By ADAM ZAGORIA
The NCAA has denied the appeal by West Virginia guard Jose Perez and he remains ineligible to play this season, a source with direct knowledge told ZAGSBLOG.
West Virginia hosts Baylor on Wednesday.
A source said Perez was “depressed” about the news and previously said he “just wants to play basketball.”
“Extremely unfortunate,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins told reporters. “I don’t know the whys. I’ll probably get in trouble for saying this but they don’t know what the hell they’re doing. I’m against anything that doesn’t help young people. He’s a good kid.”
The 6-foot-5 Perez announced his transfer to West Virginia Oct. 29 after Manhattan fired his coach and mentor, Steve Masiello, two weeks before the start of the season, a story broken by ZAGSBLOG.
On Dec. 16, the NCAA denied West Virginia’s request for immediate eligibility for Perez.
West Virginia is Perez’s fourth school after previous stints at Gardner-Webb, Marquette and Manhattan. He started 29 games last season and played in all 30, averaging 18.9 ppg, 4.5 apg and 3.2 rpg.
The Bronx native turned 24 in October. West Virginia is 10-5, 0-3 in the Big 12.
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