West Virginia head coach Ross Hodge is far from having a completed roster but has taken some significant steps this week to kick that reconstruction process into gear.
Hodge said that the plan was to hit the ground running when it came to addressing the roster and it’s safe to say that he wasn’t just blowing smoke on that front.
While he closed out his time atop the North Texas basketball program, the focus was on targeting and setting up visits with prospective transfer portal targets. And while that second part of the equation couldn’t occur until the dead period ends April 10, the work on the front end has been evident with a pair of commitments.
The Mountaineers first landed UNC Wilmington center Harlan Obioha. Obioha, 7-foot-0, 280-pounds, attracted plenty of interest once he entered the transfer market from schools such as Texas, Cincinnati, Mississippi State, Wichita State, Wake Forest and Rutgers, among others.
Obioha spent only one season with the Seahawks, where he averaged 9.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and shot 63-percent from the field while starting 23 games this past year.
He was previously at Niagara where he averaged 2.9 points and 3.1 rebounds in the first season in just over 9 minutes per game. Those totals saw a significant increase as a sophomore jumping to 10.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game before transferring to UNC Wilmington.
That’s a strong start given the market for big men in the transfer portal, but the Mountaineers then were able to land another highly athletic four-man with plenty of familiarity with Hodge in North Texas forward Brenen Lorient.
Lorient, 6-foot-9, 215-pounds, is coming off a standout season with the Mean Green where he averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and over 1.1 blocks per game across 24.8 minutes per game.
He shot 57-percent from the field and his efforts were rewarded by being named a first-team all-American Athletic Conference selection and the league’s Sixth Man of the Year.
The Ocala, Florida native started his career at Florida Atlantic where he spent two seasons. During the 2022-23 campaign Lorient appeared in 21 games as a reserve and followed that up appearing in all 31 games while averaging 2.2 points and 1.3 rebounds per game before transferring to North Texas.
That’s a testament to the job that Hodge did in helping get the best out of him and it didn’t necessarily come as a surprise that when he entered the transfer portal with a no-contact tag he elected to follow him.
Both players are impactful defenders as well with both averaging over a block per game and equally attack the offensive glass, signifying the emphasis that will be placed on those qualities.
Hodge also was able to go outside of the transfer portal realm to add Allen (Tx.) 2025 forward Deandre Thomas who was previously committed to him at North Texas. The forward provides a 6-foot-7 option that is another quality presence on the roster although he will likely need time to develop.
The Mountaineers are still certainly in the market for many more pieces, given the current state of the roster with only six total scholarship players and it’s unclear if that number will remain static throughout.
Hodge has been adamant that he won’t rush the construction process just for the sake of filling out the roster, but so far the Mountaineers have certainly addressed a couple of many different needs.
And that’ll certainly answer some questions that the fanbase had on the subject.
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