It's been a wild, wild offseason for an entire class of student-athletes that are still fighting for eligibility.
For the Sooners, B.J. Edwards is still looking to get that extra year while Duke Brennan recently won his case, for now — all of this with just a few days before the start of the season.
The mess of the five-for-five eligibility case for the Class of 2022 has lapsed into basketball season, and with Oklahoma men's basketball's schedule beginning Monday with a home game against West Texas A&M at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center, there are still questions surrounding which players can play.
It's been a mess for the past few months involving the Class of 2022 college athletes.
After a judge ruled that the class should receive a fifth season of eligibility because of the impending five-season eligibility change the NCAA is implementing next year, the complications have spread like wildfire.
Instead of the NCAA throwing down a class-wide waiver for a fifth season, each athlete is forced to file for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA to play.
OU coach Porter Moser is seemingly fed-up with the way it's played out so far, and he said Tuesday at OU's local media day that there's a simple solution for it all.
"The fact that this has dragged on is just so bothersome to everybody. It's brutal," Moser said. "The right thing to do now, it could create less mental problems for these kids… Just give everybody a blanket waiver and move on. Now you know, for these guys and these fanbases, nobody is running off people to get spots. I literally saved spots for every one of them. I even saved one for Tae, who came late.
"That's what is so bothersome. Do the right thing. The right thing is for this class (to get another year)."
Moser saved spots for Class of 2022 athletes, including transfer additions Duke Brennan and B.J. Edwards while also saving a spot for recently-returning starter Tae Davis, who announced his return to OU this week.
The issue with those three players who need an injunction to play is that only one of the three has one. Brennan, OU's projected starting center from Villanova, recently became eligible for this season after a California judge granted his case last week.
The other two, Edwards and Davis, are in the process of finding another avenue to become eligible as Edwards' case got stayed more than a month ago, making him ineligible again.
Edwards and Davis are cleared to practice, however, will not be able to play until they get a preliminary injunction against the NCAA. You can imagine the mental strain that has put on Edwards, who said he's trying to focus on basketball.
"I'm not trying to think about it too much, honestly," Edwards said at Tuesday's local media day. "Just coming in every day and preparing for the season like I am eligible. And making sure I know all the details of the offense, defense, where to be.
"I let my agent and my coaches and the staff handle the eligibility case and stuff like that. I don't think about it too much."
Edwards was one of the first Class of 2022 athletes to receive eligibility in the summer and find a new home, committing to the Sooners fairly quickly.
He's been grinding through the summer and fall to get better, but his uncertainty to play is definitely hanging over the program like an impending storm cloud.
Edwards is a massive part of the Sooners' squad this year, and he's eased because of the recent cases granted to Class of 2022 student-athletes. However, Brennan said Tuesday that Edwards is searching for a new case and is needed this season for the Sooners to find success.
"Man, B.J. doesn't need too many words of encouragement," Brennan said. "He got a new case and he's working through it, but what sucks for him is he was part of the first cases for the five-for-five and it didn't go the way they wanted it, but now we see the players are getting some momentum in it.
"We need B.J. because he's a great player. Probably one of the best defensive players I've played with."
If Edwards can play this season, he's definitely the best defender for the Sooners and one of the best in the country.
During the past two seasons at SMU, Edwards earned back-to-back honors on the American Conference All-Defensive team and is heralded as one of the best on-ball perimeter defenders in the country.
He's got a presence that many teams have prepared for the past few seasons, which is not typical for most game-prep reports.
Edwards can be a big part of the Sooners' effort to become better defensively, and his mindset from being a respected defender is all about finding joy harassing his opposition on defense.
"Honestly, just having fun," Edwards said. "Like, running through passing lanes and getting the easy dunk or just taking the ball from someone else on the court just seems fun to me. And I feel like playing defense is just, it comes from your heart, like 'Do you want your man to score on you or not?'
"So I just play with a lot of heart and I like having fun out there on the court."
