WVU Men’s Basketball Season Preview: A New Chapter

For the third consecutive year, the West Virginia Mountaineers have a new opening day head coach. Ross Hodge and his team will usher in the next era of men’s basketball in Morgantown in the coming days. Read more: WVU Men’s Basketball Season Preview: A New Chapter

Offseason Overhaul

Flash back to March 16, a frustrating day in recent Mountaineer history – when the selection committee omitted WVU from the 2025 edition of March Madness. The heartbreak in and around the program was palpable. 

Two days later, first-year WVU coach Darian DeVries left town to become the next head coach of Indiana University. It wasn’t long before DeVries’s son, Tucker, joined his father in Bloomington. 

Add these low points to the abundance of roster changes, and the morale was in the tank. Enter Ross Hodge.

Laying the Foundation

WVU Athletics announced the signing of Ross Hodge on March 26, prying the coach from the University of North Texas. Hodge joined the program shortly after the Mean Green were eliminated in the NIT semifinal game against UC Irvine.

Much like his Mountaineer predecessor in DeVries, Hodge knows how to win. He went 46-24 in his two seasons at the helm in Denton, Texas. 

The next step for the Mountaineers was to build a roster. Hodge brought several members of the Mean Green to Morgantown, collected a few other transfers, and recruited aggressively. 

Roster Makeup

The 2025-26 WVU roster is built on size and shooting accuracy. Only three players on the available roster are billed under 6’4. There are some real sharpshooters in the mix, too, including the likes of Honor Huff and Trey Eaglestaff. 

Murmurs of the potential offensive prowess leaked from sources following a closed-doors scrimmage. Over a dozen three-pointers fell for the Mountaineers in the performance.

A mix of new faces and skill sets will provide fans and critics of the Mountaineers alike with a clean slate, something much needed after the bumpy end to the 2024-25 campaign. This new squad, however, will face a whirlwind of familiar foes in conference play. That said, on-conference action comes first.

Related: Buyers and Sellers After WVU’s Fourth Straight Big 12 Loss

The Road Ahead

WVU will play an exhibition game against Wheeling at 4 P.M. on Sunday, October 26. This will serve as the final tune-up before the wins and losses count.

The regular season gets underway at 7 P.M. on November 4, when the Mountaineers open at home against Mt. Saint Mary’s inside the newly rebranded Hope Coliseum. It will be the first of 12-13 total nonconference games on the schedule. 

Big 12 Conference action starts with a road test against Iowa State on January 2, 2026. Other highlights of conference play include a home contest against the NCAA blue-blood Kansas Jayhawks on January 10, among others. 

A tall test awaits WVU, but there is plenty to look forward to when it comes to Mountaineer basketball. 

Final Wrap

WV Sports Nation will cover WVU men’s basketball all season long, including the home opener on November 4. 100.9 FM The Torch and its nine affiliate stations will serve as the flagship home for radio coverage from opening night until March. 

A season preview of WVU women’s basketball will also be made available on our website in the coming days.

For comprehensive coverage of WVU Athletics, stay up to date with WV Sports Nation.