The final piece of a chaotic offseason for West Virginia is the waiver of RaeQuan Battle.
After an offseason filled with turmoil, the Mountaineers are closing in on the start of the 2023-2024 regular season. Interim head coach Josh Eilert gave an update on the timeline of Battle’s waiver as well as what he thinks the outcome will be.
“Hope to hear this week,” Eilert said on Tuesday. “They give you a timeframe to work with and they try to, if you meet certain requirements in terms of timelines, try to get that done before your first competition. Hopefully that falls in line and we know before we go out and play someone.”
Eilert seemed to be optimistic when speaking on how he thinks the NCAA will judge his waiver request to play this season.
“I feel like it should be a rubber stamp if you really know his file in terms of what he’s all went through and why he chose West Virginia. There’s a lot of dynamics and a lot of variables to this whole story and I think the NCAA’s going to do right by him at the end of the day and he’s going to be playing for us,” Eilert said.
And if the waiver gets denied and WVU would appeal the decision, Eilert said, “I think most certainly we would.”
If Battle can’t play, they will still have him in the fold Eilert says.
“Worst case scenario he doesn’t get it and we have to do what’s best for RaeQuan. We’re going to keep him involved in everything we do. Keep our thumb on him so to speak in terms of getting better each and every day, staying locked in. I worry about that for RaeQuan because he really does need basketball in his life.,” Eilert said.
Battle spent last season at Montana State, averaging 17.7 points while shooting 46.9 percent from the field. He was named to All-Big Sky Conference First Team as well as the MVP of the conference tournament. Battle is applying to be a two-time transfer, something the NCAA said they are trying to crack down on.
