Former West Virginia guard Jose Perez shares contentious statement on dismissal
Former West Virginia guard Jose Perez shared a statement on X on Saturday evening, sharing some details of his dismissal from the team. The move was reported on Saturday morning.
Perez, who is 25 years old and transferred to West Virginia just before the start of the 2022-23 season from Manhattan, was denied eligibility last season by the NCAA. His dismissal from the team ahead of the 2023-24 campaign had something to do with academics, per reports.
That was an area Perez pushed back on. He claimed the “boss” — who he did not identify — said he’d have his best interests at heart but that actions didn’t matchup with words and said that he was in undergraduate classes as a graduate student, among other issues.
“Gave me your word to comeback, I went to bat for you in all meetings went behind the scenes to get recruits recruited/hosted every player since I’ve been here then got thrown to the street like a dead animal… 25 years old as a grad student in undergrad classes after I graduated never accepted being put in undergrad classes but people wanted me eligible, only disagreement was not going to study hall and that’s where the decision was made nowhere else,” Perez said.
He continued, noting the toll the dismissal has taken on him.
“Literally nowhere to go don’t make it seem like I’m the bad person cause I truly wanted to play here and was one of the reasons I came back because the ‘boss’ gave me his word he would have my best interest now I am once again entering a phase of depression and I can’t play the sport I love it’s been 2 years since I suited up and I still decided to comeback. Good luck wish nothing but the best to Mountaineer nation,” Perez said.
Perez was one of many West Virginia players who entered into the transfer portal following the resignation of longtime head coach Bob Huggins. However, instead of leaving for potentially greener pastures at other programs that recruited him, he decided to remain at West Virginia with head coach Josh Eilert.
This upcoming season would have been Perez’s first opportunity to see the court as a Mountaineer. The last season Perez saw action on the court was in 2021-2022 at Manhattan. There, for the Jaspers, the super senior combo guard finished the year averaging 18.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists.