After Years of Chaos, WVU Hoops is Finally Trending in the Right Direction

It's been a chaotic three years and some change for the West Virginia men's basketball program. A lack of stability across the board from the head coach, coaching staff, "front office", and the roster, which is why they have not made the NCAA Tournament since 2022-23.

But finally, things are starting to fall in place, and it seems as if Ross Hodge is on the cusp of building something special in Morgantown.

Year one for Hodge was full of ups and downs, from beating Pitt by the largest margin in Backyard Brawl history in the Coliseum to beating ranked teams like Kansas and BYU to losing absolute headscratchers to teams like Utah and Kansas State.

Through all of the struggles, he never changed. He remained confident in his squad, and they never stopped playing their tails off. Ending the year with 21 wins, a 7th-place finish in the Big 12, and the College Basketball Crown championship is something that should give Mountaineer fans optimism for the future.

With all due respect, if he can have that type of success with that group, which has severe limitations and an obvious lack of depth, what do you think he'll be capable of with this squad he and his staff formed, which ranks 14th in both the high school recruiting rankings and the transfer portal rankings?

It's still way too early to tell what the ceiling of this group is, but there are many reasons why the arrow seems to be pointing up for the Mountaineers.

Elite defense will continue to be this program's identity

Ross Hodge — WVU Athletics Communications

This past year's team was not full of defensive stalwarts by any means, yet they still finished 11th in the country in scoring defense (65.7 ppg allowed). You may say that it's just a factor of the slow pace that WVU plays at, but if you go to opposing field goal percentage, you'll find that they ranked 47th nationally and 17th among high majors at 42%.

And just think about it, WVU had zero rim protection. Now, they have Mouhamed Sylla, who averaged 1.2 blocks per game at Georgia Tech, Amadou Seini, who is capable of blocking two a game as a true freshman, and Aliou Dioum, who has the length and athleticism to impact shots at the rim as well.

Hodge turned Honor Huff and Treysen Eaglestaff into solid defenders, and he'll do the same with Miles Sadler, Finley Bizjack, Joson Sanon, and so on.

An elite recruiter

WVU assistant Yusuf Ali may be in line for a payday at some point, especially if many of these players he's helped the Mountaineers land turn into high-level players. Ali played a key role in the recruitment of Miles Sadler, Aliou Dioum, Amadou Seini, Mouhamed Sylla, and Joson Sanon. The connections he has in Arizona and Canada run deep, which is why you see West Virginia consistently in the mix for some of the top talent out there. Having an ace of a recruiter like Ali is what opens the door for sustained success.

An extremely talented young core to build around

Miles Sadler is special. There's no other way to put it. He is the face of this program and will be for years to come. But it's not like he's the only piece of the puzzle in place. West Virginia has three former top-30 recruits — Sadler, Mouhamed Sylla, and Joson Sanon — all of whom have multiple years of eligibility remaining. Throw in Keonte Greybear and Amadou Seini, and they have five players who were four-star recruits or higher when they were in high school.

This is not like anything we saw in the one year with Darian DeVries or this past season under Hodge, where it was a senior-heavy group with very few to no foundational pieces. This upcoming season is about setting the table for what's to come.

All of the drama, lack of stability, and disappointing seasons seem to be in the rearview mirror. Of course, none of it matters until you see the results in the win-loss column, but this train is on the right track.

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