Brenen Lorient is back with West Virginia men’s basketball - at least for now - and the whole thing could turn on a legal fight that is moving fast.
Lorient’s path has already covered a lot of ground. He started his college career at FAU in the 2022-23 season, spent two years there, transferred to North Texas and played for Ross Hodge in 2024-25, then followed Hodge to WVU this past season.
Four seasons. Four years.
Under the old setup, that would have been the end of it.
Then the NCAA changed the landscape in June by deciding players would get five years to use five seasons beginning in the upcoming athletic year. The catch was timing: players like Lorient, who had already used four seasons in four years, were left without a clear path to a fifth season. That ruling has been challenged around the country, and courts have been siding with the players.
Lorient was not part of any lawsuit until last week, when he and teammate Javan Buchanan filed one. A U.S. District Court in Colorado stepped in on July 31 with an injunction that gave Lorient and other players who had just finished four seasons in four years another year of eligibility, at least temporarily.
That doesn’t mean everything suddenly opens up for West Virginia. The ruling did not unlock the transfer portal or allow the Mountaineers to go past roster or spending limits. WVU had an open roster spot, and the program still has to be careful about how Lorient is compensated because there is not much revenue-sharing money left to distribute.
Now the big issue is whether that eligibility survives the next round of court action. The NCAA is appealing the district court decision, and the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is moving quickly on whether to pause the injunction while it reviews the case.
If the injunction is paused, those players would become ineligible again for the time being. The athletes have until Friday to respond, and the NCAA’s reply is due Monday.
So Lorient’s return comes with an asterisk. The courts could still ultimately side with the players, but this week’s ruling could also be short-lived.
In the video above, college athletics attorney Mit Winter discusses the timeline and how likely it is that the affected players will be allowed to suit up this season with 247Sports director of basketball content Kyle Tucker.
In Other News...
WVUs 2026 Backfield Already Has One Unsettling Camp Question
West Virginias 2026 backfield already has a question hanging over it, and it does not involve a depth-chart battle. Freshman running back SirPaul Cheeks is not currently listed on the roster, and his status has become one of the more uncertain parts of the programs summer picture as the Mountaineers sort through the personnel math around a few roster openings and some unresolved eligibility matters.
The timing matters because the staff has been careful about how it manages those spots, with Rich Rodriguez saying he will not push out current players to create room for fifth-year additions or transfers. Cheeks situation has only grown murkier since his ACL injury and the lack of recent updates, even though there had been an expectation he would be back around football activities by late June or early July. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez Nears A Camp Decision West Virginia Fans Are Waiting On
Preseason camp is starting to sharpen the picture for West Virginia, and Rich Rodriguez said the staff will get a better read on the roster after the next scrimmage. The coach has been stressing a simple standard this month: build enough depth so more than one player can win a job at each spot, because the schedule leaves little room for rotation once the games start piling up.
The quarterback race remains the biggest unresolved piece, even as Rodriguez said every quarterback in the mix is capable of running the offense. For now, he is still sorting through the competition and weighing how the depth chart should look before the season settles in, with the upcoming scrimmage set to provide another important checkpoint. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Heads Into The Opener With Key Starting Jobs Still Unsettled
Rich Rodriguez used his final media session before next Wednesday to give West Virginia a clearer picture of where camp stands, even if a few of the biggest jobs remain in flux. The Mountaineers coach touched on position battles, player conditions, eligibility clarifications and the growing roles of transfers and younger players, while also noting the unusual but important transition some players are making into coaching roles as the team sorts through its final preparations.
The one thing Rodriguez did not do was close the door on the uncertainty that still hangs over the opener. With several spots still up for grabs, the staff is balancing development with readiness in a sport where the details matter and the margin for error is thin. For now, West Virginia appears comfortable letting the competition play out a little longer, even if that means fans may not get every answer until they arrive on game day. [Read more 🡒]