As West Virginia gears up for its final non-conference test of the season on Monday, the timing couldn’t be better. The Mountaineers return to the court against Mississippi Valley State in what will be their only game over a 19-day stretch-a rare breather in the grind of the college basketball calendar. That stretch includes final exams, a holiday break, and, perhaps most unusually, a weekend completely devoid of basketball.
This pause comes after a whirlwind start to the season. West Virginia played its first seven games in just 20 days, a pace that left little room for recovery, let alone full-team practice. So, this window has been more than just a break-it’s been a reset.
“You get some much-needed mental and physical rest coming off Saturday’s game (against Ohio State),” head coach Ross Hodge said. “And then also the ability to focus on ourselves for the week and try to do what we didn’t get to do a lot of in the fall, which is practice with our entire team. So, that’s been nice.”
And that’s no small thing. WVU (8-4) has been navigating a season filled with moving parts since summer workouts began.
The roster has been in flux for months. Forward Jackson Fields suffered a broken hand in July that required surgery.
Guard Amir Jenkins didn’t arrive until just before the fall semester. Center Harlan Obioha and guard Morris Ugusuk battled lingering injuries, with Ugusuk missing the team’s closed-door scrimmage against Maryland.
The result? For the first five games, West Virginia was essentially running with an eight-man rotation.
Chance Moore wasn’t eligible yet. Fields was still sidelined.
That’s a tough way to build chemistry, let alone establish a rhythm.
And even once players started trickling back in, the practices were often dictated by game prep-watching film, breaking down scouting reports, and moving quickly from one opponent to the next. There was little time to focus inward.
That’s what makes this stretch so valuable.
“What we’ve been able to do this week is have full-on, competitive, live scrimmage situations where your best players are playing the best players, and you can do it for long periods of time,” Hodge said. “You can kind of get back to building foundational habits and your base of what you want to be, and you can only really do that if you have the ability to practice.”
It’s a crucial stretch of development, especially with Big 12 play looming. Conference action starts Jan. 2 with a road trip to No.
4 Iowa State-a tough assignment under any circumstances. That makes Monday’s matchup against Mississippi Valley State a must-handle situation.
The Delta Devils are 1-10 heading into their game against Florida State and have dropped 19 straight games against Division I opponents. Their lone win came against a Division III program.
West Virginia is expected to take care of business, but the game offers more than just a chance to pad the win column. It’s a live opportunity to integrate players like Moore and Fields into the game plan now that they’re fully available.
Moore had been practicing while ineligible, but there’s a difference between working out and being part of a cohesive rotation. Fields, too, is just now getting his legs under him after debuting in Game 8.
Meanwhile, Obioha and guard Treysen Eaglestaff are still trying to carve out consistent roles-no small task when the lineup is still taking shape. That’s two starters and two key depth pieces all trying to gel at once, and it’s happening in real time.
But Hodge sees something promising in how this group has handled adversity.
“What I’ve learned about our team is they take accountability,” he said. “They don’t fight back against what they’re being asked to do.
We haven’t quite been able to do it at the level that we’d like to, but Trey, he mirrors the rest of the team. When we go and we’re watching and having these film sessions, it’s not like they’re disagreeing where we’re hurting ourselves in these close games.”
That kind of buy-in matters. Especially for a team that’s had its share of close calls and growing pains. Hodge believes those experiences-both the tough losses and the tough practices-are starting to pay dividends.
“You can see it. They recognize it,” he said.
“Now we’ve got to be able to put ourselves through difficult situations in practices and just the experiences of these tough losses and learn from it and grow from it. But again, I’ve learned that they have a great ability to bounce back from disappointment and difficult losses.
It hasn’t impacted their belief. It hasn’t impacted their work ethic.
It hasn’t impacted their coachability. That allows you to get better.”
So while Monday’s game might not jump off the schedule, it’s a key checkpoint for a team still finding its identity. With the Big 12 gauntlet just around the corner, West Virginia is using this rare window to regroup, reset, and-finally-practice like a full team.