Ross Hodge of North Texas hired as coach at West Virginia

West Virginia hired Ross Hodge of North Texas as its men’s basketball coach on Wednesday.

The 44-year-old Hodge replaces Darian DeVries, who left after one season for Indiana. Hodge agreed to a five-year deal to become West Virginia’s fourth coach in four seasons. Terms of the contract weren’t immediately disclosed.

“Ross Hodge is a proven winner and leader who has demonstrated success at every stop of his career,” West Virginia athletic director Wren Baker said in a statement.

Hodge is 46-23 in two seasons as coach of the Mean Green, who are 27-8 this season and advanced to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals next Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Hodge has been part of staffs that went to three NCAA tournaments, including an upset of Purdue as a No. 13 seed in 2021.

Hodge may not have been on everyone’s radar when the West Virginia job opened, but others believed to be in the running went elsewhere: Drake’s Ben McCollum was hired at Iowa, Colorado State’s Niko Medved went to Minnesota, and New Mexico’s Richard Pitino landed at Xavier.

All Baker needed to do was to go back to his past.

Baker was the AD at North Texas from 2016 to 2022. Hodge was an assistant coach for the Mean Green for six seasons under Grant McCasland. After McCasland took over at Texas Tech in 2023, Hodge became the Mean Green’s head coach and went 19-15 in the school’s first season in the American Athletic Conference despite numerous injuries.

Not PARSE.LY: NCAA men’s bracket

UNC’s Alyssa Ustby missed senior day due to injury. March Madness offered her another home finale

 

Alyssa Utsby and North Carolina beat West Virginia 58-47 to set up Sweet 16 meeting with Duke

 

Trip to Sweet 16 at stake when West Virginia and North Carolina meet in 2nd round of March Madness

 

Hodge is credited as the architect of the North Texas defense. The Mean Green had the nation’s No. 1 scoring defense in 2021-22 and 2022-23, when they won 25 and a school-record 31 games, respectively, including capturing the 2023 NIT championship.

“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,” Hodge said.

A Dallas native, Hodge also was an assistant under McCasland at Arkansas State and served under Larry Eustachy at Colorado State and Southern Miss.

McCasland, whose Red Raiders face Arkansas in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night in San Francisco, said he considers Hodge a brother who cares deeply about people, holds them accountable and tells them the truth.

“You’ll see he will win in the Big 12. And it will not be what other people think,” McCasland said Wednesday. “It will be at the highest level. And I’m not looking forward to playing him, but I am looking forward to going on this journey with him, because I love him. And I love him because who he is as a husband, and who he is as a father and who he is as a friend.”

West Virginia was left stunned last week, first when it was snubbed from the NCAA Tournament despite a 19-13 record and six Quad 1 wins, then by DeVries’ departure two days later.

DeVries had been hired at West Virginia a year ago to replace interim coach Josh Eilert, who steered the Mountaineers through a nine-win season in 2023-24 after Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins resigned following a June 2023 drunken driving arrest.

After DeVries left, Baker was asked whether it was important to find someone with ties to the program in the hope of having a coach for the long term.

“I know that there can be a knee-jerk reaction when you lose a coach after a year,” Baker said last week. “Human nature is to think, ‘Oh God, we have to get somebody who’s connected to here.’ I just think your job is to go out and get the best coach that you can. And you want to have coaches that other people covet and want to come after. Because the alternative to that is, nobody wants your coach. And that’s not very good.”

West Virginia’s roster will undergo its third straight season of makeovers. Five players on the current roster have entered the NCAA transfer portal, including four starters. Baker has said he hopes the players will give the new coach a chance to recruit them back for next season.

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness. Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.