TRO Hearing vs. NCAA Could Open Doors For Battle, Farrakhan

Ohio AG Dave Yost announced on Monday afternoon that a TRO hearing vs. the NCAA will be occurring at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. If passed, doors could be open for all multi-time transfers to immediately play, as the rule would temporarily go away.

WVU has a pair of multi-time transfers in RaeQuan Battle (Montana State) and Noah Farrakhan (Eastern Michigan). The doors would be open for them to play immediately but since the rule is temporary, the NCAA could rule them ineligible down the line.

There’s risk involved but the door would be opened for West Virginia.

BREAKING: A TRO hearing in our antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA will be heard at 10 AM Wednesday morning in federal court.

— Attorney General Dave Yost (@DaveYostOH) December 11, 2023

Battle was ruled ineligible twice by the NCAA this semester as he’s a multi-time transfer. Most recently, Battle filed a complaint vs. the NCAA on Friday, challenging their transfer rules as that’s affected his NIL earnings. Battle is also a student-athlete mentioned in the multistate suit vs. the NCAA that was announced by Yost last Thursday. West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey is also involved in the case with Colorado, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee.

Farrakhan was brought in by WVU’s staff at the end of the summer to join the team. Farrakhan began his career at East Carolina before playing at Eastern Michigan. Like Battle, Farrakhan is a multi-time undergraduate transfer, making him ineligible. West Virginia never applied for a waiver for Farrakhan and treated this season like a traditional transfer redshirt year.

WV Sports Now will continue to update on Battle’s eligibility status throughout the month.