Ross Hodge builds roster on pillars of experience, success
West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge had a plan to build the basketball roster based largely on the pillars of experience and success.
Mission accomplished.
Given the nature of college athletics now and the transactional element, finding players that bring experience to the table is critical with the amount of turnover that occurs. That was no different at West Virginia, where the roster from last season returns just a single player.
Fortunately for Hodge, he was able to land a pair of players from his previous stop at North Texas in forward Brenen Lorient and point guard Jasper Floyd who were already familiar with the scheme and what is being asked out of them.
From there, it’s about finding others that fit what the coaches want and have had success elsewhere. Looking across the roster that is evident as Honor Huff won the NIT at Chattanooga, Chance Moore has won 20-games in each year of his career and Harlan Obioha, Morris Ugusuk and Jackson Fields have each played in the NCAA Tournament.
At the high school level, both DJ Thomas and Amir Jenkins have won state championships and others have experienced a lot of success.
“They have experience with winning. They kind of understand that part of it and what winning takes and now you’re just trying to get them to understand how we’re going to win together.” Hodge said.
There’s also an element of trust involved when it comes to what each player brings to the table and believing in what they’ve heard about each prospect.
The coaching staff did the best they could to assemble the team to date and then it becomes trying to figure out what the strengths are, the weaknesses are and building it all from there. This is where Hodge’s background at the junior college level also helps because he was already doing many of these same things prior to the shift in the current college format.
“How quickly can you get them to come together playing for one purpose and one reason and also trying to help them accomplish what their individual dreams are?” Hodge said.
That requires each coach being intentional with their team on a daily basis because they only have players for a short period of time. And so far Hodge has been encouraged with what he’s seen.
“This group’s been very supportive of each other, they work really hard, they care about basketball, you know, and they’re, they’re excited to go on this journey,” he said.
What Hodge wants is a collective understanding of what the team is trying to accomplish on each possession and that includes understanding shot selection. That comes with time and experience together on the floor.
“These guys have played a ton of college basketball. I mean, they’ve been in close games, but it’s just, like, being in close games together and kind of having that spirit and understanding of, okay, like, we’re going to find out a way to win this game,” Hodge said.
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