West Virginia, Perez part ways to close twisting chapter
The West Virginia career of Jose Perez might have as many twists and turns as any in recent memory and in the end he would never see the floor for the Mountaineers.
Perez, 6-foot-5, 211-pounds, initially transferred into the program from Manhattan late last-season with the hopes that he would receive an immediate eligibility waiver.
The decision for Perez to leave the Jaspers was because his head coach Steve Masiello was fired just weeks before the season and it prompted him to enter his name into the transfer portal and search for a new home.
Perez was coming off a season where he averaged 18.9 points, 4.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game the year prior and was selected as his league’s pre-season player of the year. That made him an attractive late transfer option for teams and he had plenty of choices to sort through,
That process eventually led him to Morgantown, but a waiver and subsequent appeal would be denied by the NCAA forcing Perez to sit out all of last season. That was a difficult blow, but when his appeal was denied the NCAA gave him a full-season of eligibility if he elected to return the following year.
Still, that was in question as Perez explored his professional opportunities. That doubt was erased at the end of May when he declared that he would return for his final season in Morgantown.
Then head coach Bob Huggins resigned after an arrest for driving under the influence and while Perez didn’t initially enter his name into the transfer portal that decision would eventually come July 5.
After setting up visits to both Michigan and Gonzaga, Perez would surprise yet again by announcing a return to Morgantown July 21 for his final season of eligibility.
The expectation from there was that Perez would serve as a key piece at the two or the three, while making an impact on the floor for the Mountaineers. Turns out, it wasn’t meant to be as interim head coach Josh Eilert announced that the two had parted ways one day prior to the start of October.
There were multiple reports that academic issues were part of the decision, but Eilert’s statement makes things clear that the Mountaineers made this choice. West Virginia decided to move on from Perez despite the concerns on the roster in other spots which is telling on the surface.
While there was a cracked window before, it seems that releasing a public statement from the leader of the program effectively closes that. While we'll never know all the details, it seems that the Mountaineers felt it best to move forward.
Eilert was proud of Perez for graduating from West Virginia but cited student privacy laws in not getting into the details of what unfolded. He did say that he made the best decision for everybody involved.
"I talked about the non-negotiables in the first team meeting and there are a lot of non-negotiables and I wasn't going to compromise the integrity of the program and the culture of the program. That's where I'm going to leave it," he said. "We've got a great group of guys and everybody else is doing everything the right way."
Eilert believes that the decision should empower a lot of the players on the team that before that might have felt they were in the background but now will have an opportunity. That should also provide some confidence to those players as well.
Perez was a player that West Virginia invested a lot of resources into over the past two years and fought to get him back into the fold once he entered the transfer portal this off-season but in the end elected to move onto other options.
West Virginia has some choices on the roster such as Seth Wilson slotting into the lineup or even Josiah Harris filling in at the three, but that will work itself out.
Now, Perez and West Virginia have parted ways before the two ever got any production. A tale that had plenty of twists but results in zero minutes on the floor.
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