Men's Basketball
Phil Forte
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- phillip.forte@mail.wvu.edu
- Phone:
- (304) 293-2193
Phil Forte was hired as an assistant coach on head coach Ross Hodge's first staff at WVU in April 2025. Forte has nine seasons of Division I coaching experience.
Forte, a native of Flower Mound, Texas, came to West Virginia after spending two seasons as an assistant coach under Hodge at North Texas.
“Phil is one of the best young coaches in the country,” Hodge said. “The work ethic and character that helped him be a great player in the Big 12 has carried into his coaching career. He has a great understanding of how to help our players to get better on and off the floor. We are happy to have Phil and Madison in Morgantown.”
In his first season in Morgantown in 2025-26, WVU had 21 victories, including the 2026 College Basketball Crown title in Las Vegas with wins over Stanford, Creighton and Oklahoma. Entering the season as one of five Power 5 teams to not return any scoring from the previous season, the Mountaineers finished seventh in the Big 12 after being predicted to finish 11th in the preseason poll.
WVU had some monumental victories in 2025-26. The Mountaineers' 22-point win over Pitt was the largest margin of victory against the Panthers in the 55-year history of Hope Coliseum while holding the Panthers to 49 points, the lowest point total from Pitt in Morgantown since 1949. WVU opened the season at home with a 13-0 record, marking its best start at home since a 15-0 start in 1981-82.
The Mountaineers had two ranked wins in 2025-26, defeating No. 19 BYU and No. 22 Kansas. WVU had two of the school's three biggest comeback wins on the road in Big 12 history. The Mountaineers were down 14 points with 13:13 remaining in the second half at UCF and down 14 points with 16:11 remaining in the second half at Cincinnati.
In 2024-25 at North Texas, the Mean Green won 27 games and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT. The Mean Green ranked third in the country in scoring defense at 60.1 points per game, 1.5 points behind first-place Houston. UNT had the AAC’s second-most efficient offense and second-most efficient defense. UNT’s 27 wins were the second-most single season wins in school history and the 14 league victories were tied for the third-most league wins in school history.
UNT won 19 games in his first season in 2023-24 and reached the second round of the NIT. The 10 league wins and .555 league winning percentage were both the best by a first-year UNT men’s basketball staff. Forte recruited some of North Texas’ top performers and helped mentor guard Jason Edwards and Atin Wright to first-team all-conference honors. UNT won 46 games in Forte’s two seasons in Denton.
“I’m excited to get to work here in Morgantown,” Forte said. “I am extremely fortunate to continue to work for a coach and person like Ross Hodge. West Virginia basketball is in great hands with him leading the program.”
Prior to North Texas, Forte spent two seasons at Saint Louis under Travis Ford. He helped lead the Billikens to back-to-back 20-win seasons and a combined 44-24 record. SLU reached the semifinals of the 2022 A-10 Tournament and earned an NIT bid that year as well. Saint Louis’ 23 wins that year tied for its most single-season wins since 2013-14.
Prior to his two seasons at Saint Louis, Forte was an assistant coach at Sam Houston under Jason Hooten. Sam Houston went 37-22 in Forte’s two seasons there.
During his time as a coach, Forte has helped 10 different players to 13 all-conference honors, including five honorees this past season at North Texas and 2021 Southland Conference Player of the Year Zach Nutall at Sam Houston and back-to-back A-10 First Team All-Conference honoree Yuri Collins at Saint Louis.
Forte played at Oklahoma State from 2012-17 and was one of the Cowboys’ most decorated guards in program history. He led OSU to four NCAA tournament appearances. He made an OSU record 329 3-point field goals and scored 1,792 career points, which ranked sixth in school history at the time of his graduation.
Forte graduated from Marcus High School in 2012 and was a two-time state champion. He was the MVP of the 2012 Texas Class 5A State Tournament after scoring a game-high 24 points in the championship game and also earned first team all-state honors.
