West Virginia gets their point guard, Texas swaps out bigs

West Virginia got some big news on Wednesday afternoon as it became official that point guard Jabarie Hinds would be eligible to play this season.

There was some concern that he would not get cleared. Hinds did not travel this summer with West Virginia to Europe as he had to makeup some course work. Bobby Huggins, however, wasn't worried:

"We thought we knew that it was kind of a foregone conclusion (that he would qualify), it was just a matter of time," he told MetroNews Statewide Sportsline. "This time of the year you’ve got football in full swing and (the NCAA) is trying to get football guys on the field, they’re trying to get soccer players on the field and cross country. So, it's a busy, busy time for them."

Hinds will be a nice compliment to Truck Bryant in the back court. Where Bryant is a strong ball-handler and a physical point guard, Hinds thrives on his quickness and ability to beat a defender off the dribble.

Texas, on the other hand, got a bit of bad news.

Incoming freshman Kevin Thomas was declared ineligible by the NCAA. But only hours after that announcement was made, Texas announced that Jaylen Bond had been released from his letter of intent to Pitt.

There was some concern initially that Bond wasn't going to get his release. With him in the rotation, it provides some much-needed depth along the Longhorn's front line, but Rick Barnes is still going to be at a major disadvantage this season. His front court goes four-deep -- two seniors that have never been more than serviceable backups, Clint Chapman and Alexis Wangmene, and two freshmen, Bond and top 100 recruit Jonathan Holmes.