The search for the next head men’s basketball coach is over. North Texas head coach Ross Hodge was tabbed with the job after a search that expanded a little over a week.
It will be a major opportunity for Hodge, who has spent the last eight seasons with the Mean Green. The past two as the head coach and the six prior to that as the associate head coach on the staff. Hodge has led North Texas to a 46-23 record as the leader of the program, including a 27-8 mark during this current season.
And therein lies the rub, as the Mean Green are still playing basketball.
North Texas knocked off Oklahoma State 61-59 Tuesday night to move on to the Final 4 of the National Invitational Tournament. By Wednesday afternoon,n it was announced that Hodge was set to leave the program to become the 24th head coach at West Virginia.
Typically that would mean that Hodge would be joining the Mountaineers, but he is expected to continue coaching the Mean Green on their quest for their second NIT crown in the last three years.
That means that Hodge will remain with North Texas at least until April 1 when they will compete in the semifinals and that could stretch to April 3 if they make it to the championship game. That means realistically a press conference to introduce Hodge might not come until April 4 if the run continues for the Mean Green and at best it won’t be until next week.
So what happens between now and then? That is the question as the Mountaineers are in the midst of a reconstruction of the roster with only three current returning scholarship players. The transfer portal opened March 24, signifying the window when athletes can enter their names into the database. That isn’t any sort of deadline by any means, but time is certainly already ticking.
Now, an extra week isn’t anything to be overly concerned with, considering that Hodge has inked a five-year deal with the Mountaineers to serve as their head coach.
And while Hodge will have his focus on the basketball court by trying to leave Denton on a positive note, the next steps await for his new role at West Virginia to combat the challenges ahead.
Identifying his coaching staff, securing transfer portal commitments and constructing the roster into what Hodge needs it to be will be the major hurdles that must be cleared.
That isn't to say some of that work isn't already being done, because it would be naive not to think that Hodge is identifying potential staff members and targets that he can target when he arrives in Morgantown.
It also helps that Hodge has experience in reconstructing rosters during his two seasons atop the North Texas program on top of the obstacles he had to overcome during his five years as a successful junior college coach.
Considering what just unfolded with the previous coach, it also is a good sign of the commitment that Hodge has for his current program and that is certainly worth a few days.
But Hodge must quickly turn the page once his obligations with the Mean Green are through in order to hit the ground running in his first opportunity at the power four level.
Hodge is the next head coach at West Virginia - the only question remaining is just when that will be?
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