Three Big Things for WVU Hoops in 2025-26
- Olly Reed
- Nov 2, 2025
- 2 min read
The 2025-26 West Virginia Men's Basketball season is officially upon us, and the Mountaineers are looking to exceed expectations in Year One of the Ross Hodge era. Here are my three big things that the Mountaineers will have to do to compete for an NCAA Tournament bid in March.
WVU must win the Non-Conference slate/defeat low ranked Big 12 teams.
The Mountaineers won most of their non-conference games under current Indiana Head Coach Darian DeVries last season (going 9-2 only falling to Pitt and Louisville) but had a difficult time dealing with some of their conference games against low ranked Big 12 opponents in 2025. West Virginia had good quality wins over Iowa State, Cincinnati (twice), and Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse, but struggled to get anything going against Arizona State, TCU on the road, and lost to Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City. The big games in the Non-Con for this Mountaineer team is facing Pitt at home (Nov. 13th), going up against Clemson and Georgia or Xavier in the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic in South Carolina (Nov.21st-23rd), Wake Forest at the Charleston Coliseum (Dec.6th) and Ohio State at Rocket Arena in Cleveland (Dec.13th). If WVU can win those games, that should be a huge confidence boost for Coach Hodge and company heading into conference play in 2026.
Mountaineers Need to Stay Healthy.
Last season West Virginia did not have that much depth with injuries and lack of size effecting their NCAA Tournament chances. In 2025-26, the Mountaineers have the size and skillset to compete in the Big 12, with seven of eleven impact players listed at 6'5 or taller. As of now, Treysen Eaglestaff (6'6), Brenen Lorient (6'9), DJ Thomas (6'9), Jayden Forsythe (6'5) and Harlan Obioha (7'0) are the main Wings/Forwards leading the way, as 5th year senior wing Chance Moore (6'6) has to sit out 5 games due to NCAA Eligibility rules and senior forward Jackson Fields (6'8) out for the first two weeks of the season with a wrist injury. Once WVU gets those guys back and healthy, they will provide a spark on the defensive end and help the Mountaineers succeed in 2025-26. Guards Honor Huff, Jasper Floyd, Amir Jenkins and Morris Ugusuk also bring in good depth in the backcourt.
Who will be The X-Factor?
There are a ton of players on this roster that could be the X-factor for the Mountaineers this season, but the two players in my opinion that will light it up this year are freshmen Amir Jenkins and DJ Thomas. Both players come from winning high school programs and bring in strong defensive mindsets to the table. Jenkins is a solid guard that is quick with the ball in his hands and can drive to the rim at a high rate, with Thomas being a burly force in the paint to get good defensive stops. West Virginia has talented players this year with Eaglestaff and Huff being the top scorers on the team, but Coach Hodge will rely on Jenkins and Thomas to make plays coming off the bench, as he has shown high praise for them during the offseason. These two players will be a must watch in 2025-26.
