Ross Hodge Defends Treysen Eaglestaff: ‘The Goal is to Win’

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – WVU basketball is experiencing early success at the start of the Ross Hodge era at 5-0. However, fans have been eager to see a game-breaking performance from the much-hyped senior guard Treysen Eaglestaff.

Hodge has heard the noise and gave a response on Monday night after his team’s 81-59 victory over Lafayette.

Hodge brought up WVU’s Backyard Brawl win, which was the largest margin of victory for the Mountaineers in the series’ history at 22 points.

“This gym’s been here for a long time, you know? And in the Brawl, that was the largest margin of victory that WVU has had and some of it is like, ‘Well, what’s wrong with him?’ And it’s like, well, him being whoever.”

Hodge dropped the curtain on the analogy in the next breath, specifically mentioning Eaglestaff, who finished the game with just three points on 1-6 shooting.

An Explanation for Treysen Eaglestaff’s Lack of Scoring at WVU

“Well, he’s being a great teammate. He’s trying really hard on defense. He’s celebrating his teammates on the bench and we just won by 22. So on the flip side, if you’re a coach or a fan or people in our society nowadays, we complain about these guys all the time, right? ‘Kids are selfish. They only care about themselves. They wanna get paid. They only want, they only want stats.’ And so, well, which one is it? You know what I mean? ‘Cause the goal is to win.”

Eaglestaff is currently averaging five points, 3.6 rebounds with a total of four assists on the year. In the win over Lafayette, Eaglestaff added two steals and two blocks in a strong defensive game.

Hodge’s message about Eaglestaff’s willingness as a teammate has been consistent. He spoke on Eaglestaff taking on a new role at WVU, one that includes playing with more high-level scorers than at any point in his career.

“I think he’s been a great teammate. He’s trying really hard defensively. He did make the one big shot. And this is new, this is new for him almost as big of a difference from a role and a team that he played on,” Hodge said in the postgame press conference from the Backyard Brawl.

Eaglestaff played his first three seasons at the University of North Dakota, where he averaged 18.9 points per game last season, the most out of any Mountaineer who joined the team as a transfer this season.

WVU basketball will take the court again at 6:30 p.m. on Friday when it plays Clemson in the first round of the Shriner’s Children’s Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C.

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