MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’s men’s basketball team currently has 14 players, meaning the Mountaineers are permitted to add one more.
With the eligibility of Boise State transfer Javan Buchanan in flux, the former could be reduced to 13, while the latter could grow to two.
Second-year WVU head coach Ross Hodge confirmed Thursday that Buchanan’s request for a waiver and fifth year of eligibility for the 2026-27 season denied by the NCAA.
“At this point, it’s out of the waiver process completely and the next phase is the legal process,” Hodge said, referencing Buchanan’s right to exercise his legal options. “He doesn’t have a hearing date set or anything like that. Obviously, we’re in communication with him on those things. But that part specifically is kind of through the individual, his representation and you’re allowing them to handle that as much as they can while you’re supporting them in that process.”
A 6-foot-7 forward, Buchanan signed with the Mountaineers in April.
WVU was aware he would need a waiver to be eligible for the upcoming campaign after Buchanan played the previous two seasons at Boise State and two before that at Indiana Wesleyan, a NAIA program.
“The NCAA waiver was denied, which was pretty blanket,” Hodge said. “When the NCAA passed age-based five for five in late June, they did away with the waiver business. If you were going to file waivers, you needed to file them by July 31, but no waivers were being granted.”
The next step for Buchanan?
“Injunctions, TROs and all the fun stuff,” Hodge said.
Should Buchanan — who has practiced with the team — be granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA and gain eligibility for the season, it would leave the Mountaineers with room for one more player.
Depending on the status of those such as Buchanan that are going the legal route to pursue an additional year of eligibility, more players could be in the mix as possibilities to join WVU.
“You never want to say never,” Hodge said. “You probably look to start internally in that manner with players out of that pool that maybe you have some familiarity with that maybe have familiarity with you before you just brought in someone new. There is a chance the landscape or market could get inundated with a lot of talent here late in the summer.”
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Under a new NCAA rule, teams are permitted three exhibition games.
Hodge revealed one for the Mountaineers this season will be played October 17 at Maryland after the two programs clashed in a closed door exhibition at a neutral site in advance of last season.
“We’re going to do a full scale live exhibition at Maryland. Last year, we did the closed door,” Hodge said. “This year, we’ll do the exhibition and there’s some discussion about them returning it back to us next year. You’re looking at creative ways that generate some excitement surrounding the exhibition schedule and opportunities to get better. Really, you’re still open to a lot of ideas and a lot of situations.”
West Virginia has yet to finalize either of its other available exhibitions.
“You’re evaluating all options,” Hodge said. “I would think that given the newness of our team and the opportunity to actually put on game uniforms and play in game environments, that’s what we would probably like to take advantage with on this team.”
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The only player to log minutes last season for the Mountaineers that remains with the program is guard Amir Jenkins.
Late in the 2025-26 campaign, Hodge revealed Jenkins played all of his true freshman campaign with a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
During a February loss at TCU, Jenkins tore the labrum in his right shoulder.
“Amir had surgery on his left shoulder pretty quickly after the season and once he was able to get range of motion to a certain degree, then he had surgery on his right, which was right at the 1st of July,” Hodge said. “So he’s recovering from that one, making good progress on both of those.
“Kind of just checking the boxes — range of motion, then you have to get the strength, then you can get back out there with some non-contact and then eventually make your way all the way back up to full contact with it.”
Jenkins played an average of 16 minutes across 32 contests as a true freshman after enrolling early at WVU. He averaged 3.4 points and had 65 assists and 23 turnovers last season.