What Are Realistic Expectations for Ross Hodge in Year Two at WVU?

For the first time in five years, West Virginia will have some stability in the men's basketball program with Ross Hodge returning for year two. The roster, however, is another story. That streak of massive turnover will continue as the Mountaineers will be losing a good chunk of their roster to graduation.

So with that being said, you might think it's way too early to have this discussion about what next year could and should look like, and I'd understand. We have no earthly idea as to who will be retained and who they will land out of the transfer portal.

But there are some pieces in place, and some we expect to remain that give us a good starting point. The freshman class of Miles Sadler, Kingston Whitty, and Aliou Dioum will give Hodge a strong young nucleus to work with, and with Sadler, you already know who your starting point guard will be.

As far as the returning pieces are concerned, I'm not sure of who will be back beyond Amir Jenkins and DJ Thomas. Neither of them is a sure bet to return, but I haven't heard anything to suggest that they wouldn't be back. They love Hodge, and the program and the coaching staff believe in both of them tremendously,

Now, the portal

I don't have a crystal ball, although that would be pretty cool, right? Not only would I be able to tell you who will be in a Mountaineer uniform, but I could also give you the next batch of lottery numbers.... just let a brother dream for a moment.

We will, however, get a good idea as to who they will be targeting in the coming days, as the portal officially opens on Tuesday, and offers are going out, and visits are being set up. One of the reasons I feel somewhat comfortable projecting how next year could look is because of the type of talent I believe Hodge will land out of the portal.

Much like Rich Rod and the football staff, they were playing behind the 8-ball last year with the portal. Hodge was piecing together his staff at WVU and game planning for games in the NIT to finish out his stint at North Texas. This year, there aren't nearly as many distractions or moving pieces. They know who plans to return, who doesn't, who they're losing, what they need, and who they can realistically land.

Alright...the projection...

Maybe I should stick to my original wording of "realistic expectation" here instead of projection since that crystal ball still hasn't arrived at my doorstep. I'm telling you, that damn Amazon driver drops something off at my door every morning at 5 a.m. (thanks to the Mrs.) and still... no crystal ball. Just more random stuff that we don't need, but I digress.

Anyways, because there's an actual concept of proof that Hodge's vision at WVU can work, he should be able to sign a higher tier of players out of the portal.

Are they going to splurge? No, absolutely not.

They aren't going to have one of the top 15 budgets in college basketball, so don't buy into the nonsense that they're "in the mix" to land every big name that is floated around just to drive clicks.

But they will tap into another level of players and one that should be able to equate to a top-six or so finish in the Big 12 Conference and a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Yes, there were a handful of extra games to help them get to that 21-win mark, but they did it. They finished the year seven games above .500 and finished four spots higher than they were picked in the Big 12.

If Hodge can accomplish that in year one with a roster with heavy limitations and a short bench, I'd say it's safe to assume they can snag a seat at the dance next year.

Oh, and just got another box at the door. This ought to be thrilling.