VanDarius Cowan, the talented transfer from the University of Alabama, has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season, 247Sports has learned.

A source said the linebacker is sidelined by NCAA eligibility issues and will not play in games against James Madison, Missouri and North Carolina State in non-conference play and against Kansas to begin Big 12 competition. The Mountaineers are off the Saturday following the game against the Jayhawks, so Cowan's eligible to play his first game at home on Oct. 5 against Texas.

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Cowan had been playing the bandit position for WVU in camp. He started off the spring as a middle linebacker and volunteered to move to the important pass rush position in the final week of the spring as the Mountaineers dealt with injuries there. Cowan stayed put during the summer and camp, but defensive end Quondarius Qualls moved to bandit late in camp and started to earn consistent and positive reviews for his play.

Qualls, who coach Neal Brown called the team's best natural pass rusher, junior Zach Sandwisch, senior Adam Hensley and true freshman Jared Bartlett are the team's other bandits.

Cowan was a four-star prospect with a 0.9628 grade in the 2017 recruiting class. The 247Sports Composite ranked him No. 4 among outside linebackers and No. 78 among all players. He was a third-team Class 8A all-state players a senior at Florida's Palm Beach Gardens high, and he finished with 104 tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, seven sacks and four fumble recoveries. However, Cowan was also kicked off the team before the season ended. He signed with the Crimson Tide over scholarship offers from LSU, Ole Miss, Florida State, Miami and Oregon and played in seven games as an edge defender. However, he was dismissed during his first college offseason following an arrest for assault. He joined the Mountaineers late last summer and sat out last season.

This is yet another setback, and evidently not his first with the team. Cowan strayed during the winter, and the staff wasn't sure he'd be for spring practice. He wasn't suspended, but he wasn't in everyone's good graces, either.

"There are still some things he's got to work through to see if he can use that ability," defensive coordinator Vic Koenning said at the time. We're waiting on him, but there's progress.

Cowan's commitment and progress during the spring was a pleasant development, and the earliest reviews from camp at the beginning of the month brought about more good news. Inside linebackers coach Blake Seiler said Cowan was starting to look like the player the staff thought he could be.

"He's been great," Seiler said. "It's been good to see him with the whole summer under his belt at that position. For the first week of fall camp, he's really starting to feel comfortable and play up to his capability."