30-day window vital to future of WVU’s roster

In wake of West Virginia Basketball coach Bob Huggins resigning, the players have been given a 30-day window to transfer if they wish to do so.

Let’s take a look some of the transfer portal rules and how they apply to the players currently on the roster.

As we know, the transfer portal has been a big talking point in college sports in recent years. The rules about it have been all over the place.

Since basketball is a winter sport, there is normally a 60-day window that players have to enter the transfer portal that begins once the March Madness tournament selections are announced. The deadline for that has past but the NCAA allows a window for athletes to enter the transfer portal afterwards in an event such as a head coaching change.

If it is the player’s first time transferring, they are eligible to play immediately as long as they transfer within the window. After the deadline, the player will need to apply for a waiver, which is not guaranteed from the NCAA. The exception to this rule is that graduate students are eligible to transfer any time before or after the deadline passes.

A waiver is also required in the event that a player wishes to transfer twice in their collegiate career. Again, the exception in this scenario is graduate transfers.

West Virginia’s Jose Perez transferred to West Virginia and applied for a waiver to be able to play in the 2022-23 season but was denied. His coach at Manhattan was fired last October and had that window to transfer, but the NCAA wouldn’t appeal the decision that made him ineligible and Perez sat out the entire season.

For him to transfer again, it would likely be difficult given what happened to him coming to West Virginia.

Two of the guys from this year’s transfer portal’s class, Kerr Kriisa and Jesse Edwards, would be eligible to play immediately at a new school without a waiver since they are not two-time transfers. Each of them has one more season of eligibility remaining.

RaeQuan Battle and Omar Silverio have both transferred multiple times in their career and would need to apply for a waiver if they wish to transfer again. Both are in their final seasons of eligibility.

Kobe Johnson, Seth Wilson, Josiah Harris, and James Okwonko would also be eligible to play immediately at a new school since they have never transferred before. All have two years of eligibility remaining except for Harris, who has three years of eligibility remaining.

Tre Mitchell, Joe Toussaint, Mohamed Wague, and Patrick Suemnick have transferred once before and would need to apply for a waiver if they wish to transfer again. Mitchell and Toussaint have one year of eligibility remaining while Wague and Suemnick have two years of eligibility.

So far, no players have publicly voiced their intent to leave the program. The search for a new head coach at West Virginia is currently under way.