MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia team looking for a boost following three straight losses to begin Big 12 play got undesirable news Wednesday before its 7 p.m. matchup with Baylor.
The school announced 6-foot-5 transfer guard Jose Perez had his appeal for a waiver denied by the NCAA and is not eligible to play this season for the Mountaineers.
Perez transferred from Manhattan immediately after the Jaspers parted ways with previous head coach Steve Masiello less than two weeks out from this year’s season opener.
Perez committed to West Virginia on October 30, just eight days before the Mountaineers’ season opener. He enrolled November 17 for the spring semester. It was immediately known Perez wouldn’t be able to play through mid-December and the end of the first semester.
On December 16, the NCAA denied West Virginia’s waiver request for Perez to be immediately eligible.
That day, WVU head coach Bob Huggins said, “We are disappointed by the news that we received this afternoon from the NCAA. All of Mountaineer Basketball is hurting for Jose. We plan to appeal this decision.”
There was thought that Manhattan did not back the waiver, though the school denied that in a public statement.
“Manhattan College completed all of the required NCAA transfer forms requested by West Virginia University in a timely manner and did not object to Jose Perez’s waiver application. All further questions should be directed to WVU and the NCAA,” the school said.
West Virginia then filed an appeal that led to Wednesday’s ruling.
Perez was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Player of the year at Manhattan after he averaged 18.9 points, 4.5 assists and 3.2 rebounds last season.
A native of the Bronx, N.Y., Perez previously played his first two seasons at Gardner-Webb and then one at Marquette.
He was granted immediate eligibility upon transferring to both Marquette and Manhattan.
Over 97 career games, 76 of which Perez started, he averaged 15.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
Perez has been permitted to practice with WVU since December 17 and still has one season of eligibility remaining should he opt to play a fifth year of college basketball.
During his media session Tuesday, Huggins was asked how quickly Perez could potentially fit in if he was deemed eligible to play the remainder of this season.
“I’d be totally shocked if that happened and that it’s taken them as long as it’s taken them,” he said. “It’s totally ridiculous. You’re messing with a young man’s potential livelihood and this kid has done everything humanly possible for him to do and it hasn’t changed. I don’t know what the answer to that question is. He hasn’t been in a scrimmage. He hasn’t played defense against the offense. He played a lot of offense against the defense.”