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Ross Hodge Brings Continuity And Experience To His New Role As North Texas Head Coach

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Basketball

UNT Vice President and Director of Athletics Jared Mosley has announced the hiring of Ross Hodge as the 19th head coach in Mean Green men's basketball history.

"I'm excited to announce the elevation of Ross Hodge to serve as our next head coach for UNT Men's Basketball," Mosley said. "Ross has been an integral part of the culture and identity of this team the past six years and has earned the opportunity to lead us into the American Athletic Conference. His experience as a head coach who won more than 85 percent of his games over five seasons, his ability to attract high-level talent, and his track record of building a championship culture will serve our program well moving forward.  I'm happy to have Ross, Shelly, Emery and Reed representing UNT in this new capacity."

A 22-year coaching veteran, Hodge joined the UNT staff in 2017 and spent the last six seasons as associate head coach under Grant McCasland. In that time, the Mean Green posted a 135-65 record with three Conference USA championships, the program's first NCAA Tournament victory, the 2023 NIT championship, and the 2018 College Basketball Invitational championship.

UNT won back-to-back conference titles for the first time and posted a 10-3 record in postseason after never winning a postseason contest prior to the staff's arrival.

The 2022 Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Texas DI Assistant Coach of the Year has turned UNT into one of the top defensive teams in the nation with the program leading Division I in scoring defense the last two seasons (2022-23, 55.8 ppg) and (2021-22, 55.7 ppg). The 2021-22 total set a new Conference USA record.

In his six seasons at North Texas, Hodge has recruited and coached 23 all-conference honorees including two Conference USA Player of the Year winners in Javion Hamlet (2020) and Tylor Perry (2023) – UNT's only winners in the last 30 years.

"I would like to thank President Neal Smatresk and Director of Athletics Jared Mosley for the opportunity to be the next head coach at the University of North Texas," Hodge said. "For the past six years we have poured our hearts into building a championship level program that this university and community can be proud of. I'm forever grateful to all the players and staff, past and present, who have helped us get here. We look forward to building on that amazing success and competing for more championships. My family and I couldn't be more excited to continue being part of the Denton community and Mean Green Nation."

UNT's 31 wins in 2022-23 set a new program record as the Mean Green won the 2023 NIT including victories over Oklahoma State and Wisconsin. Over the last two seasons, North Texas has the nation's seventh-best overall winning percentage (.800) right ahead of Duke (.787).

Since 2019, UNT has had an average NET ranking of 55, which is the 40th highest in the nation. It's the highest among C-USA schools and the fifth highest among schools in Texas. Only Baylor, Houston, Texas Tech and Texas have a higher four-year NET average.

In 2021-22, the Mean Green won a then record 25 games and posted a program-best 16-2 league record as well. Between January and March of 2022, North Texas won a program-record 15 straight games in route to the regular season title. North Texas earned its first-ever NIT win that season and reached the second round before falling in overtime to Virginia.
Hodge helped lead North Texas to its first NCAA Tournament appearance in over a decade during the 2020-21 season as the program won four games in four days at the 2021 C-USA Tournament to capture the title and the automatic bid. In the NCAA Tournament, the Mean Green earned a program-best seeding (No. 13) and upset Purdue, 78-69, in the first round for the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament victory, The win was also North Texas' first over an AP Top 25 opponent since 1971.

The NCAA Tournament victory came on the heels of the 2019-20 season where the Mean Green captured the 2020 C-USA regular season title with a 14-4 league record. At the time it was the program record for conference wins. North Texas earned the No. 1 seed in the 2020 C-USA Tournament before the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UNT hit the ground running in Hodge's first season at North Texas. The Mean Green captured the 2018 CBI championship, which was the program's first national postseason championship. Prior to UNT, Hodge spent one season at Arkansas State (2016-17), four seasons at Colorado State (2012-16) and one at Southern Miss (2011-12).

Before entering the Division I ranks, Hodge had a highly-successful stint as a junior college head coach amassing a record of 144-24 in five seasons at Paris Junior College and Midland Junior College including three regular season titles and an appearance in the NJCAA Championship game. He also spent two years as an assistant coach at his alma mater, Texas A&M-Commerce from 2003-05.

A native of Dallas, Hodge was a two-year starter at Paris Junior College. He finished his playing career at Texas A&M-Commerce, where he graduated in 2003. He and his wife, Shelly, have a daughter, Emery, and a son, Reed.