Ross Hodge Still Has Zero Answers for the Slow Starts: 'We've Evaluated It All'

The Mountaineers may shake up the starting five, but it may be too late for it to matter.

Feb 18, 2026; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers head coach Ross Hodge argues as he walks into the locker room for halftime against the Utah Utes at Hope Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-Imagn Images | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

Another game, another slow start for West Virginia, and this time, it came back to bite them. They've been able to overcome huge deficits against Cincinnati and UCF, but continuing to play that way, in this league, is playing with fire.

WVU head coach Ross Hodge has spoken about it ad nauseam with both the media and his team, yet they still don't have any answers.

Of all the things folks have complained about this season regarding Hodge, this is really the only one I see as concerning. Why is this being allowed this many games in? Hodge said it himself last night when taking accountability for the sluggish starts, saying, "You're either coaching it or allowing it. It does fall on me."

So, what can change? Well, a variety of things.

The type of pace that you play with, the actions you run offensively, how you guard the ball coming out, and so on. But the truth is, you're not going to be able to completely reinvent yourself with five games left in the season. The easiest thing to switch up is the starting lineup, which Hodge has considered and is considering.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve considered it. We’ve considered it all, in particular at home. I’ve never been a guy that’s went and stayed in hotels at home games, but a lot of people do that just to kind of keep the feel and the routine consistent. Starting lineups, you evaluate it. We’ve evaluated where we go with the ball early. Who gets the ball early? What type of shots are you getting early? All of it. Sub a little faster, and there’s been some stretches where we’ve let them (the starters) go a little longer. We’ve evaluated it all, and we’ll continue to evaluate it all.”

Changing the starting five is not as big a deal as most make it out to be. When it happens, there's this huge reaction as if the player who gets removed isn't going to have as big an impact or will see fewer minutes. That's rarely the case.

Hodge can take my suggestion, just as an example, and swap out Jasper Floyd for Amir Jenkins to begin the game. Floyd can still play his typical 25-27 minutes per game even if he's not starting. The same goes for Treysen Eaglestaff if they opt to give Chance Moore the starting nod.

You're not completely replacing the player. All you're doing is shuffling the rotations, reallocating the minutes slightly, and trying to generate a better start.