After initially blocking quarterback Austin Kendall from becoming immediately eligible at West Virginia as a graduate transfer, Oklahoma has relented and now will allow him to play for the Mountaineers next season, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Kendall is expected to take an official visit to West Virginia on Thursday, sources told ESPN, and could enroll there by the end of the week. USA Today first reported that Oklahoma would no longer block Kendall's transfer to the Mountaineers.
Earlier Wednesday, ESPN reported that while the Sooners pursued Alabama graduate transfer quarterback Jalen Hurts, Oklahoma was blocking Kendall from transferring to West Virginia. Hurts announced he would be joining the Sooners later Wednesday.
Under new transfer rules, Kendall was still able to talk to Mountaineers coaches and free to transfer to the school. But Oklahoma had reserved the right under NCAA rules to prevent Kendall from becoming immediately eligible at West Virginia, another Big 12 school, for the 2019 season, even though he has earned his undergraduate degree at Oklahoma.
Kendall would have had to sit out the upcoming season, leaving him with only year of eligibility remaining. Now, he will be able to play two years for the Mountaineers, beginning in 2019.
Kendall entered the transfer portal Friday after learning the day before that the Sooners had been pursuing Hurts and had scheduled for him to visit Norman over the weekend. Hurts committed to Oklahoma in a letter published on The Players' Tribune on Wednesday.
Kendall backed up Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray last season. Before redshirting in 2017, he was the backup to Baker Mayfield in 2016.
Kendall has a relationship with new West Virginia coach Neal Brown. While an assistant at Kentucky, Brown had recruited Kendall, a Charlotte, North Carolina, native, out of high school.
West Virginia is looking to replace two-year starter Will Grier at quarterback.