West Virginia has a new men’s basketball coach, and it’s Ross Hodge, currently of North Texas. Currently is the word, because the Mean Green are still competing in the NIT. They’re on their way to the semifinals of the venerable tournament, and Hodge will become the Mountaineers’ coach after the season is over.
On one hand, hiring Ross Hodge is not a big surprise for the Mountaineers, given Wren Baker’s time as the North Texas athletic director. Baker knows Hodge well from their time in Denton, and he’s clearly comfortable with him as his men’s basketball coach.
On the other, it’s a bit of a surprise for those who expected more from this hire. West Virginia is not Kansas or Duke by any means, but it’s a school with a proud tradition in basketball. And there’s a definite sense that the Mountaineers probably could have done better. Here’s a dive into what this hiring means.
Hiring Ross Hodge Means Wren Baker’s Tied to Basketball
Football was always going to be where Baker had to compromise. As soon as the opportunity came to bring Rich Rodriguez back to Morgantown, the job was his if he wanted it. Baker was never going to get the opportunity to hire his guy; the lure of bringing back one of the most successful football coaches in school history was too strong.
On top of that, Baker is a basketball guy. So he was always going to focus on his guy, and it’s clear that he likes hiring people he knows. He did the same thing with Mark Kellogg, whom he knew from their time at Northwest Missouri State. So far, that’s working out very well for the West Virginia women’s basketball team.
Related: West Virginia Women’s Basketball Falls to North Carolina
However, Hodge is more of a risk than Kellogg was. At the time of Kellogg’s hiring, he’d been on the bench at Stephen F. Austin for eight years. Not only that, but he had taken the Ladyjacks to five consecutive postseason appearances, and it would have been six if COVID hadn’t wiped out the postseason. If Baker didn’t make a move to hire Kellogg, someone else would have jumped on him.
Hodge has only been the head man at North Texas for two years. That’s not enough time to prove anything, even in the one-year roster era of college sports. While he’s made the postseason both years, it’s been the NIT both times and he has never beaten an NCAA tournament team. There’s an argument that other schools might have made a run at him next year, but this places the pressure on both Baker and Hodge for this to work out.
West Virginia Men’s Basketball Is Likely to Slow Down
For the fans of the Press Virginia teams, this is going to feel like watching paint dry at times. North Texas wins games because it frustrates its opponents. That was how Grant McCasland won in Denton, and it’s how Hodge has won as well. The Mean Green are methodical, and that’s putting it kindly.
This season, only Drake and Wagner played at a slower pace than North Texas. The Mean Green have been defense-focused for a while, and it has worked well for them. Just ask Purdue, which ran afoul of the North Texas defense in 2021 and was dismissed from the NCAA tournament in a 13-4 upset.
Related: Governor Patrick Morrissey Unloads on NCAA
This seems to be something Hodge has inherited from McCasland, as the Mean Green ranked dead last in tempo in McCasland’s final season. However, there’s no guarantee that Hodge follows the same philosophy. McCasland has not kept the brakes on at Texas Tech. He hasn’t turned into Nate Oats by any means, but the Red Raiders play a medium-slow tempo and score plenty of points.
There’s also the possibility that Hodge decides this isn’t who he wants to be at the power conference level. That’s something West Virginia saw firsthand in the Big 12 with Shaka Smart at Texas. Smart was well known for his frenetic defensive pressure called HAVOC at Virginia Commonwealth, but he played a more methodical style at Texas, believing that Power 5 teams don’t play that way. Given that Smart won zero NCAA tournament games at Texas and is just 3-4 in the NCAAs at Marquette, he might want to rethink that one. But that shows that just because a person coaches one way at School A doesn’t mean they coach that way at School B.
Ross Hodge Will Likely Focus on Defense
Even if Hodge doesn’t keep the brakes on, he’s likely going to go defense first. That’s said to be a main reason why Hodge is coming to Morgantown instead of Jerrod Calhoun, who’s staying at Utah State. Calhoun, the former coach of Fairmont State and a former Bob Huggins assistant, is seen as an offensive-minded coach, which was one reason why he was the preferred choice of West Virginia fans. But Baker values defense and opted for Hodge, so it’s unlikely he’d abandon what got him the job.
Calhoun vs. Hodge is Now a Thing
If Baker got this hire right, nobody will care that Calhoun didn’t come to West Virginia. Hodge might well be a winner in Morgantown, and if he is, then good on Baker for getting his guy when the time was right. But if Hodge flops and Calhoun continues to win in Logan, Utah (a much harder place to reach than Morgantown), he’s going to be compared to Calhoun.
Related: DeVries One and Done
And if that happens, Baker will hear all of this. There won’t be any time for the Mountaineers to build. Calhoun already has things rolling in Logan, and Hodge must meet expectations. Fans are fans, and fans are not known for their patience in the best of times. These are far from the best of times for West Virginia basketball. For better or worse, hiring Ross Hodge means that the pressure is on in Morgantown.
