West Virginia hires mid-major coach after Darian DeVries' exit

03/26/2025 01:19 PM

When the West Virginia Mountaineers hired Darian DeVries away from the Drake Bulldogs on March 24, 2024, the assumption was that the successful mid-major coach would likely be around in Morgantown for the long haul. However, less than one full year later, DeVries decided that West Virginia was not the place he belonged, hopping on one of those country roads and making the 430 mile drive to Bloomington to take over as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers.

This development forced the Mountaineers to start back at square one as they looked to find their long-term successor to Bob Huggins, but as of Wednesday morning, they’ve officially landed their guy.

“West Virginia is hiring North Texas coach Ross Hodge on a five-year contract,” tweets Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. “Hodge has ties to WVU AD Wren Baker, who was at UNT before getting to WVU.”

Ross Hodge had a 46-23 record as the head coach North Texas, leading the Mean Green to 27 wins during the 2024-25 season, their second-highest single-season win total in program history. North Texas still has a chance to add to that total, as the Mean Green have already punched their ticket to the NIT Semifinals. Hodge also went 146-24 in five seasons coaching at the junior college level, taking Midland College to the NJCAA National Championship Game in 2011, which landed him a spot on Larry Eustachy’s bench at Southern Mississippi.

Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes and former New Mexico head coach Richard Pitino were considered candidates for the West Virginia job earlier in the week. Pitino ultimately ended up taking the head coaching position at Xavier, joining his father in the Big East, while Forbes is still looking to lead the Demon Deacons to their first NCAA Tournament appearance during his tenure after going 130-43 in five years at East Tennessee State.

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