MORGANTOWN — Typically, all you see at the start of a basketball game is players hugging each other and leaving the bench, but the five that entered the floor are the starting five.
Seems simple enough for a coach, but there’s a lot more to it than worrying about whether your Sharpie will run out of ink before you’re done writing.
Consider who is attractive and who is not. Consider the style of play you want to use that night, such as whether the other team’s weakness is rebounding or responding to pressure from 3-point shots. You think about the matchup, where your advantage is and where your opponent is.
But Josh Eilert’s lineup for the Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield, Mass., starting at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, will be in the lineup for the University of Massachusetts, which gave him a graduate assistant job at Kansas State when he was just starting out. It was a very fulfilling match with my fellow coach Frank Martin. It’s more complicated than most.
Not only will he be able to get Kerr Kriisa off his nine-game suspension, but he’ll also get Raequan Battle and Noah Farrakhan, further strengthening the squad Eilat had hoped for heading into the season.
“Since Wednesday’s Wheeling court decision, we have had numerous discussions with various parties,” Eilert said in a statement. “But most importantly, we have talked thoroughly with Raequan, Noah, and their families. They want to compete with their fellow teammates and represent West Virginia University on the court. This was their decision to compete. As I said, we will always fully support them and would never hesitate to add them to our active roster. I’m really looking forward to it.”
The players were granted a 14-day temporary restraining order by a federal judge in Wheeling over the NCAA’s ban on the organization’s ban on qualifying undergraduate athletes who transfer for a second time without a waiver. Returned to activity.
They will be eligible to play in the first game of the season, joining top portal acquisition point guard Kerr Kriisa, who is returning from a nine-game suspension for a violation at Arizona prior to his transfer. .
Even though the court allowed them to play, problems developed. The NCAA announced that if it wins the lawsuit after the TRO hearing, it will implement a rule that would count a player’s appearance in one game as having used one year of eligibility.
That decision was left to the schools and players. This year will be Battle’s last year of eligibility.
Of course, Battle was fighting to qualify along with many other NCAA athletes, leading to a courtroom showdown.
On the surface, it seemed like a no-brainer because the court gave them an avenue to play. However, this was more of a mirror trick, and the association later clarified the situation, saying that the school has no problem with these players playing, but if they win in court after playing TRO. He stated that he would lose his eligibility for one year. .
“It’s mainly eligibility,” Eilert said on a Zoom call Thursday. “We play three games in 14 days. If the decision is reversed and (Battle and Farrakhan) play during this part of the season and are ineligible for the year, that doesn’t mean the student-athletes made the right decision. I don’t think so.”
Therefore, decisions had to be made without considering that possibility. That meant we needed input from all corners.
“We need to have a conversation with our student-athletes and their families and our department to figure out what’s best for them and for all of us,” Eilert said. “We want all the facts to be clear to everyone involved before we make these decisions. I think that’s the right way to approach these things.”
It’s a whole different ball game with Battle playing guard alongside Carr and possibly Kobe Johnson, Greg Slazinski and Jesse Edwards up front.
“It’s much faster. We don’t have the depth, so we had to default to slowing everything down to be competitive. We’re still working our way back to Akok Akok in fourth place. We have Noah and Ray. Well, it’s guard depth. We’re going to get some fresher legs,” Eilert said.
“Certainly, when it’s easy for a coaching staff to replace players, it’s easier to hold them accountable for their actions.”
The only question now is how much rust Kriisa and Battle will have after missing nine games, even though both have been practicing with the team all season.
“It could be an issue in terms of getting rid of the rust on game day. They missed nine games,” Eilert said. “Kerr got a chance to play a couple in the closed-door scrimmage (against Vanderbilt) and against George Mason, but Noah and Ray haven’t had that experience in a long time.
“They’re very competitive in practice every day, they’re very rocker, they don’t practice by any means. They’ve been practicing together. They’re not sitting around. I don’t think it’s a big issue. All the signs I’ve got are that the rest of the players are really excited.”