West Virginia basketball fans are no stranger to roster rebuilds in recent years – as the Mountaineers have had to pretty much had to piece their roster together from scratch each offseason over the past few years. Current head coach Ross Hodge is no stranger to it either, as he handled the task last offseason for WVU, and did it for several years as an elite JUCO head coach.
But the talent level the Mountaineers are adding is beginning look different than it did in years past, and with roster mostly filled out, there is a distinct difference between the make-up of the incoming roster compared to what fans might be used to in a typical WVU transfer portal haul.
WVU basketball adds St. John's guard Joson Sanon
The latest piece of the puzzle came on Sunday with the commitment of Joson Sanon, who made 37 appearances and 14 stats for St. John's last year, averaging 7.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and helping them make a run to the Sweet 16. Sanon spent his freshman season at Arizona State, averaging 11.9 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 27 appearances with nine starts.
Sanon is a valuable addition the the lineup, and could even potentially work in his way into the starting rotation. He also is a continuation of a couple promising trends for the Mountaineers as they enter the second season under Hodge's leadership, which is also the first time since 2022-2023 the program will have the same head coach as they had the year prior.
NEWS: St. John’s transfer guard Joson Sanon has committed to West Virginia, a source told @On3.
— Joe Tipton (@JoeTipton) May 3, 2026
The 6-5 sophomore averaged nearly 8 points per game this season and is a career 35% three-point shooter. Previously played at Arizona State. First by @DraftExpress.… pic.twitter.com/0ijLhDC3x3
Ross Hodge is building for West Virginia's future as he stacks elite young talent with Power 5 experience
The last time we checked in after the Mountaineers added Utah forward Seydou Traore, the topic of conversation was how Hodge was not just re-loading his roster with promising talent, but addressing a serious gap in last season's roster – lack of Power 5 experience.
That was an area last year's roster lacked in, and it was painfully visible multiple times through the season. It also wasn't as prevalent an issue with Darian DeVries' roster the year before. But now, with the addition of Sanon, the Mountaineers will have as much returning Power 5 experience as any West Virginia team has had for years.
The incoming roster will have now have played a combined total 269 games for Power 5 programs, and made 152 combined total starts – compared to just 67 games and six starts worth of Power 5 experience on last year's roster. That's all contributing to the 14th-best transfer class (second in the Big 12 behind Arizona State) according to 247Sports. And in addition to that, the Mountaineers are bringing in a Top 15 high school recruiting class according to ESPN.
And both the portal and high school class are loaded with talent that has been rated at one time or another four-star and five-star talent. Transfers Mouhamed Sylla and Joson Sanon were four-star prospects and among ESPN's Top 30 players in their respective high school classes. Current freshman Miles Sadler is a five-star talent ranked the 16th overall prospect nationally. And there are three other four-stars committed in the high school class as well.
And those high school players will be joined by a number of transfers with multiple years of eligibility remaining. Sylla has three years of eligibility left, and Sanon has two years remaining, as does guard Martin Somerville. And if the NCAA's 5-for-5 eligibility rule is passed – and it's looking like it will – Finley Bizjack and Seydou Traore could each have two years remaining as well.
So instead of a roster filled with six players that will run out of eligibility at the end of the season, the Mountaineers now have one that will see just three players at most (and possibly just one) that will see their career come to an end after next season. That leaves a lot more room to retain a few key pieces of your roster moving forward.
So yes, Ross Hodge hasn't just re-built WVU's roster – he has transformed it into something completely different than it has been in recent years. And that's a reason for West Virginia fans to be excited ahead of next year.
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