Quick Hits: Ross Hodge Talks WVU Roster, Remaining Scholarship Spot, Amir Jenkins + More

The head Mountaineer caught up with local media on Thursday.

WVU Athletics Communication

West Virginia men's head basketball coach Ross Hodge met with the media for roughly 40 minutes Thursday afternoon to discuss how the roster has come together, how things are looking, and what's next on the agenda.

Below are some notable quotes from today's presser.

What the formula is for building a successful team here

“For us, what you try to do is (try to get) guys that have won and been part of winning programs. You look at Honor Huff, won the NIT. Big Harlan (Obioha) played in the NCAA Tournament. Jackson Fields played in the NCAA Tournament. Morris (Ugusuk) played in the NCAA Tournament as a freshman. Chance (Moore) has won 20 games every year he’s been in college. DJ (Thomas) won a lot of high school games. They have experience with winning and kind of understand that part of it and what winning takes. Now you’re just trying to get them to understand how are we going to win together?”

If they will use the final scholarship spot

“We still have one scholarship, and we’re working on that daily, and we do plan on using it with this class. At this point in time, best available more than anything. I think, commonly, most basketball fans look at rosters, and they always want you to add another big guy, which I get. But I always have to remind people, there’s usually only one big guy on the floor at a time, and there’s usually three little guys. We have pretty good balance on our roster as it is, so just trying to add the right person as much as anything.”

Landing Amir Jenkins

“Amir, feel really fortunate for that. It was a situation where he originally intended on doing another prep year, but like a lot of these guys, they have so many credits that they could really graduate as juniors if they wanted to. So it was really more of him just becoming comfortable with the opportunity that we had for him. We went really hard and really aggressive with him, and we’re excited to add him. He’s a good player. He’s won multiple state championships, played at a really high-level AAAU program, and makes other people better by being around him. I think the biggest thing with Amir is that he’s mentally ready.”

The overall theme with this team so far

“They really support each other. They’ve got great hearts, they’ve been great teammates. They’re willing learners; they want to do what we’re asking them to do. This group works really hard, they like each other, they care about basketball, and they’re excited to go on this journey.”

Treysen Eaglestaff and Honor Huff can have similar success at this level

“Yeah, because the thing both those guys can really do is shoot the basketball, which typically translates and they can both shoot it with range. They’re learning the defensive part of how we do things, but they’ve had a good summer, and both have worked really hard. Their bodies have changed, which is a big part of what you want to get accomplished in the summer. I expect them to be good players for us.”

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