"This is disgusting," "Culture shock" - Hoops fans react as West Virginia hires North Texas' Ross Hodge as its next HC

North Texas coach Ross Hodge led the No. 2 seed Mean Green to the semifinals of the National Invitational Tournament after a 61-59 win over the No. 4-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys on Tuesday evening. The Mean Green will play the winner of the clash between the U.C. Irvine Anteaters and UAB Blazers for a spot in the championship game.

On Wednesday, CBS Sports analyst Matt Norlander revealed on X that the West Virginia Mountaineers had hired Hodge as their new coach to replace Darian DeVries, who took the Indiana Hoosiers job last week.

According to CBS Sports, Hodge was among several coaches considered for the post, including Ben McCollum, who took the Iowa Hawkeyes job, and Richard Pitino, who was hired by the Xavier Musketeers.

Current Mountaineers athletic director Wren Baker worked with Ross Hodge when he was the North Texas AD (2016-2022).

College basketball fans on X had mixed reactions to West Virginia hiring Ross Hodge.

"This is disgusting. dark dark days ahead for wvu hoops," a comment read.

Some fans saw the bright side of the hire.

"Great hire," one fan tweeted.

"Love this. He’s a good one," another fan tweeted.

"Definitely not a sexy hire. hoping for the best," one fan tweeted.

Ross Hodge's coaching career

Ross Hodge started his coaching career at his alma mater, the East Texas A&M Commerce Lions, as an assistant coach (2003-2005) before taking the same position at Parish Junior College (2005-2006), where he also took his first head coaching job (2006-2009).

Before becoming the North Texas Mean Green head coach, Hodge was an assistant for Midlands College (2009-2011), the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (2011-2012), the Colorado State Rams (2012-2016) and the Arkansas State Red Wolves (2016-2017).

Hodge was the North Texas associate head coach under former coach Grant McCasland between 2017 and 2023 before he took over as head coach and has a 46-23 record at the helm of the Mean Green. He finished the 2024-2025 regular season in second place in the American Athletic Conference, earning an invitation to the NIT.

The Mountaineers' head coaching job has been a revolving door after Bob Huggins left in a scandal in 2023 before being replaced by interim coach Josh Eilert for one season. Eilert was succeeded by Darian DeVries, who took the Indiana job after one season in Morgantown. West Virginia finished the season with a 10-10 Big 12 and 19-13 overall record.

Before he takes the West Virginia Mountaineers job, Ross Hodge has to navigate a National Invitational Tournament semifinal with a chance to reach the championship game.