Blain: WVU Basketball Has Higher Ceiling in 2025-26 Than Last Season

Last season’s WVU basketball team started off with low expectations entering the year – the West Virginia program was experiencing its third head coach in three years and an overhauled roster. However, they shocked the world with three wins against ranked opponents, including top 10-ranked Gonzaga and Kansas, and were right on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament.

So what if I told you this year’s team could be better? 

While it may be hard for WVU fans to set their hopes too high after the past few years, but the current Mountaineers have a high ceiling and could be better suited to take on the Big 12 than Darian DeVries’ group was.

Ross Hodge’s squad does have one similarity to the 2024-25 team – there are two primary options for scoring in senior guard Honor Huff and senior forward Treysen Eaglestaff. He scored 18.9 points per game at North Dakota while Huff scored 15.5 points  at Chattanooga last year, both team-highs.

Even though last year’s team had two high-scorers, with Javon Small and Tucker DeVries, who only played in eight games, Hodge’s squad has an extra advantage in that neither of its top two scoring threats are not the primary ball-handler. That job is reserved for senior guard Jasper Floyd, who made the switch from North Texas with Ross Hodge.

Defenses will gravitate to Huff and Eaglestaff, allowing more room for Floyd to operate. He knows how to find his open teammates, having averaged four assists per game last year. Floyd can also score when his number is called, as he averaged nine points per game in 2024 with 15.7 points per game in the NIT.

Playing major conference basketball is new for most of this roster. However, Huff and Eaglestaff are proficient in one aspect that translates no matter where you play: shooting. Hodge agrees.

“The thing that both those guys can really do is shoot the basketball, which typically translates,” Hodge said in a press conference on July 24. “And they can both shoot it with range. So, you know, they’ve done that.”

If the starting lineup plays out how I believe it will, it will include the three aforementioned players along with fifth-year guard Chance Moore and senior center Harlan Obioha. Obioha provides a solid paint scoring option, standing at seven feet tall.

This brings me to my next point, and maybe the most important – the height on this team makes it better suited for the grind of the Big 12.

This 2025-26 roster has an average height of 6-foot-5 while last year’s was 6-foot-4 on average. Furthermore, injuries kept many key players like DeVries and Amani Hansberry from playing consistently.

WVU was out rebounded in 17 of its 20 Big 12 games in 2024. Having more height on this year’s team, including Obioha, who averaged 6.6 rebounds per game including five performances with 10 boards or more, at UNCW.

Hodge has made it no secret that defense will be key to his scheme for WVU, citing defense being what wins Big 12 titles.

“If you’re going to win the Big 12, you have to be one of the best defenses in the country. We plan on being one of the best defenses in the Big 12, which makes us one of the best defenses in the country,” said Hodge as part of his introductory speech about what to expect from his teams.

That press conference took place in April. Now, that the roster includes two players already familiar with Hodge’s style, including Floyd and senior forward Brenen Lorient, a former AAC Sixth Man of the Year Award winner.

Between height and scoring ability, this season’s West Virginia team has the chance to create their own momentum to start the Ross Hodge Era.

Find more coverage of the WVU basketball team at WV Sports Now.