Calvalry Arrives For Mountaineers For Upcoming Trip To UMass

Kriisa, Battle, Farrakhan Available Saturday

MORGANTOWN -- Normally, all you see is the players hugging each other and heading off the bench at the start of a basketball game, the five who enter the floor are the starting five.

Seems simple enough for a coach, but a lot more goes into it other than wondering if your Sharpie will run out of ink before you finish writing it out.

You go over who's hot, who's not. You look at the style of play you want to use that night, about whether the other team's weakness is rebounding or handling pressure of 3-point shooting. You think of matchups, where your advantage may lie, where the opponents may lie.

But Josh Eilert's lineup for Saturday's 6:30 p.m. Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass., against UMass and his coaching buddy, Frank Martin, who gave him a graduate assistant job at Kansas State when he was just getting started, was a lot more complicated than most.

He will not only have Kerr Kriisa available off his nine-game suspension, but will have RaeQuan Battle and Noah Farrakhan, making them more the team that Eilert had hoped to have coming into the season.

"We have had many conversations with a variety of parties since Wednesday's court ruling in Wheeling," Eilert said in a statement. "But most importantly, we have had extensive discussions with RaeQuan, Noah and their families. They have expressed their desire to compete with their fellow teammates and represent West Virginia University on the court. This was their decision to compete. As I've said, we will always fully support them and certainly look forward to having them on our active roster."

The players return to action after the NCAA was hit with a 14-day temporary restraining order by a federal judge in Wheeling of the organization's ban against giving eligibility to undergraduate players who transfer a second time without a waiver.

They will join top portal acquisition, point guard Kerr Kriisa, back from a nine-game suspension for transgressions at Arizona before he transferred, in being eligible for their first games this season.

The problem developed even though the court cleared them to play in that the NCAA said that if it won its court case after the TRO hearing it would enforce its rule that says if a player plays in one game it counts as a year's eligibility used.

That tossed the decision to the school and to the players. This is to be Battle's last year of eligibility.

Battle, of course, has been fighting to gain eligibility along with a number of other NCAA players, leading to a showdown in a court of law.

On the surface it seemed like a no-brainer, since the courts had cleared the way for them to play. But that was more a trick with mirrors, for the body later clarified the situation, saying that there would be no problem for the school if those players played but that should they win the court case after the TRO playing would cost them a year of eligibility.

"It's mainly the eligibility," Eilert said during a Zoom call Thursday. "In 14 days, we play three games. If the decision is overturned and (Battle and Farrakhan) play during this course of the season and they lose that year of eligibility, that doesn't seem like we made the right decision by the student-athlete."

So the decision had to be made in the shade of the possibility, meaning they needed input from everywhere.

"Those conversations will have to be had with those student-athletes and their families and our department to figure out what's best for them and for us, as a whole," Eilert said. "I want all the facts laid out for everybody involved before making those decisions. I think that's the right way to approach these things."

With Battle at guard alongside Kerr and probably Kobe Johnson, Greg Slazinski up front with Jesse Edwards it's a whole different ball game, so to speak.

"It's a lot faster. We had to by default slow everything down to be competitive because of our lack of depth. We're still transitioning Akok Akok back at the 4 position. If we have Noah and Rae, that's depth at the guards. We will have fresher legs out there," Eilert said.

"Certainly, it's easier for the coaching staff to hold guys accountable for what they are doing out there when it's easier to replace them."

The only question now is how much rust Kriisa and Battle will carry with them from missing nine games, although both have been practicing with the team all season.

"In terms of getting that game-day rust off could be an issue. They missed nine games," Eilert said. "Kerr got a chance to play a couple with the closed door scrimmage (against Vanderbilt) and against George Mason, but Noah and Rae haven't had that game-day experience for quite some time.

"Those guys have been ultra competitive and ultra locker in practice every single day, not going through motions in any means. They have been practicing together. It's not like they've been sitting out. I don't see that as a big issue. Every indication I've had is the rest of the guys are really excited."