MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University and interim men’s basketball head coach Josh Eilert have announced that transfer guard Omar Silverio‘s appeal for a waiver request to play this season has been denied by the NCAA. The program released a short statement on the matter Wednesday evening.

“I know Omar is disappointed that he won’t be able to compete this season as a Mountaineer and that his collegiate career is over,” Eilert said in the release. “He is a wonderful person, and I know he will be successful in whatever career path he chooses. All of us enjoyed our time with him, and we wish him well.”

Silverio’s most-recent season playing at the collegiate level was the 2021-22 campaign. In 32 games for Hofstra, he averaged a career-best 10.9 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.

Silverio played three years with Hofstra after playing at Rhode Island for his freshman season. He transferred to Manhattan ahead of the 2022-23 college basketball season, but did not suit up for the men’s basketball program there as a result of the team’s head coach being fired shortly before the start of the regular season.

Mountaineer guard Jose Perez was in a similar situation, but sat out all of last year after transferring to West Virginia. Perez is eligible to play this season, and will suit up for Eilert and co.

Silverio is a native of Santiago de los Caballero, Dominican Republic. He originally committed to West Virginia through the transfer portal in March. At the time, he was stated as having one year of collegiate eligibility remaining.