'I Made a Mistake': Ross Hodge Reflects on His Interaction With Aliou Dioum

Ross Hodge shows his appreciation for Aliou Dioum after getting on him.

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For the first time since taking the job at West Virginia, we saw Ross Hodge's ability to really get after someone when they make a critical, yet avoidable mistake.

We've seen him get hot, but not like he did in Wednesday night's exhibition, where he charged onto the Coliseum floor to let freshman center Aliou Dioum know that he can't hang on the rim after a dunk.

Hodge made it known on his radio show Thursday night that the two have moved on from the situation and that everything is good between them, but he says he wished he had corrected Dioum differently.

"He’s just like a gangly kind of young deer and made a mistake, and I forgot; in the midst of his making a mistake, I made a mistake. I should have called a timeout first. But I love Aliou, and I love his passion. It was a teachable moment, and he was standing right next to me when we were singing Country Roads, and he’s like, ‘I got to learn all the words to this song, Coach!”

Hodge also praised Aliou for his passion for the game, the way he is every single day at practice, and credited him with helping put parts of this team together, believe it or not.

“Aliou was actually our first high school commit, and (assistant coach) Yusuf (Ali), rightfully so, garnered a lot of national attention for his recruiting prowess for Miles (Sadler) and Mo (Sylla) and these other guys, but I’m not so sure if we were placing percentages of importance in the recruiting processes of those other guys; again, Yusuf, rightfully so, but right under him is Aliou. He’s young, but he’s spent the most time in the States. He’s been here the longest, even more than Mo, even though Mo is older than him, so they do listen to him. He’s got a very strong personality, very engaging, funny, witty, never has a bad day, bringing the energy every day in practice."

Dioum is going to be a big piece of the puzzle for the Mountaineers in the near future. Once he fills out his frame and the game starts to slow down for him, he will have a significant role as a disrupter on the defensive end and someone who can create second opportunities with his relentless effort on the glass.

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