "5 for 5" rule on June 23, which set off a flurry of court cases around the country.
Buchanan is also arguing that since his first two seasons of college were played at the NAIA level (at Indiana Wesleyan), those seasons should not count toward his years of Division I eligibility.
There is a precedent set in the college ranks for that argument, as Ole Miss quarterback Trnidad Chambliss was granted a sixth year this season after he spent four years at the Division II level at Ferris State (Mich.), before transferring to Ole Miss in 2025.
Lorient's situation is different, as he spent four seasons playing at the Division I level - at Florida Atlantic, North Texas and WVU - but he played all of 70 minutes as a freshman at Florida Atlantic. Part of Lorient's argument is that limited amount of experience as a freshman should not count against his eligibility.
Until something changes in the case, Hodge said his immediate plan is to continue to treat Lorient and Buchanan as players who will be ready to play throughout the season.
Depending on when the appeal is actually heard in Richmond, and if the NCAA were to win that appeal, it's possible both players could then be ruled ineligible in the middle of the season.
"It would be disingenuous to get up here and say, "I've never even thought about that,' " Hodge said. "If that were to happen, it would be devastating. It would be devastating for them and their families."
Hodge referred to that possible scenario as a "nightmare," but if it were to come into play that WVU would be prepared as much as possible.
"If something like that were to happen, you would almost just have to treat it like an injury," Hodge said. "You can never fully prepare for an injury, but that's how you would have to treat it."
Hodge fully supports the cases of both players and believes both forwards have strong arguments to receive an extra year of eligibility. His ultimate hope is that some type of agreement could be reached and the appeal is never heard.
"I still think there are parts of all of us that hope somewhere along the line that cooler heads can prevail," Hodge said. "It is happening. It's happening in football.
"It feels like on some level, like OK, whatever has happened up to this point - and both sides have kind of dug their heels in - let's take a step back. Some of the arguments (by the NCAA) that were initially being made in the summer, as in if they grandfathered the Class of 2022 kids in, that it was going to take away from high school kids. That was a big argument. That argument is gone. These guys are on rosters. They're in school. They're on teams. The only people being hurt by this point in time would be them."