Geimere Latimer came to West Virginia thinking he was settling into the final stop of a four-year college football run. Now, the nickel back is staring at a different kind of finish line.
Latimer entered the transfer portal on Dec. 16 for the second time in as many years, which would have sent him to a third school in three seasons. Instead, he landed at West Virginia on Jan. 5, reuniting with Rich Rodriguez and Zac Alley after playing for both at Jacksonville State. The move also brought him back alongside a familiar name: his younger brother, Amari, whom the Mountaineers signed in December.
The two hadn’t been teammates since their high school state title in 2022, when Geimere was the starting quarterback as a senior and Amari was a freshman running back. For Latimer, that made West Virginia feel like the right ending.
Then came the twist last month: 2026 might not be his last season after all. Under the NCAA’s new age-based eligibility model, Latimer could have an extra year, since he’s played three seasons in three years and the rule now gives players five years for five seasons.
“We'll see where everything falls and ends up, but I've obviously thought about it, especially being that my brother will be in his second year,” Latimer told EerSports. “I think just being there to be just his mentor and everybody else's mentor as a super senior at that point, it'd be really good. And obviously, if the opportunity presents itself to go to the league, then I'll take that, but I'm not in a rush.”
He’s also looking beyond football. Latimer said he has already met with academic advisors about his MBA and possible options after that.
And he’s not the only one in that position. West Virginia has five fourth-year seniors who could return in 2027: Latimer, fellow nickel back Andrew Powdrell, linebacker Ben Cutter, offensive lineman Cam Griffin and running back Cam Cook.
Latimer said the possibility still feels strange.
“I still haven't come to grips with it,” he said. “All my life, I was just, like, 'OK, you get four years to play in, and that's it.'
But now, it's, like, 'I have a fifth year?' and I still haven't really honestly come to grips with that.”
He’s watched plenty change already. In his three-plus years, eligibility rules have stretched, athletic departments have begun sharing revenue with players, and transfers have become unrestricted. NIL was already around when he left Georgia for Jacksonville State, but he said it has grown so much that college football now looks far more like the NFL than it did only a few years ago.
Of all those shifts, Latimer said the eligibility change matters most. For him, it means more time, more education and more money. For the team, he believes it changes the way players approach the season.
“You take guys who can only play four games, and you have some guys who know they're probably going to redshirt and maybe the motivational factor isn't there for them to practice every day, but that's not the case now,” he said. “I think that just makes us better as a team.
It improves the depth a lot, because now you can take almost any guy on the roster and play them game in, game out, and they're not burning a year. I think that improves us as a team.”
In Other News...
Kalani Sitake Shows Why WVU Country Roads Means So Much
Three years ago, Kalani Sitake found himself in the middle of one of the more memorable West Virginia traditions without fully understanding the fine print. The BYU coach had talked up hearing fans sing Take Me Home, Country Roads at a game, only to later realize that at WVU, the song is reserved for after a win. It was the kind of harmless misstep that sticks because it says so much about how deeply that anthem is tied to Mountaineer football and the atmosphere around it.
Sitake revisited the moment during Big 12 Media Day and handled it with the sort of perspective that tends to play well in league circles. He acknowledged the mistake and made clear he respects what the song means in Morgantown, which is part of why the exchange has lingered beyond the original game. BYU and WVU are not on each others schedule this season, but the next trip to Morgantown is already on the horizon. [Read more 🡒]
WVU Fans Wont Believe What Big 12 Branding Means For Mountaineer Uniforms
The Big 12s new partnership with Monster Energy is about to show up in a very visible way across the league, with the brands patches set to land on football and mens and womens basketball uniforms while logos also appear on fields and courts. The agreement is reportedly worth $20 million and is expected to send about $1 million annually to each conference member, another sign of how aggressively the league is leaning into sponsorship revenue.
For West Virginia, the branding move also opens the door to more local creativity. Athletic director Wren Baker has already mentioned the possibility of pursuing an additional jersey patch sponsorship, and the Mountaineers are actively looking for more revenue streams as college athletics keeps pushing deeper into the commercial space. What that could look like for WVU uniforms is still taking shape, but the conversation is clearly moving beyond conference-wide branding and into school-specific add-ons. [Read more 🡒]
Big 12 Commissioner Just Sent WVU Fans A Powerful Message
West Virginia has spent the spring and summer giving the Big 12 plenty to notice. The womens basketball team won the conference tournament, the baseball program reached the College World Series, and those milestones have only added to the sense that the Mountaineers are building something that travels well beyond a single season. That backdrop made Brett Yormarks comments at media days stand out, because the commissioner was not just acknowledging results. He was signaling that WVUs brand, investment and overall direction are being noticed at the highest level of the league.
For Mountaineer fans, the encouraging part is that the praise went beyond polite conference talk. Yormark pointed to the schools competitive potential and the way its fan base shows up, which matters in a league that values both performance and energy. There is also a broader layer here: West Virginia seems to fit the Big 12s culture in a way that could matter again if the conference landscape shifts, and the optimism around what Wren Baker is building only adds to that picture. [Read more 🡒]