Chance Moore Makes WVU Debut Friday, and Ross Hodge Says He Could Change Everything

Now that five games are in the books for West Virginia, Ross Hodge is one piece closer to being at full strength with St. Bonaventure transfer Chance Moore set to make his Mountaineer debut on Friday night against Clemson and the Charleston Classic.

While Honor Huff, Harlan Obioha, Treysen Eaglestaff, and Brenan Lorient were the headline names coming into the season, Moore is the guy who was flying under the radar, but he could end up being one of the X factors in regards to this team’s chance of making the NCAA Tournament.

His versatility allows Hodge to throw out multiple lineup combinations and get creative offensively.

“He gives you another upper-end athlete," Hodge said during his radio show Tuesday night. "He’s not as athletic as Brenen (Lorient) is. Brenen is an elite athlete amongst elite athletes, but Chance is a very high-end athlete. He’s a downhill presence with physicality that can drive the basketball. He can catch the ball on the perimeter, take one bounce, and can be at the rim, finishing through contact. He’s a good rebounder. Transition, when he gets long rebounds, he can push the ball with some pace. You can play bigger with him at one of those guard spots, but you could also go a little smaller with him and play him at one of those forward spots. Right now, when we go small, we go really small. We’re playing Morris (Ugusuk) at the four. You can be a little bigger when you go small. And we talk about the space that Honor (Huff) and Treysen (Eaglestaff) provide you, it’s another person that can really get downhill and get paint touches.”

Teams are no longer going to be able to just flock to Huff and Eaglestaff on the perimeter. They now have to worry about Moore putting the ball on the deck and attacking the paint, which will create more space for the aforementioned sharpshooters to do their thing. Because West Virginia has lacked the ability to pressure the rim, it has made life challenging for those guys, specifically Eaglestaff, who has really had a hard time settling into the offense. When he’s on the floor with Moore, he should be able to get more spacing and perhaps more clean looks at the basket.

Moore’s return to the floor should help West Virginia be a more efficient and dynamic team offensively.

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