Grant McCasland Raves About West Virginia’s New Head Coach
West Virginia basketball officially took a step toward the future on Tuesday with the announcement of Ross Hodge as the Mountaineers’ next head coach.
The 44-year-old has spent the last two seasons as the head coach at North Texas, and has amassed a 46-23 record during his time with the Mean Green. Before that, he spent six seasons as the associate head coach in Denton under Grant McCasland, whom he followed over from Arkansas State.
When McCasland took the Texas Tech job in 2023, Hodge stepped right in and took over the UNT program, and it never skipped a beat. Now, as Hodge steps into the WVU program, McCasland will have to face off against a familiar face and one of his best friends.
“Ross Hodge is like a brother,” McCasland said. “And just take basketball out of it. He’s one of my best friends. I just love him because I think a lot of people want to be in college athletics because of these opportunities, playing in the Sweet 16 and what people think is really important.
“But Ross Hodge is a guy that loves his wife. He loves his daughter and his son. And he loves the guys that he gets to be around every day.”
McCasland already shares the conference with two of his former colleagues in Jerome Tang and Scott Drew, and now the addition of Hodge puts him in quite a predicament, as he believes the Mountaineers just made one heck of a hire.
“I just respect him because I believe that he cares about the right things,” McCasland said of Hodge. “If there’s anybody that I believe can win at West Virginia, it’s Ross Hodge. I say that because we’re going to have to play against him, too. But I honestly believe that.”
Hodge and the UNT Mean Green just defeated Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals of the NIT Tournament on Wednesday. They will now face UC Irvine in the semifinals on Tuesday, April 1, as Hodge will finish out the remainder of the season with North Texas before moving on to West Virginia.
