The West Virginia Mountaineers have started off the 2025-26 season, their first under new head coach Ross Hodge, at 4-0. The good feelings for West Virginia have continued, this time on the recruiting trail, as the Mountaineers landed the commitment of five-star guard Miles Sadler, their third recruit from the the class of 2026, as per Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.
Miles Sadler is also West Virginia’s highest-ranked recruit in the modern era, and the first five-star player from their current group of 2026 recruits. Sadler chose the Moutaineers over other top Division 1 programs such as Oklahoma and Tennessee. He joins point guard Kingston Whitty and center Aliou Dioum as West Virginia’s incoming freshman class for the 2026-27 season.
A native of Canada, Sadler will finish up his senior year in high school at Bella Vista Prep in Arizona. As told to Tipton, Sadler chose the Mountaineers because of how the new coaching staff has shaped the culture of the program.
“I chose West Virginia because of the way the coaching staff has instilled a trust in me and a family like structure in the program,” Sadler said. “The constant calls and consistency led me to believing this is the school for me.”
In the meantime, West Virginia is looking to continue their strong start to the season. The program hired Hodge after two seasons as head coach at North Texas. During that two-year stretch, Hodge led the Mean Green to an overall record of 46-24, and two NIT appearances including a semifinal appearance in 2024-25.
Hodge and West Virginia are looking to snap a two-year streak of missing the NCAA Tournament, as well as establish some stability. Since longtime coach Bob Huggins stepped down following the 2022-23 season, Hodge is the program’s third head coach in as many seasons.
West Virginia opted not to bring back Josh Eilert who was named head coach for the 2023-24 season, the first in the post-Huggins era. Darian DeVries, who was hired as head coach for 2024-25, left the program to become the head coach at Indiana.
