Head Coach Ross Hodge and the new-look Mountaineers are less than 3 weeks away from tipping off the season when Mount Saint Mary’s comes to visit the Hope Coliseum. On paper, Coach Hodge and his staff did a terrific job assembling a roster for the 2025-26 campaign. They did so by recruiting talented incoming freshmen and picked up a number of talented players via the transfer portal, many of whom are coming from winning programs during their collegiate careers. In other words, players on this WVU roster know what it takes to be a part of a winning program at this level.
Among the players on the roster, the highly coveted Treysen Eaglestaff, Honor Huff, and Brenen Lorient are expected to have a big impact with the Mountaineers. But there is one player who may very well be asked to play a huge role on this team is seemingly flying under the radar despite his proven capabilities on both offense and defense. Senior guard Chance Moore has the skillset to put together an impressive season with WVU basketball in his final year of eligibility.
Chance Moore – Senior, St. Bonaventure – 13 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.3 SPG, 1.1 APG
Morgantown will be Moore’s fourth stop playing collegiate basketball. After receiving limited playing time at Arkansas during the 2021-22 season, Moore found a home at Missouri State for 2 seasons, where he was a double-figure scorer. This past season, Moore was a starter for the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. He helped the 22-12 Bonnies by being the team’s second-leading scorer, leading rebounder, and leading shot blocker. Listed as a 6’6 guard, Moore has proven to be a solid defender and rebounder and will look to flourish in a Ross Hodge-led defensive system.
"We are excited to have Chance join the WVU basketball program," WVU head coach Ross Hodge said this past summer. "Chance has the ability, size, and physicality to impact both sides of the ball and impact winning at a high level. He is a high character individual who will align closely with the values of WVU, the state of West Virginia, and our basketball program.”
While averaging 13 points per game on a St. Bonaventure team that reached the NIT, Moore scored in double figures 21 times. His 6.5 rebounds per game led to his being ranked 10th in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding.
Moore had a season-high in scoring of 27 against Canisius and picked up 12 rebounds in a game against VCU. Prior to St. Bonaventure, Moore spent two seasons at Missouri State, where he was a double-figure scorer. Interestingly enough, Moore has already played at the Coliseum and seemed very comfortable in doing so. Moore and the Missouri State Bears opened their season in Morgantown in 2023. Moore led all scorers with 24 points and collected 8 rebounds. WVU won by a final score of 67-59.
While Moore’s strength doesn’t come from beyond the arc, he does have a knack for finding a way to score points. Through 94 games over the last three seasons (at Missouri State and St. Bonaventure), Moore has averaged double-figures in scoring. For his career, Moore is a 30.3% 3-point shooter and 62.6% free-throw shooter. As he takes the step up to Big 12 conference play, being a more consistent shooter would add another element to his game.
Overall, while the likes of Treysen Eaglestaff and Honor Huff receive a lot of the publicity for their respective skill sets on the offensive end, Chance Moore is a proven player as well who can do a little bit of everything. Mountaineer fans should be thrilled to have Moore in Morgantown and eager to see how his skill set defensively aligns with Ross Hodge’s defensive system. If West Virginia has the kind of success that they are hoping to under Hodge in year 1, there’s a good “chance” that Chance Moore will be a big reason why.