Following a July 31 ruling in Colorado from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney that all high school class of 2022 athletes to exhaust a fourth season of college eligibility last spring would be granted eligibility for the 2026-27 athletics season, it seemed possible, if not perhaps likely, that Brenen Lorient would return to the West Virginia men’s basketball team.
That is exactly the case, and Lorient is set to play a second season with the Mountaineers and fifth altogether to wrap up his collegiate career. Joe Tipton of On3 was first to report Lorient would return to WVU.
A 6-foot-9 forward who played one season under WVU head coach Ross Hodge at North Texas before following him to Morgantown, Lorient was perhaps the Mountaineers’ most consistent player in 2025-26.
Across 34 games, all of which he started, Lorient was second on the squad with an average of 11.9 points and rebounding at 5.2 boards. Additionally, his 45 blocked shots were more than double the total of the closest teammate and Lorient’s field goal percentage of 54.1 was a team best.
After scoring scoring in double figures nine of his first 19 games, Lorient recorded at least 10 points in 15 straight contests to end last season, including 44 points on better than 66 percent shooting over three games in College Basketball Crown.
“Whatever line of coaching it is, the more ways you can win a game, the better,” Hodge said Wednesday as a guest on 3 Guys Before The Game. “He’s kind of a piece that really gives you that ultimate, you can go bigger, you can go smaller. That’s kind of what he was for us.”
Hodge also noted Wednesday that Lorient completed 9 credit hours over the summer to complete his bachelor’s degree.
“We had talked about prior to whatever the next part of the journey was for him, that was going to be very important to he and his family,” Hodge said. “A lot of cool things are happening as it pertains to him, but a big part of that to me is he’s also a West Virginia graduate now and literally that was yesterday.”
A native of Ocala, Fla., Lorient played his first two seasons at Florida Atlantic and was a member of the Owls’ 2023 team that advanced to the Final Four.
Lorient then opted for a more featured role in 2024-25 and moved on to North Texas. He averaged 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds on nearly 57 percent shooting in 36 games as a reserve for the Mean Green, allowing Lorient to garner American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year and first-team all-league honors.
With Lorient back, West Virginia has filled out its roster of 15 players, though it still awaits word on the status of Boise State transfer Javan Buchanan, who recently filed suit with Lorient in pursuit of a fifth year of eligibility.
Buchanan played his first two years of college basketball at NAIA-level Indiana Wesleyan before spending the last two with the Broncos.