Exclusive: Ross Hodge on the State of West Virginia’s Roster

PITTSBURGH — Ross Hodge is feeling good about the state of the WVU basketball roster after completely rebuilding the Mountaineers this spring.

“I’m really excited about what we’ve been able to have,” Hodge told WVSN’s Mike Asti at a WVU Coaches Caravan event in Pittsburgh Friday evening. “The staff’s done an incredible job of identifying guys that fit our culture and wanted to be at West Virginia and everything that goes along with being a Mountaineer.”

Hodge is working through a total rebuild of the roster as no members of the 2024-25 team will return for WVU. So far this offseason, Hodge has brought in eight transfer players and two high school recruits and he isn’t done quite yet.

“We still need one or two more to finish out the roster, but I’m really happy with what we’ve been able to get so far,” Hodge said. 

One thing that is apparent about Hodge’s first batch of players is there’s better size across the board than has been featured on recent WVU teams. Transfers Treysen Eaglestaff, Jackson Fields, Brenen Lorient and Chance Moore and freshman DJ Thomas are all over 6-6 and center Harlan Obioha is a seven-footer. Jasper Floyd, Morris Ugusuk and Jayden Forsythe stand between 6-3 and 6-5.

“There’s a baseline for the physicality that we feel like you need in the Big 12 and going through the rigors of the league,” Hodge said. “What you really want is versatility and to be able to play a lot of different ways, to be able to adapt to whatever the game may call for. Sometimes you may want to be able to play with bigger lineups and sometimes you may want to be able to go with smaller lineups. I feel like we’ve been able to be balanced in our size distribution.”

While there are enough players and enough talent on the WVU roster right now for fans to feel like they can start penciling in a starting lineup, Hodge said he doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on who will or won’t start now, nor when the season starts.

“I know it’s important to some players and some people who starts and who doesn’t, but starting is not something I put a ton of emphasis on,” he said. “We make that known early to our players. Really you’re just trying to figure out lineup combinations over the course of a 40-minute game, and who starts is really a small part of that. You’re going to play with different combinations throughout the year, whether it’s the starting five or not, so you’re really just trying to figure out the best combinations.”

With 10 players right now, WVU has five more roster spots available to fill this offseason. Those spots could be filled with more transfers, high school recruits or walk-ons.

For a related story, tracking the spring roster moves for WVU basketball and Ross Hodge.