A few years ago the Big 12 was in a great place as a basketball conference even with just ten members. Fast forward and another round of realignment has increased that number to 16, with the conference boasting eight new members after saying goodbye to prominent programs in Oklahoma and Texas. Considering Arizona’s recent strength, the rise of BYU, and Houston’s place as an elite program, the conference is doing more than fine in its new form.
This is a league with some of the best head coaching talent in the entire country, but it’s more than just Bill Self or Kelvin Sampson. There are some talented rising names leading some of these programs and it’s not a surprise to see only a pair of head coaching moves from the past offseason. Utah needed a change after Craig Smith failed to make headway with the Utes, but former NBA head Alex Jensen isn’t the focus today.
West Virginia has been given something of a raw deal in recent years. Bob Huggins was marvelous in his long stretch leading his alma mater, including a Final Four back in 2010, but the end of his tenure in 2023 came amidst controversy. Josh Eilert did admirably as interim head coach, though that wasn’t the end of the tough times for the Mountaineers.
The program found a rising star in Darian DeVries, plucking him away after great work in the MVC at Drake. His initial season was full of potential, though injuries severely limited a Mountaineers squad that settled for a solid 19-win campaign. Unfortunately, DeVries bolted for Indiana in the offseason, understandably jumping at that chance in Bloomington.
Needing to nail a second head coaching hire in two offseasons, the Mountaineers have turned to Ross Hodge and might have found another rising star in this game. Hodge was a junior college coach in his earliest days before catching on as a D1 assistant, notably spending nearly a decade under Grant McCasland, the current head coach at Texas Tech. Hodge’s D1 head coaching career began in 2023 at North Texas, succeeding McCasland when he bolted for those Red Raiders.
Simply put, Hodge was a major part of the Mean Green becoming a prominent mid-major and continued to do great work as their head coach. He got North Texas to the NIT in each of his seasons, including an impressive 27-win campaign last year.
This still represents a major jump for Hodge, who has never worked at the power conference level in this sport. However, he’s landed solid new pieces like Treysen Eaglestaff and Chance Moore and should bring stability to Morgantown, something this program has lacked in recent years. West Virginia is banking on a relative unknown, but Hodge is a rising star and could just make a name for himself in the Big 12 in these coming years.