For Ross Hodge fit, belief a key element in building program

Ross Hodge knew that taking the West Virginia job would be a transition. 

The Mountaineers roster returns only one player from a season ago and only two who have any experience working with Hodge in forward Brenen Lorient and point guard Jasper Floyd, who followed him to Morgantown from North Texas.

“You’ve actually been with them in the locker room and you’ve been through the hard times and the good times and the ups and downs of a season,” he said.

That means to acclimate the others, there’s going to be a lot of time devoted to learning the team that he has assembled. Yes, there is of course what he is able to gather watching film but then it’s about deep diving each of the players on the roster and learning how they fit into the picture.

“Learning what their biggest strengths are, what some of their weaknesses that maybe didn’t show up on film, what are maybe some things they can do better that because of the last roster they had they didn’t need them to do there,” Hodge said. “But they actually can do those things well for us.”

The game of basketball is the easy part because all of these options can clearly play the game at a high level, but it’s about the other aspects of the game that matter the most.

Figuring that out collectively takes time but more importantly for Hodge is what type of people are the coaches adding? 

“Who you are getting as a person is what you try to find out the most going into recruiting,” Hodge said.

That also extends to the coaching staff as Hodge wants to surround himself with a group he believes in just like the players that are on the floor. 

“People that kind of make up for your weaknesses and maybe enhance some of your strengths,” he said. “And I think that’s where your confidence comes from and then putting a team together that you believe in and players that you believe in,” he said. 

Hodge believes that in every game, there is a pathway to win, and while the odds can change depending on who you’re playing and where the game is that outcome is possible. But that isn’t the case unless the coaches and the players believe that it is. 

“You just got to find it and you got to believe in it and you got to execute it,” Hodge said. 

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