The legal fight surrounding Brenen Lorient and Javan Buchanan still has a few checkpoints left, but for now the clock is moving in West Virginia’s favor. With the Mountaineers’ 2026-27 season set to begin in one week, there’s still no final clarity on whether the two players will remain fully in the clear.
What did change this week is that the courts denied a request to speed up the process. The document said: “Upon consideration of appellant’s motion to expedite the briefing and argument schedule, the court denies the motion to accelerate case processing and defers the motion to expedite decision pending assignment to a panel on the merits,”
A briefing schedule has now been set, with the NCAA’s opening brief due November 30th. The response from Brenen Lorient, Javan Buchanan, Jason Chambers and Benjamin McDougal is due December 29th. After that, the NCAA will have 21 days to file its reply.
This follows the NCAA’s October 2nd notice of appeal after the September 30th ruling that granted Lorient, Buchanan, WVU football player Jason Chambers and WVU baseball pitcher Ben McDougal a preliminary injunction.
From a WVU perspective, the refusal to fast-track the case is encouraging. The bigger issue now is whether the district court will issue a stay. If that happens, the outlook changes fast.
Sam C. Ehrlich told West Virginia On SI that the court will “Almost certainly deny a stay first, and it set a schedule that has briefing on that motion done November 2.
So likely a decision there by the end of the first week of November. Assuming it is denied, the NCAA will then refile for a stay in the court of appeals, and then it's hard to say how much time it'll take.”
He also pointed to last year’s case involving WVU football defensive lineman Jimmori Robinson.
“It's almost two full months behind the Jimmori Robinson briefing schedule, so as long as the assigned panel doesn't act extraordinarily quickly, it's looking like both Lorient and Buchanan will be available for the full season... or won't be available at all if a stay is issued.”
For now, Lorient and Buchanan remain eligible. One more important detail: the NCAA cannot enforce its Rule of Restitution against WVU or the players, which means if they take the field and the ruling is later overturned, neither the university nor the athletes can be punished under that rule for relying on the injunction.
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Neal Brown Is Suddenly Back In A Debate WVU Fans Know Well
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For WVU supporters, the question is less about Baylors search than what Browns name still says about his future in the sport. His track record at West Virginia will be part of any serious discussion, but so will what he has done in his current stop at North Texas, where the next move could determine whether he is still viewed as a Power Four fit. [Read more 🡒]