Seydou Traore's reason for choosing WVU proves Ross Hodge is coach the program needs

When it comes to players with starting Power 5 experience in the transfer portal, they have the ability to attract some of the top suitors in the sport: so they have the luxury of being particularly picky about who they offer their services to. And the longer the portal stays open, the better chance a player has to land an exorbitant pay day.

So when a player like Seydou Traore, who started for two different Power 5 programs in the past two seasons, hits the portal, there is no shortage of potential landing spots. And when he remained in the portal as other premium talent was picked up off the board, teams that still had openings that needed filled were ready to pay handsomely to bring him aboard.

So what made him end up with the West Virginia Mountaineers?

Seydou Traore's relationship with Ross Hodge a deciding factor in bring him to WVU basketball

Traore recently discussed his commitment to the Mountaineers, and what went into making that decision. And he pulled no punches when describing what the biggest factor was in bring his talents to Morgantown – and that appears to be his new head coach.

"The reason why I chose WVU was because the coaching staff, you know, and Coach Hodge, the conversations we had on my visit just made it a no-brainer," Traore said.

You couldn't get much more of a glwoing review for West Virginia's current head coach. Any basketball coach can master the X's and O's on the court, but not all of those coaches find success at the highest level of the sport. The ones that do, however, are also able to form intimate connections with the players in their roster and effectively convey why their program in the right choice for a player.

Traore's comments make it clear that Hodge seems to have that ability, and that will go a long way in helping re-establish West Virginia as a national contender in the sport. There was of debate in recent year as to who should be the program's head coach after the fall out from the end of the Bob Huggins tenure, and multiple coaching services gave plenty of fuel for that debate.

But from listening to Traore, it becomes pretty obvious that while Josh Eilert or Darian DeVries may not have been the right choice to lead the West Virginia program, Ross Hodge appears to have what it takes. And a large part of that is his ability to form connections with talent that makes joining the program a "no-brainer."

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