A new court ruling could open the door for Brenen Lorient to come back to West Virginia.
On Thursday, 15 basketball players were granted a temporary injunction by Ohio judge Christopher Wagner, giving them the chance to play one more season after their eligibility had expired under the old NCAA rules. The group had already completed four years and met the other requirements under the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility model, but because they graduated in 2025-26, they fell into the one class excluded from receiving that extra year.
The NCAA is not letting the ruling stand without a fight. In a statement released Thursday, the organization said it will appeal.
"The court's decision today is wrong, and we will immediately seek all avenues for reversal, including a stay of the court's order pending appeal. The court disregarded over a century of precedent and substituted its own judgment, on a limited factual record, for the collective expertise of the nation's leading higher education institutions.
The court also based its decision on assertions by plaintiffs’ counsel about the NCAA and its Bylaws that bear no resemblance to reality. The effect of this ruling will be to take away valuable participation opportunities from student-athletes who are eligible to compete, in favor of those who have already received exactly the number of seasons of competition they expected."
Even so, the ruling could spark more players to chase an extra year in court, and Lorient fits the profile. He has four seasons under his belt, and there’s a reason this situation is worth watching in Morgantown. West Virginia still has one roster spot open, and the Mountaineers are also thin at the four, where true freshman Aliou Dioum is the main backup to Javan Buchanan, who needs a waiver of his own to be eligible next season.
Lorient also has a straightforward case for exploring the option. He wasn’t drafted, didn’t land on a Summer League roster and hasn’t signed overseas yet. If he does push for another year and gets it, West Virginia would add the athleticism and perimeter shooting at the four that it currently lacks.
For now, it’s a situation to monitor in the coming weeks and months.
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Larry Fitzgerald Just Took A Brutal Shot At West Virginia
Larry Fitzgerald didnt exactly soften his old rivalry when he revisited West Virginia on a recent appearance on Pardon My Take. The former Pitt star leaned into the long-running Backyard Brawl tension, bringing up the kind of edge that has always made Pitt-West Virginia one of the nastier feuds in the sport and reminding listeners that his biggest moments against the Mountaineers came even when his team didnt walk away with the win.
For West Virginia fans, the comments were another reminder that the Pitt rivalry still has a way of surfacing old wounds, even while the series is on hiatus. The Backyard Brawl is set to return in 2029, and whenever it does, Fitzgeralds remarks will only add a little more fuel to a matchup that has never needed much help getting heated. [Read more 🡒]
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The more interesting part for WVU is how quickly the conversation around this group can change once the live evaluations keep rolling in. Tyndales strong play has only added to the attention around him, and with a visit to Morgantown coming in early September, the Mountaineers have a real chance to deepen that connection. Osaruyi, meanwhile, still brings size and production, but the next round of recruiting talk may hinge on whether his efficiency catches up to the rest of his game. [Read more 🡒]
Rich Rodriguez May Have Found The Answer To WVUs Run Game
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The fit is about more than one back, though. Rodriguez also brought in Jacksonville State offensive line coach Rick Trickett and added linemen Amare Grayson and Cam Griffin, giving the Mountaineers a familiar framework around Cook as he transitions into a new offense. If the run game is going to look the way Rodriguez envisions it, this is the group that will help determine how quickly it gets there. [Read more 🡒]