Ross Hodge Eyes Big 12 Title in Year One Despite WVU’s Entirely New Roster

We've all seen how difficult it is for a first-year head coach to win. Just look at what's going on with WVU football in year one under Rich Rodriguez. But we've also seen that it can be done, especially on the basketball side of things, even with an entirely new roster.

Darian DeVries nearly took the Mountaineers to the NCAA Tournament in his one and only year in Morgantown, and if it weren't for one of the biggest snubs in the history of the event, WVU would have been dancing.

Ross Hodge, like Rodriguez, believes that setting the goal anything short of a Big 12 title is not acceptable. Is it realistic? Maybe not, but it's definitely not going to happen if you don't have that mindset. The same goes for winning the whole damn thing.

“That is the mindset (to win the Big 12). As we know, it is difficult to win one game in the Big 12," Hodge said. "It’s difficult to win a college basketball game, period, let alone 20 games, let alone championships, let alone national championships. It’s not lost on me on how difficult it is, but at the same time, I think there is a way to win each game that you play. Your big picture goal is to win a national championship. We do want to win Big 12 championships. That is the ultimate goal. But in that short term, I’m just trying to get our guys to sprint back on defense, call ball, and stay in a stance.”

Only one piece of last year's roster, Abraham Oyeadier, returns, but these guys have been together for several months now, and by the time they take the court on October 26th for the exhibition against Wheeling, they'll have a pretty good feel for one another and what each player's strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies are.

Punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament in year one would be a great first step for the program, and anything more than that would just be the cherry on top.

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