RaeQuan Battle doesn’t carry anger with him after challenging NCAA

MORGANTOWN — Weeks have now passed since RaeQuan Battle sat in a federal courtroom in Wheeling being cross examined by a NCAA-hired lawyer.

The news the WVU forward makes now comes from what he does on a basketball court.

“It’s been a little tough, there’s no room for error,” Battle said Friday, as the Mountaineers prepared to host No. 12 Baylor at 6 p.m. Saturday. “Everybody else in the country is guaranteed those 30, 35 games. All I get is 25.”

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The reason for that is the federal case against the NCAA that Battle became the face of in December.

After the NCAA had denied WVU’s two requests for Battle’s immediate eligibility after he had transferred for a second time without earning a college degree, seven states challenged the NCAA’s eligibility rules in federal court.

Before an agreement could be reached that restrained the NCAA from enforcing its rules for this school year, Battle had already missed the first nine games of the season.

He then missed a 10th game with the flu.

Battle said there was some missed time to make up for.

“Shoot, you saw those first three games,” he said, in which Battle scored 29, 29 and 24. “I was trying to make up for a lot of time.”

His shooting has been up and down since. He is coming off a 21-point effort against TCU heading into the matchup with Baylor (18-6, 7-4 Big 12).

Other nights, well, there was the game against UCF in which he was whistled for two technical fouls and ejected. Battle followed that up by scoring two points and committing five turnovers against Oklahoma State.

Had Battle been given a full season, there may have been more consistency at this point, but that’s not his focal point.

“I was never really angry, but I definitely thought it was unfair,” Battle said. “God has a plan for everybody, so I didn’t want to dwell on what happened and just keep it positive.”

What has helped is the feedback Battle has received in the aftermath of the courtroom drama.

The temporary agreement between the states and the NCAA just didn’t make Battle and fellow WVU teammate Noah Farrakhan eligible to play this season, it literally gave hundreds of athletes in many sports across the country who were sitting out the green light to play.

“A few people have reached out to me,” Battle said. “A couple of coaches I know who had players ineligible reached out to me, saying they appreciated that for many reasons.”

One story hit really close to home for Battle. A WVU wrestler who had been sitting out a year because of the NCAA transfer rules approached him with appreciation.

“He was very grateful for what was going on,” Battle told the story. “He was like, ‘You helped me. I don’t how my life was going to go if I wasn’t able to wrestle this year.’ ”

Battle’s story was similar, as WVU requested an eligibility waiver for the forward based on a mental health exception.

In making its case to the NCAA, WVU argued Battle, a Native American, needed basketball in his life after he had experienced enormous amounts of hardship and tragedy throughout his life.

“Growing up on a reservation comes with hardships,” he said. “There is a lot of drug and alcohol abuse and suicides going on. Sadly, a lot of my family members fell victim to a lot of that stuff.”

Battle and the Mountaineers (8-16, 3-8) are now trying to impact their story on the court, to reverse a trend of losing that has seen WVU lose five of its last six games.

There’s nothing Battle can do to get back those 10 games he lost in what will be his final season of college. In his heart, he now knows his challenge against the NCAA still made an impact on so many others.

“It feels great,” Battle said. “That’s why I’m not too upset about everything. I was still able to make an impact without ever being on the floor. I was still able to make a big difference.”