WVU’s Ross Hodge Fits West Virginia Mentality

By: Shanna Rose

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.–Since the summer of 2023, nothing has been simple for the West Virginia University basketball program. However, the hiring of Ross Hodge could be just what the Mountaineers and the state of West Virginia need.

A year ago, WVU fans were in a similar situation and hyped over the hiring of Darian DeVries, but as the cards fell, he bolted for Indiana and the Mountaineers were looking for their fourth coach.

Wren Baker decided to put his faith in someone that he had known for a long time, a man he believed would be loyal and get the job done.

Coming to Morgantown was not an easy decision for Hodge.

“This move was not an easy move for me, I’ll be perfectly honest,” he said. “We talked a lot as a family, we shed a lot of tears. We had deep, meaningful relationships in Denton and that’s something that’s very important to us. Obviously, I’m a basketball coach, that’s what I’m paid to do to win games, to win championships, we understand that, but people are important to us and it’s not something we take lightly, put it like that, moving a family.”

“There were probably only a handful of situations that we’d have considered leaving my family in Texas where I’m from and have so much immediate family. The opportunity to get [Hodge’s wife] Shelly back to her family is really important to us.” 

Family is something Hodge values and that was apparent on Thursday morning. His family picks him up and motivates him and he credits his mother for being the style of coach he is today.

“My mom worked three jobs at one time. She drove the big old school buses and she’d wake up at 4:30 to go to the bus barn and get the bus, drive the bus, go teach at the high school, and then when that was over went to JC Penny’s. She’d have stretches where she worked 20-21 days in a row without ever taking a day off,” said Hodges. “Like I said, she’s — if you watch our team play and you think, “Man, that’s a tough team,’ that’s a tough woman right there.”

Now that he is in West Virginia, Hodge feels that he will be closer to his father, who passed away.

“My father passed away, and he’s in heaven, and what better way to get closer to him than to get to ‘Almost Heaven,'” he added.

Hodge spent two seasons as head coach of the North Texas Mean Green and prior to that he had spent six as associate head coach, working under then-North Texas coach Grant McCasland. When McCasland accepted the head coaching position at Texas Tech two years ago, Hodge was appointed his replacement.

Before his tenure with the Mean Green, he was an assistant coach at Southern Miss, Colorado State, and Arkansas State.

Mountaineer fans felt a sense of betrayal, but that treachery seems far fetched for Hodge. He remained with North Texas through its NIT run and he left on a high and respectful note.

While the Dallas, Texas native has no direct roots in the state of West Virginia, his wife hails from Maryland and they have family in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

In the past, Hodge’s loyalty to his programs and family remained.

“I had several opportunities to leave when I was an assistant at North Texas for what some people would say were bigger and better opportunities at bigger brands, higher levels, more money,” Hodge said. “That’s not necessarily what I’m interested in. I’m interested in people and being at a place that we can call home.”

Even though devotion to the program and character are two important traits, success is also predominant.

Hodge is a defense-minded coach and the Mean Green ranked third nationally in scoring defense this season. Opponents averaged 60.1 points and North Texas finished with a 27-9 record while finishing second in the American Athletic Conference and made it to the NIT semifinals before falling to UC Irvine 69-67.

The Texas A&M University-Commerce alum doesn’t plan on shying from that.

“Our defense gets a lot of the attention, but we were an efficient offense with one of the best three-point percentages in college basketball the last two years,” Hodge said. “What wins basketball games? Sharing the basketball and the right guys taking the right shots at the right time. Our tempo gets pointed out and gets used negatively sometimes in recruiting. You know who’s one spot above us in tempo? Houston. And they’re winning championships.”

Hodge understands what WVU athletics means to the state and himself. He respects the great coaches that came before him and his family is already taking on traditions. Last night the coach and his son Reed and daughter Emery attended the Mountaineer baseball game and they enjoyed WVU fanbase’s rendition of “Sweet Caroline.”

“We’ve felt the love from the moment we stepped off the plane, and even before,” Hodge said. “When you hear people talk about West Virginia, the first thing they say is you won’t find better people on the planet.”

Photo Credit: WVU Athletics