MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Ross Hodge has rounded out his first roster at WVU with Friday’s verbal commitment from 6-foot-8 small forward Evans Barning Jr. He announced his intention on social media to reclassify from the Class of 2026 to enroll at West Virginia for the fall semester.
Mountaineer 💛💙!! pic.twitter.com/qES37U7bk3
— Evans Barning Jr (@EvansBarning_) August 15, 2025
Barning Jr. is a native of Washington, D.C. and he competed at Archbishop Carroll during the 2024-2025 season. He is the second Class of 2026 player to reclassify to the Class of 2025 after receiving an offer from WVU. Guard Amir Jenkins signed with West Virginia in July.
Also on Friday, WVU released their full non-conference schedule for the 2025-2026 season. The Mountaineers will open up Hodge’s first season with five consecutive games at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia will host Mount St. Mary’s on Tuesday, November 4. Home games against Campbell (Nov. 6), Lehigh (Nov. 9), Pittsburgh (Nov. 13) and Lafayette (Nov. 17) follow.
After playing a pair of games in the Charleston Classic in South Carolina (Clemson, Georgia/Xavier), WVU will return home to host Mercyhurst (Nov. 30) and Coppin State (Dec. 3).
Wake Forest visits the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center on December 6. Home games against Little Rock (Dec. 9) and Mississippi Valley State (Dec. 22) are sandwiched around a game against Ohio State in Cleveland (Dec. 13).
The Mountaineers will host Wheeling University in an exhibition game on Sunday, October 26.