The landscape of college basketball recruiting has changed with the rise of the transfer portal.
That’s evident by the roster additions for West Virginia so far this off-season, with seven of the eight additions already coming from the database since Ross Hodge took over the program.
That option opens the door for quick revamps and gives college coaches a chance to hit the ground running when they take over new basketball programs. It’s the nature of college sports now with massive roster turnover annually and coaches being forced to replace those pieces with experienced options.
However, there’s still a place for high school and junior college recruiting.
And the first-year Mountaineers head coach believes he is equipped to handle the responsibilities of recruiting a national stage in his role at the high-major level. That’s because he’s already done it during his time at the junior college level, as an assistant and of course leading the North Texas program.
“I really feel comfortable recruiting nationally,” he said.
While leading the Mean Green, Hodge recruited players from all different pockets including the East Coast, Florida and even internationally to fill out his rosters. And like many other facets in recruiting, it ultimately boils down the connections made throughout the process.
“It’s about relationships. And we’ll work really hard to improve the relationships that we don’t have and meet new ones,” Hodge said.
During his time atop Paris J.C. and Midland, Hodge would go on an East Coast road trip in order to recruit players from large areas such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. So, while there are certainly strong Texas roots with Hodge, it isn’t the only area he has effectively recruited.
And with his role at West Virginia, one of the key pieces of the puzzle outside of the tradition that Hodge evaluated when taking the job is the resources that he will have at his disposal. The Mountaineers have the funding to take care of players and reward their success as well as top-notch facilities to attract others.
“Our practice facility situation and locker room situation is as good as anybody’s in the country,” Hodge said. “I was blown away.”
So, with the experience and infrastructure checked off the box as well as the commitment to putting a high-level basketball product on the floor with the upcoming revenue sharing aspect Hodge is prepared for the challenges of recruiting to Morgantown.
“You have to be able to do those things to be competitive,” he said.
