The West Virginia men's basketball program is onto yet another head coach -- their fourth in four seasons -- and one of that coach's former rivals in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) expects the hire to go very well for Mountaineer Nation.
Former All-American and NBA All-Star and current Memphis Head Coach Penny Hardaway has spent the past two seasons battling against Hodge's North Texas program in the AAC, and he has come away from his clashes quite impressed with Hodge.
In fact, he believes Hodge is a "big-time" coach and that he will have the ability to bring West Virginia's men's basketball program back to their "glory days."
"Ross is definitely one of my favorite coaches in the country. He is the next big-time coach to take West Virginia back to the glory days of winning and playing in NCAA Tournaments," Hardaway said.
"He is arguably one of the best in the country defensively and his teams will always be a hard out. They are relentless in their efforts for 40 minutes. It's one of the hardest teams that I have ever had to coach against because they're so tough."
Held in high esteem 📈
— WVU Men's Basketball (@WVUhoops) March 27, 2025
💬 Penny Hardaway on @coachrosshodge pic.twitter.com/zezKbOeUc3
Hardaway is not the first major name in college basketball to share a high opinion of Hodge since the news broke the Mountaineers would be bringing the young coach to Morgantown. A number of folks in the sport, including Baylor's Scott Drew, Texas Tech's Grant McCasland, Michigan's Dusty May, and former coach and current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla, have all shared their positive opinion on Hodge.