MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Brenen Lorient’s third and final stop in his college basketball journey will be in his second season playing for Ross Hodge. Like Jasper Floyd, Lorient transferred from North Texas to WVU weeks after Hodge left UNT for Morgantown.
“He just fits me so well because I am an outspoken guy,” Lorient said. “I am not saying I like confrontation, but I am a guy that if I am doing bad, just yell at me. That’s exactly who he is. But at the end of the day, he always lets you know that he loves you and he cares for you and he wants you to succeed. Coach Hodge, there’s going to be some moments when he is not happy, of course. But at the end of the day, he always has a good heart about what he does.”
Lorient started his college career with a two-year stint at Florida Atlantic. The Ocala, Fla. native averaged 3.5 minutes per game as a freshman and 8.5 minutes per game as a sophomore. Although Lorient played sparingly in his first season, the Owls won the Conference USA Tournament and four games in the NCAA Tournament to reach the Final Four.
“That was the best time of my life. I never experienced anything like that. Just the love and support from everybody and that was the first time seeing super-high level basketball and what goes into that. That was really a blessing for me.”
After getting limited minutes with the Owls, Lorient transferred to UNT for his junior season.
“My first two years at FAU, I didn’t play much at the time. I thought it was a problem. But that’s exactly where I needed to be, learning all those good things from those good guys. Coming to North Texas, meeting [Coach] Hodge and coming to West Virginia is just perfect for me because I love to play defense. Coach Hodge is a guy that fits well with that. The culture here is great.”
At UNT, Lorient averaged 11.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game while coming off the bench in all 36 contests. He was named the Sixth Man of the Year in the American Athletic Conference.
“I just came off of two years of not playing. So any opportunity to me was more than enough. That’s all I needed. I was still doing my thing. Coach still believed in me when I went in.”
As returning players in Ross Hodge’s system, Floyd and Lorient can act as extra coaches for players that are getting up to speed. Lorient hopes he can impart knowledge from a different angle.
“To a certain extent, it can become redundant when you’ve got a coach telling you what to do and then you’ve got a player coming up and telling you what to do. I just try to give little tips here and there that helped me just so it doesn’t come off as like I am above you or anything like that.”
The 6-foot-9 forward plays alongside seven-foot center and UNC-Wilmington transfer Harlan Obioha.
“It makes it a lot easier for me. Usually at a smaller level, the guys are not seven-foot. So you’ve got to deal with rebounding for him but I am just as ferocious on the boards as he is. One of us has to get it. It is a blessing. And he is finishing a lot of things around the rim.”
As a native of Florida who later moved to Texas, Lorient admits the environment in Morgantown is much different than the other climates he has lived in.
“I am not used to any mountains, no curvy roads. And it was kind of cold this morning. I am not liking that. Everywhere I have been, it has been like 90 degrees all year round. It is definitely going to be an adjustment. But Morgantown has its own beauty in its own way and I am definitely enjoying that.”