Ross Hodge Gives Insight on if Size Matters for WVU Basketball Lineups in Big 12 Play

WVU basketball head coach Ross Hodge faces a size challenge heading into Big 12 play.  

Senior center Harlan Obioha is the tallest player for the Mountaineers at 7-foot. Brenen Lorient and Abraham Oyeadier are the only two players listed at 6 feet 9 inches. With Obioha being the only player over 7-foot, Hodge will need to rely on small ball strategy more often. 

“You’ve got to be able to do some things schematically that you can do to maybe protect yourself when you have smaller lineups out there.  Whether it’s maybe being a little more aggressive in ball screen coverages, whether it’s double teaming the post, whether it’s maybe trying to take advantage of, okay, like maybe you don’t have a size advantage, but maybe you have a foot speed advantage,” Hodge said during a press conference on Thursday.

Senior guard Honor Huff leads West Virginia with 17.8 points per game and 33.4 minutes played per game. With Huff now beginning to facilitate the offense and listed at 5-foot-10, Hodge will face a size disadvantage in most matchups.

“There’s been small guards in the league, in particular to Honor specifically, but collectively, if you are going to have some smaller lineups out there, maybe you have to alter some of the things you’re doing schematically,” Hodge said.

The first game for the Mountaineers in Big 12 play will be against Iowa State on the road. West Virginia will size up well against the Cyclones as they only have four players that are or taller than 6-foot-9. Iowa State does not have a player listed at 7-feet.

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