Hodge Calls Brenen Lorient, Javan Buchanan's Fight for 5th Year a 'No-Brainer'

The NCAA is appealing the court's preliminary injunction, but Ross Hodge feels good about his two guys in question.

Mar 3, 2026; Manhattan, Kansas, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Ross Hodge reacts to a play during the second half against the Kansas State Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

We are only ten days away from West Virginia opening its season against Niagara, and yet we are still unsure of whether or not the Mountaineers will have forwards Brenen Lorient and Javan Buchanan for the entire season.

Last month, the two teammates were granted a preliminary injunction, granting them a fifth year of eligibility. Just a few days later, the NCAA called for an appeal of the ruling, as expected. Both players can play, though, and if the decision is eventually overturned, the Mountaineers will just have to treat it as an injury. Neither the players nor the program will be penalized for them playing.

During Big 12 media days, WVU head coach Ross Hodge was asked about players fighting for a fifth year of eligibility, stating, “On my end, it’s pretty simple. If it’s in that clean fifth-year window that we have already stated that this would be afforded to really basically anyone not in the 2022 class, that’s where it gets hard to fit and hard to explain to their teammates. Like, you’re in the same locker room, and this guy is going to get the fifth year, but you won’t. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. I think most people would agree with that. In particular, what’s at stake associated with college athletics: you’re talking about life-changing money potentially and opportunity that could shape different generations of these young guys’ lives and their kids and their kids’ kids.”

When it comes to Lorient and Buchanan in particular, he seems to feel pretty confident that he will have those two for the entirety of the season. Well, I should say confident in the case that each of them have.

“Javan Buchanan played a couple years of NAIA basketball, where the precedent has been set that through previous legislation that if you had a couple of non-NCAA years, then the waivers were available for people in his situation. Brenen Lorient played 73 minutes as a freshman only, and both those guys are in their fourth-year window. So again, it’s those it’s like a no-brainer to me. Outside of that, I don’t have a strong opinion on some of the other stuff because it just doesn’t impact me. But at this point in time, it makes the most sense to allow the class of 2022 to play.”

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