Ross Hodge Sounds Like a Coach Who Plans to Stick Around in Morgantown

West Virginia basketball fans were crushed this spring when they were wrongfully left out of the NCAA Tournament and then days later, lost their head coach after just one season at the helm, creating even more concern for a program that's had a rough go of it since Bob Huggins' interesting summer a few years ago.

With Darian DeVries bolting for Indiana, fans were worried that finding a coach who would win and stay for the long haul would be difficult. Yes, it's early, and he hasn't coached a single game in Morgantown yet, but Ross Hodge doesn't give off the vibe that he'll be using this job as a stepping ladder.

“There’s a lot of really, really great coaches out there at all levels that don’t get these opportunities. I’m thankful that I’ve been able to be in this position. It’s not something I take lightly. It’s not something I take for granted," he said in a recent interview with The Field of 68. "It’s a very humbling, exciting time — a lot of emotions come with that phone call. Just grateful. It’s humbling in a weird way that you get a chance to compete at this level and compete against the best coaches, the best players, and represent not only an incredible university and an incredible basketball program that has so much history, but also represent an entire state and the people. It’s awesome.”