West Virginia head coach Josh Eilert was disappointed, but not shocked that the immediate eligibility waiver for transfer guard RaeQuan Battle was denied by the NCAA.
But the Mountaineers aren’t waiving a white flag on the issue yet.
As outlined in the initial release, West Virginia will appeal the decision and Eilert is optimistic that a set fresh of eyes on the file could be what is necessary to get Battle onto the floor.
“It seems like a lot of these are being denied and then seems like your success rate has a lot more to do with the appeal process. I thought there were no holes in it, and it was pretty much a sure thing for RaeQuan, but I am still optimistic that they are going to do right by him,” the head coach said.
The NCAA provides feedback on the denial, but it isn’t much. So, the Mountaineers must now chart a path with the appeal to have it successfully approved.
West Virginia planned to meet Wednesday afternoon in order to figure out the game plan of working through the appeal, but Eilert admitted that there is no definitive timetable on how long that process could take. The hope is that it’s sooner rather than later with the focus getting in their part of the appeal as quickly as possible to jumpstart that decision.
“It's more of a fresh set of eyes, a group of your peers than really the NCAA on their people on the inside. It’s a group of your peers that looks at the appeal process. There’s not a lot that changes as far as the file. Certainly, you put another stamp of your summary on it, and you submit it,” Eilert said.
Eilert has been having conversations daily with Battle and while getting him on the floor is important for West Virginia, it’s even more so for the senior guard given the structure it provides.
“RaeQuan is such a great individual and a great teammate and a very, very positive person despite all the challenges he’s had in his life. RaeQuan needs basketball in his life, he really does. To not be able to compete and if he loses some of that optimism, I worry for him,” Eilert said.
West Virginia has made references to the story that brought Battle from Washington to Montana State to Morgantown, but Eilert didn’t want to touch on it because it wasn’t his story to tell. Instead, he admitted that Battle will need to tell that soon and get it out there what has brought him to this point.
“I think that needs to happen,” he said.
West Virginia has made it clear that they are in Battle’s corner and regardless of how this appeal process unfolds they will continue to be. While he still has a redshirt season and would be eligible next year if it is ultimately denied, it isn’t something that the two have discussed.
That’s because Eilert believes that they will be able to navigate the process and Battle will indeed be suiting up for the Mountaineers this season although it’s unclear when.
On the floor, West Virginia has been operating the entire time under the assumption that Battle might not be available to start, and it’s allowed the coaching staff to give more reps to players that might not have received them if he was cleared from the get-go.
There simply isn’t one player on the floor that can replace what Battle brings to the table so while he isn’t eligible it’s going to come down to a group effort in his absence. And that is on both ends of the floor as on top of being able to create his own shot on offense, he is the most athletic defender.
Still, Eilert again placed the focus on the person instead of the player.
“I can be selfish about this whole thing yeah, I need him, our team needs him, we’re a lot better ball club with him but for Rae personally he needs basketball in his life. That’s what I worry about the most, his mental health and not having that competition. It’s a sad situation,” Eilert said.
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