West Virginia hires North Texas' Ross Hodge as new men's basketball coach

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It’s confirmed that West Virginia is hiring University of North Texas head coach Ross Hodge as the university’s 24th men’s basketball coach, ending a quick coaching search after Darian DeVries’ departure on March 18. Matt Norlander of CBS Sports confirmed the hire just before noon today.

"Ross Hodge is a proven winner and leader who has demonstrated success at every stop of his career," said West Virginia University director of athletics Wren Baker. "He has won more than 80% of his games as a head coach while establishing himself as one of the best defensive minds in college basketball. His teams play with toughness and grit and Mountaineer Nation will love the passion his players have for the game.

"More importantly, Ross is an incredible person and family man. His wife, Shelly, along with their children, Emery and Reed, will be great assets to our community and state." 

Hodge and Baker are quite familiar with each other, as the two were both at UNT from 2017-22 before Baker left to take the head athletics position in Morgantown. Hodge has been the head coach of the Mean Green for two seasons, amassing a total record of 46-23 and a 24-12 record within the American Athletic Conference (AAC).

"It is with great honor and humility that I accept the head men's basketball coaching position at West Virginia University," Hodge said in a release published by WVU. "I have such respect for the toughness, grit and pride of the people of West Virginia, and my hope is that we can reflect that with how our team competes on the court.

"We loved our time in Denton and the many meaningful relationships we established over the last eight years. We are forever grateful for the opportunity afforded to us by Jared Mosley. ... We believe we have everything we need to be successful and to challenge for Big 12 championships and look forward to competing against the best coaches and best teams in the country." 

The step to a Power 5 program has some concerned, such as Sports Illustrated’s Schuyler Callahan who cites Hodge’s lack of experience, due to his seven years of head coaching experience, two coming at the Division I level. Outside of his experience at the helm of the Mean Green, Hodge spent six years as associate head coach under Grant McCasland, who was hired by Texas Tech two years ago. Hodge was also a proven winner at the JUCO level with an overall record of 146-24 between Paris Junior College and Midland College. 

Others, however, cite Baker’s keen sense for excellent hires, especially on tight deadlines much like Mark Kellogg’s hire two years ago when Dawn Plitzuweit left WVU for the University of Minnesota. Kellogg and his women’s squad lost in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, but he’s proven effective as head coach of the program amassing an overall record of 50-16 while the Mountaineers were ranked the entire season in the AP Top 25, their highest rank coming in Week 4 at No. 12.

Further, many lauded Baker for the hire of DeVries, who, despite leaving Morgantown for one of the most premier programs in college basketball, Indiana, came into the WVU job with an impressive resume from his time at Drake before going on a 19-13 run with the Mountaineers, picking up six Quad 1 wins over Gonzaga, Arizona, Kansas, Iowa State, Cincinnati and Utah, as well as 10 conference wins.

Currently, the Mean Green are 27-8 while making their way through the NIT, most recently defeating Oklahoma State, 61-59, in the quarterfinal round, following wins over Furman and Arkansas State. North Texas has earned prominence among Division I schools for its defense, only allowing 59.5 points—third in the nation behind Houston and Drake, respectively—though they rank 310th, not much higher than West Virginia, which sat at 308 among all teams.

Hodge has agreed to a five-year contract, though financial details have yet to be released. That’s expected to be officially announced by the university in the near future.