MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — WVU interim men’s basketball coach Josh Eilert said his program is “moving forward” after parting ways with transfer guard Jose Perez over the weekend.

Citing student privacy laws, Eilert did not elaborate on why Perez is no longer with the team, but noted that he’s proud that Perez earned a degree from West Virginia University.

“I’m proud of Jose for coming in here and finishing his degree. He got his undergraduate degree here at West Virginia, and certainly that’s a priority for student-athletes, to get that degree. I’m really proud of the fact he got that,” Eilert said. “I can’t go any further than that.”

In a social media post Saturday, Perez indicated that a “disagreement” occurred because he didn’t attend study hall. When asked about the comments made by the player, Eilert did not elaborate on specific details.

“I talked about the non-negotiables in the first team meeting, and there are a lot of non-negotiables, and I wasn’t going to compromise the integrity of the program and the culture of the program,” Eilert said. “That’s where I’m gonna leave it. We’re moving forward.”

With Perez no longer on the roster, several athletes will now have an opportunity to earn more playing time. Eilert said he wants to “reward” the players who are “doing everything the right way.”

“I think it’s going to empower a lot of guys. There’s a lot of guys on the roster that probably felt like they were in the background, so to speak, and now they see they have a really good opportunity,” Eilert said. “Those guys have done everything the right way.”

Perez transferred to WVU from Manhattan last fall after the team’s head coach was fired two weeks before the start of the regular season. The NCAA subsequently ruled that Perez could not be immediately eligible to play at WVU and denied his appeal.

After former WVU head coach Bob Huggins resigned and retired in June, Perez reentered the transfer portal, only to return to the WVU roster.

The team officially cut ties with him Saturday. He never played a game for WVU.

The Bronx, New York, native last played for Manhattan during the 2021-22 season when he averaged 18.9 points, 4.5 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game.