MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Ross Hodge gets the first look at the second version of his West Virginia men’s basketball team when the Mountaineers meet Maryland at 3 p.m. Sunday in an exhibition inside XFINITY Center.
It’s an opportunity for a WVU team with 12 new players to see where it stands against a power conference program. For Hodge, the program’s second-year head coach, there will be plenty discovered beyond what the scoreboard shows.
“Big picture wise, what I’m most interested in seeing and excited about seeing is what are our huddles like, what is our bench going to be like during timeouts, how do we handle things that don’t go our way,” Hodge said. “The things that we’ve preached pretty much from the moment that we got here will be a bigger judgment on my end on how the day goes than solely what the scoreboard says. How do they communicate with each other, how do they respond to a negative call, how do they respond to me jumping on them. That’s ultimately how I’ll judge if it was a successful day or not.”
Save for guard Amir Jenkins, one of three holdovers from Hodge’s first WVU team who had separate offseason shoulder surgeries, the entirety of the Mountaineer roster is available.
An entirely new backcourt features decorated freshman Miles Sadler, several proven Division I players in Finley Bizack, Martin Somerville and Joson Sanon, and another freshman in Keonte Greybear looking to crack the rotation.
On the wing and in the front court, Brenen Lorient returns and is awaiting official wording on the status of his eligibility, as is Boise State transfer Javan Buchanan. Both will be in action against the Terrapins, as will Utah transfer Seydou Traore and sophomore center Mouhamed Sylla, a Georgia Tech transfer who has returned from a minor hand injury.
Freshmen centers Amadoi Sieni and Aliou Dioum also figure to make their college debut.
“If we were watching film, they would be able to verbally communicate exactly what is supposed to be happening and what they should be saying and doing. The challenge is can you take that from the practice room to the floor,” Hodge said. “Now it takes it one step further. It’s on someone else’s floor, in their gym, and that’s the challenge. Through a different fatigue and opponent and challenges that they present, can you still not be broken down by the game itself.
“The game, while made complicated through good players and coaches, is a simple game. What you’re trying to do is lengthen the amount of time that you can play the right way.”
WVU topped Maryland in a “secret” scrimmage last season, but this one will be played before the public and in College Park, Md., as opposed to a neutral setting.
The Terrapins struggled to a 12-21 record in Buzz Williams’ first season as head coach, but have worked to reshape the roster and are hopeful a healthy Pharrel Payne provides a much-needed boost. The 6-foot-9 Payne was the team’s top scorer at 17.5 points last season before having it cut short following 10 games as a result of a knee injury. Along with guard Andre Mills, that gives Maryland two returning double-figure scorers from last season, and the duo combined for 27 points in an 85-70 exhibition win against Georgia Tech last Sunday.
Kaden House (14) and Adam Tambedou (10) were also double-figure scorers against the Yellow Jackets, while Maryland has also added guard DJ Wagner and decorated freshmen Baba Oladotun.
“Really good blend of experienced guards and youthful talent,” Hodge said. “Payne is a load. He can hurt you in a lot of different areas. Their physicality on the perimeter with Wagner and [Bishop] Boswell is different than what we scrimmaged last year. They had a trial run under their belt. His teams have always made a big jump year 1 to year 2. I anticipate that just kind of watching them. They’re physical, they play really hard, they’re tough and deep. It’ll be a heck of a challenge.”
West Virginia will also partake in a pair of exhibitions against Mountain East Conference opponents — on October 23 at Glenville State and October 28 when it welcomes Wheeling.