What West Virginia desperately needs right now is stability and the Mountaineers are hoping that Ross Hodge brings that to Morgantown. After Bob Huggins’ resignation, Darian DeVries had a solid first year but bolted for the Indiana job just a few months ago. Hodge inherits a program that hasn’t been to the NCAA Tournament for a few seasons but has been a Big 12 contender within the last decade.
However, the recent momentum doesn’t really matter, since West Virginia will return basically none of their minutes from last season. Losing Tucker DeVries surprised nobody, but the Mountaineers saw basically everyone else enter the transfer portal, including underclassman forwards Amani Hansberry and Jonathan Powell. West Virginia’s win total improved by ten games last season, while Hodge is just hoping this new batch of talent can match last year’s progress.
First and foremost, Hodge took a few players with him from North Texas, namely Jasper Floyd at the point and Brent Lorient, a 6-9 forward. Seven-footer Harlan Obioha from UNC Wilmington should get the run at center while Treysen Eaglestaff established himself as a walking bucket at North Dakota last season and might be West Virginia’s best player this season, but someone else will play a more important role this year in Morgantown.
Among the new additions, 6-5 guard Chance Moore has a vital role to play. A former Top 100 prospect, Moore bounced from Arkansas to Missouri State to St. Bonaventure, putting up solid production these last three seasons. In his lone year with the Bonnies, Moore averaged 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his sole season as a starter.
Taking a step back, it’s easy to wonder why Moore is the most important piece. Eaglestaff might be the leading scorer while Floyd and Honor Huff have important duties running the point and providing sorely needed offense as well. For Moore, it’s his final chance to shine on the collegiate level and his opportunity to be the guy on a major conference program. He was inconsequential at Arkansas four years ago but if he can fix those shooting woes and continue to be a staunch rebounder then he can revolutionize this backcourt.
Moore doesn’t need to score 20 points a night for himself and these Mountaineers to be successful. We just don’t know any of these players will fit together or adjust from mid-major programs to life in the Big 12. Moore has the experience and the talent to be that major factor and his impact needs to be felt for West Virginia to be successful. He doesn’t have to be the leading scorer or shoot the cover off the ball, but Moore will impact the game in multiple ways.