Hodge focused on calling West Virginia a long-term home, as he begins year one
West Virginia men’s basketball is entering their second straight season with a first-year head coach as Ross Hodge took over for Darian DeVries after he left for Indiana.
The feeling of DeVries leaving for the Hoosiers left many Mountaineer fans with a sour taste in their mouths, but Hodge plans to call West Virginia home for more than just one season.
“The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. And we were in Denton for eight years, loved that place, had a lot of opportunities to leave there for what people would consider bigger and better. But that isn’t necessarily what’s the most important thing to my family,” Hodge said on a 3 Guys Before the Game episode.
Hodge comes to WVU from North Texas where he was an associate head coach from 2017-2025 before he stayed there as the head coach from 2023-2025.
“I’m kind of a comfort zone person, and so I’m not somebody that just like wants to change a lot and move a lot and move a family a lot, and that’s just not what I like to do. So with that being said, you know, it’s not something I want to do, and so you know, even if it’s, what someone else may think is, ‘that’s a no-brainer,’ you have to do that, I don’t necessarily view it that way,” Hodge said.
Some of the sticking points for Hodge and his vision for West Virginia include the alignment between the university side and the athletics side of things, feeling that everyone is aligned in their goals.
I believe in the alignment here. You know, it started with President Gee, and now it’s President Benson to Wren (Baker), and so you have to be aligned with what everyone’s vision is for a program. I said that before, coaches win games, but I really do believe administrations win championships. And so if you ever felt that you didn’t have that alignment, maybe things would change, but for now it certainly feels all that’s in alignment,” Hodge said.
Hodge added that a job like WVU is hard to come by, and he recognizes the ability to build something special because of the people and resources that surround the program.
“You have some of the best people that you can be around, a loyal fan base that wants to win, that wants to, you know, wants to be in Sweet Sixteens and Final Fours, and you have one of the best home court advantages, if not, you know, KenPom, the best home court advantage in the entire country,” Hodge said.
Hodge’s family is very important to him, with two kids, Emory and Reed, not wanting to constantly uproot their lives as well.
“I have a son that’ll be an eighth grader that’s entering into high school. Like I said, things change, but you don’t, and I don’t. I’m not knocking anybody that does that. I’m not pointing, casting stones, I’m just saying, for me personally, to answer your question, I don’t want to move a lot, it’s just not what I like to do. And I feel like you don’t have to do that. We can do, we can do the things that we want to do professionally. We can win at the level we want to win at,” Hodge said.
Hodge recognizes the challenges ahead for him, knowing it will take a lot to get to the place he wants to get to.
“It’s not going to be easy, we know that. Nothing’s easy. It’s not easy to win a game, let alone 20 games, let alone championships. None of it’s easy. But I do feel like we have what you need to have to give yourself a chance,” Hodge said.
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