MORGANTOWN — Like a jilted spouse, many West Virginia men’s basketball fans may be a little leery about getting too emotionally attached too quickly to the Mountaineers’ new coach.
After all, Darian DeVries left behind plenty of hurt feelings when he bolted to Indiana after just one season at West Virginia.
Thus, when Ross Hodge was introduced as WVU’s new coach last week, people were looking for assurances that he wouldn’t also be one-and-done.
He tried to soothe those concerns because he hasn’t been a job-hopper in the past, having spent the last eight years at North Texas, the first six as an assistant coach and the last two in charge.
“I had several opportunities to leave when I was an assistant at North Texas for what some people would say were bigger and better opportunities at bigger brands, higher levels, more money, and ultimately that’s not necessarily what I’m interested in,†said the 44-year-old Hodge, a Dallas native. “I’m interested in being at a place that we can call home.
“This move was not an easy move; I’ll be perfectly honest,†added Hodge, who along with his wife, Shelly, has two teenage children, Emery and Reed.
“We talked a lot as a family and shed a lot of tears. We had deep, meaningful relationships in Denton, and that’s something that’s very important to us.â€
For most of his life, Texas was Hodge’s home. His children have spent a majority of their formative years in Denton, Texas.
Now the Hodge family will be making the 1,240-mile transition to Morgantown.
“It’s not something we take lightly, moving a family,†Ross said. “There were probably only a handful of situations that we would have even considered. I’m leaving Texas; that’s where I’m from originally, and much of my immediate family is there. But the opportunity to get Shelly back closer to her family [her mother lives in Millersville, Maryland] is also something that is very important to us.â€
The buyout due WVU from DeVries’ departure will pay the Mountaineers $6.15 million. Hodge’s memorandum of understanding is a five-year deal with total compensation of $15 million before annual performance incentives are added.
Hodge would face stiff financial penalties if he left WVU before the end of his contract, starting at 75% of the unpaid total compensation due to WVU if he departs before April 30, 2026 (currently $11.25 million), which decreases to 56.25% from May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027 ($6.87 million on May 1, 2026) and then 37.5% after April 30, 2027 ($3.49 million on May 1, 2027).
Hodge, though, said that’s not what motivates him.
“Obviously, I’m a basketball coach,†Hodge said. “I’m paid to win games, win championships. I understand that, but people are what’s important to us.â€
Since World War II, no previous West Virginia men’s basketball coach, outside of interims, had spent less than four years on the job. And from 1979-2023, WVU had just three people who were its full-time coaches — Gale Catlett from 1979-2002, John Beilein from 2003-07 and Bob Huggins from 2008-23.
“I’ll work hard every day to make everyone proud to be a West Virginia Mountaineer,†Hodge said.
