Brett Vito 2023-09-15 08:23:50
UNT’s new men’s basketball coach says the team has ‘high internal expectations.’
Rubin Jones, a standout guard on the University of North Texas men’s basketball team, hasn’t noticed much of a difference this summer as the squad prepares for Ross Hodge’s debut season as the Mean Green’s coach.
Hodge, who began his career with UNT in 2017, has long been a key part of the program and is in charge now after Grant McCasland left for Texas Tech University.
“It’s the same with Coach Hodge running things,” Jones said. “He always had a big voice in what we did. We know what the expectations are.”
That’s to win, and to play elite defense – in that order.
Hodge was UNT’s defacto defensive coordinator for the majority of his six seasons as McCasland’s associate head coach.
Hodge was a big reason UNT earned a berth in the NCAA tournament and beat Purdue in 2021. His fingerprints were all over the Mean Green’s run to the National Invitation Tournament title last season as well.
It was only a matter of time before Hodge moved up in the pecking order among college basketball coaches. UNT offered him the opportunity he couldn’t pass up after McCasland’s departure.
“I’m working with special people, which is important,” Hodge said. “As we grew as an athletic program and a basketball program, I knew it was going to be harder and harder to leave.”
UNT athletic director Jared Mosley wasn’t about to let Hodge slip out the door and announced him as the Mean Green’s new coach just hours after they packed the NIT championship trophy and flew home from Las Vegas.
“This decision wasn’t a difficult one for me,” Mosley said when he introduced Hodge. “One thing I’ve always believed is that you don’t mess with a winning formula.”
UNT’s defensive prowess is a big part of that formula. McCasland, who often described Hodge as more of a co-coach than an assistant, turned coaching the Mean Green on the defensive end of the floor over to Hodge early in his tenure.
That decision paid huge dividends when UNT led the nation in scoring defense the last two years.
McCasland will be a tough act to follow. The Mean Green’s win over Purdue is the only win in the NCAA tournament in program history.
Hodge may be the perfect coach to tackle that challenge because he played an integral role in what UNT has built.
“You have to embrace it,” Hodge said. “We have high internal expectations. It’s a great model to try to sustain.”
Hometown
Dallas
Where he lives now
Denton
Education
Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M-Commerce
Family
Wife Shelly, son Reed and daughter Emery
Interesting fact
Hodge was a star guard at Texas A&M-Commerce and played against UNT in college.
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Ross Hodge
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