MAILBAG: Position Battles, Ross Hodge's Offense, Portal Signings + More

Good Tuesday morning, Mountaineer fans! It's time to crack open this week's West Virginia On SI mailbag.

From @coalcountrywvu:

Q: Football - Who do you think will be the starting corners now that Geimere and Maliek have been moved to N/S?

Basketball - We saw what being aggressive early in the shot clock can look like late in the Tech game when we made a push there at the end (Lorient scored on 4 straight possessions). Why are we not seeing more of that, and would you consider that a bad coaching decision if Hodge continues to roll with his run-the-clock-down offense?

A: Great question. My guess is that it will be Georgia State transfer Chams Diagne and Da'Mun Allen, who transferred in from Hutch C.C. His JUCO teammate, Rayshawn Reynolds Jr., will be in the mix there as well as Nick Taylor, who will play more corner this year. I'm intrigued by Keyshawn Robinson because of his ability to run, but not sure if he'll factor in.

Another great question. I've been very critical of the slow-paced nature of the offense. I do believe you can be slow and methodical while also not draining the clock on nearly every possession until its desparation time. I do think that playing with more pace early will help cure these atrocious starts to games, but that, in my opinion, would take Hodge starting Amir Jenkins over Jasper Floyd, and I'm just not sure that's going to happen. And yes, not making an adjustment should be criticized; however, he does have to play to his players' strengths. Harlan and Jasper aren't going to run up and down the floor very well, so you do have to be strategic with when you do pick it up.

From @wvu185:

Q: Does Coach Hodge need a offensive minded assistant to move this offense along, seems very stuck in the mud?

A: You may not like this answer, but no. I'm a big believer in the personnel is the root of the issue right now. You have too many one-dimensional players right now, which makes it incredibly easy for opposing teams to defend. Landing a few multi-level scorers will do wonders for this team next season.

From @CouchBurner24:

Q: How likely is CBS Sports correct, with their #15 selection for WVU in the Big 12?

A: About as likely that West Virginia will ditch the Old Gold and Blue for the black, white, and gray look full-time. It's not happening. I'm with you, I assume. The ranking is ridiculous and is mainly because of the massive turnover of the roster. The same writer has buried WVU at the bottom for several years, so I wouldn't take it very seriously. National writers don't have as good a pulse on the team as those of us locally do. I can't speak for others, but I can promise you, we'll shoot it straight to you.

From Mark Parsons:

Q: Did all WVU portal commits end up signing?

A: Yes! Finally! All transfer portal commits have signed and are officially on the roster. Keep your eyes peeled for an article later today where I'll provide the full list of newcomers with their jersey numbers and measurements.

To participate in next week's mailbag, send me a DM on X (@Callihan_) reply to my tweet asking for submissions on Saturday, or place your question in the comments section under my poston Facebook.

From @coalcountrywvu:

From @wvu185:

From @CouchBurner24:

From Mark Parsons:

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