That’s how Will Grier was declared eligible for the 2017 season today. The technical definition here is that the NCAA approved his request for reinstatement. A waiver is something separate and different, and we’ve been stating and repeating that there was no waiver here. I was educated on this along the way, because I was among the many who initially used the word “waiver” as though it held no special meaning.

Anyhow, you request and wait, and remember that the NCAA wasn’t in a rush to rule on this, and WVU wasn’t in a rush to learn, because Grier couldn’t play in 2016 anyhow. He was a transfer who had to sit. When the right time came, WVU and Grier applied for reinstatement, and when the right time came, the NCAA approved.

The original transgression was testing positive for a performance enhancing substance. Grier admitted it from the moment the news broke.

It’s up to you if you believe that, and Grier has maintained that version all along. Over time, he’s added some details, and he says he was looking for a healthier alternative to the sugar and carbs that come from Gatorade.

So we went to a store in Gainesville called Total Nutrition and got some protein powder. We used that for a few months, and it seemed to work. I was putting on smart weight and was feeling healthier and more fit than I ever had. The third time we went in to buy the powder, in June 2015, the associate behind the counter, who knew us because we had been in there before, said, “You guys should try this.” It was called Ligandrol.

He said it was a new thing that helped your muscles take in more protein and helped them recover faster. So we went home, and the first thing we did was look on the internet. We’re not stupid; we wanted to look it up and make sure it was all clear. I looked at every NCAA site, and many other sites, to see if it was healthy for you. I wasn’t going to put anything in my body that wasn’t legal and wasn’t healthy.

I checked each ingredient on the bottle to see if it was on the NCAA banned list. I did my research and was confident in it. What I didn’t do is ask the trainers at Florida if it was cleared. I still don’t know why I didn’t. It’s no one’s fault but mine.

I don’t think he’s looking for pity as much as an opportunity to speak and be heard — that’s all he’s said on the record since leaving Florida — and I suspect even he would say he was wrong and you need not defend him for not vetting it with the Gators staff.

So, once again, it’s up to you. You’ll find people who are suspicious of Grier’s physical transformation. You can search around and locate those particulars, but he was 172 pounds when he enrolled and 215 pounds with 7 percent body fat when he played as a redshirt freshman. And Florida also seemed to push back against naming Ligandrol, which some might say is a curious and perhaps convenient substance to invoke in that it wasn’t banned when used by Grier.

Being told through UF that the substance is not Ligandrol. But won't be disclosed without Grier's consent.

— Kevin Brockway (@gatorhoops) October 12, 2015

And then there was this unusual Amanda Wood/Jeff Barlis exchange, which produced only clouds and shed no light. Some, none or all of that might have participated in Grier’s exit, and Grier doesn’t hide the fact he feels he was pushed out of Florida and the Gators would allow no repentance.

Today, it really doesn’t matter. Whatever Grier did wrong and wherever that wrong ranked on the NCAA’s punitive code, it’s over and done. Trust that Grier has been, remains and will be scrutinized, and that the NCAA agreed to let him play in the first game of the 2017 season.

What does that mean? Well, the Mountaineers have a different cat behind the center now.

And what’s that mean? You can officially get excited about a prep player of the year who set a national record for touchdown passes and then went undefeated in five starts at a top-10 SEC team and wonder about all he brings to the Mountaineers.

The Mountaineers, who conclude the spring with the Gold-Blue Game at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mountaineer Field, opened 30 minutes of a practice last week to reporters. The offense snapped against the defense, and Grier made a handful of throws from the hash marks on the left side of the field to receivers on the right, including one throw to a target open past the first-down marker.

“When I was with Davis Webb last year, he had a tremendous arm, and he’d throw that comeback route to the [far] side all the time because it was open,” said Spavital, the offensive coordinator at Cal and with Webb last season. “Defenses don’t believe you’re going to throw that.”

That’s the bonus involved with the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Grier.

“The problem defensively is there are going to be holes. Now, can the quarterback find those holes? We’ll take our chances,” Gibson said. “With a kid like Will, our game plan would be totally different with him.”

More zone coverage to patrol the openings? Less blitzing to devote more players to defending the pass?

“I don’t want to say,” Gibson said. “I don’t want to give anybody any answer. But he’s a different kind of kid. He’s very, very intelligent. You can’t get him on a lot of stuff.”

Understand Gibson’s 3-3-5 defense presents “a lot of stuff.” He blitzes. He bluffs. He disguises one coverage within another. He’s constantly changing, and he does it all to lure a quarterback into a mistake, be it a hurried throw or a regrettable one.

“He’ll see something, and it triggers him and he knows exactly where he’s going and he knows exactly where to put the ball,” Gibson said. “He’s done it numerous times.”