West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge is happy with the roster that he’s put together at this stage of the off-season, but the work hopefully isn’t complete just yet.
Hodge made an appearance on OFF THE CAROUSEL! with Rob Dauster and was asked about the work that he and his coaching staff have done in assembling the current Mountaineers basketball roster.
“I am happy with the roster we were able to put in place and still hoping to add a piece or two to complete it,” he said. “And guys will be here, they’re trickling in now and you start the journey all over again.”
Hodge has added a total of 10 players to the roster this off-season, with a mix of eight transfers and two high school options, while bringing back redshirt freshman big Abraham Oyeadier from last season’s team.
The common theme with the transfer additions is the experience of winning at various levels in college basketball.
Guard Honor Huff is fresh off a win in the NIT with Chattanooga, while Harlan Obioha competed in the NCAA Tournament with UNC Wilmington. Meanwhile, Jackson Fields was on the NCAA Tournament team at Troy and Brenen Lorient had success at both North Texas and a Final Four appearance at Florida Atlantic.
Trickling further down the roster, guard Treysen Eaglestaff, guard Jasper Floyd, guard Morris Ugusuk and guard Chance Moore have all won at different spots and the plan is now to try to mesh all of that together.
“That is something we tried to build and put in place and make sure in a time period where it can really feel transactional, you still are finding guys that want to be at West Virginia for the right reasons and guys that really like other people,”
To help with that meshing, Hodge made sure to identify players that are good connectors such as Huff and Eaglestaff, in order to bring the current roster together.
The construction of rosters has changed significantly in recent years with the focus being on not worrying about what will happen next and instead focusing on the year at hand.
“Let’s pour everything we have into this group and this moment,” he said.
While high school recruiting is still a key piece of the pie and Hodge wants to have those players that will spend multiple years in the program, the reality is now that you have to take it year-by-year.
“And look at what’s going to be best for everybody,” Hodge said.
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