Forte, a native of Flower Mound, Texas, came to West Virginia after spending two seasons as an assistant coach under Hodge at North Texas.
“Phil is one of the best young coaches in the country,” Hodge said. “The work ethic and character that helped him be a great player in the Big 12 has carried into his coaching career. He has a great understanding of how to help our players to get better on and off the floor. We are happy to have Phil and Madison in Morgantown.”
In his first season in Morgantown in 2025-26, WVU had 21 victories, including the 2026 College Basketball Crown title in Las Vegas with wins over Stanford, Creighton and Oklahoma. Entering the season as one of five Power 5 teams to not return any scoring from the previous season, the Mountaineers finished seventh in the Big 12 after being predicted to finish 11th in the preseason poll.
WVU had some monumental victories in 2025-26. The Mountaineers' 22-point win over Pitt was the largest margin of victory against the Panthers in the 55-year history of Hope Coliseum while holding the Panthers to 49 points, the lowest point total from Pitt in Morgantown since 1949. WVU opened the season at home with a 13-0 record, marking its best start at home since a 15-0 start in 1981-82.
The Mountaineers had two ranked wins in 2025-26, defeating No. 19 BYU and No. 22 Kansas. WVU had two of the school's three biggest comeback wins on the road in Big 12 history. The Mountaineers were down 14 points with 13:13 remaining in the second half at UCF and down 14 points with 16:11 remaining in the second half at Cincinnati.
In 2024-25 at North Texas, the Mean Green won 27 games and advanced to the semifinals of the NIT. The Mean Green ranked third in the country in scoring defense at 60.1 points per game, 1.5 points behind first-place Houston. UNT had the AAC’s second-most efficient offense and second-most efficient defense. UNT’s 27 wins were the second-most single season wins in school history and the 14 league victories were tied for the third-most league wins in school history.
UNT won 19 games in his first season in 2023-24 and reached the second round of the NIT. The 10 league wins and .555 league winning percentage were both the best by a first-year UNT men’s basketball staff. Forte recruited some of North Texas’ top performers and helped mentor guard Jason Edwards and Atin Wright to first-team all-conference honors. UNT won 46 games in Forte’s two seasons in Denton.
“I’m excited to get to work here in Morgantown,” Forte said. “I am extremely fortunate to continue to work for a coach and person like Ross Hodge. West Virginia basketball is in great hands with him leading the program.”
Prior to North Texas, Forte spent two seasons at Saint Louis under Travis Ford. He helped lead the Billikens to back-to-back 20-win seasons and a combined 44-24 record. SLU reached the semifinals of the 2022 A-10 Tournament and earned an NIT bid that year as well. Saint Louis’ 23 wins that year tied for its most single-season wins since 2013-14.
Prior to his two seasons at Saint Louis, Forte was an assistant coach at Sam Houston under Jason Hooten. Sam Houston went 37-22 in Forte’s two seasons there.
During his time as a coach, Forte has helped 10 different players to 13 all-conference honors, including five honorees this past season at North Texas and 2021 Southland Conference Player of the Year Zach Nutall at Sam Houston and back-to-back A-10 First Team All-Conference honoree Yuri Collins at Saint Louis.
Forte played at Oklahoma State from 2012-17 and was one of the Cowboys’ most decorated guards in program history. He led OSU to four NCAA tournament appearances. He made an OSU record 329 3-point field goals and scored 1,792 career points, which ranked sixth in school history at the time of his graduation.
Forte graduated from Marcus High School in 2012 and was a two-time state champion. He was the MVP of the 2012 Texas Class 5A State Tournament after scoring a game-high 24 points in the championship game and also earned first team all-state honors.
College Basketball Crown Recap
Thursday, April 16
Ross Hodge, Honor Huff & Brenen Lorient | Oklahoma Postgame
Sunday, April 05
Ross Hodge, Treysen Eaglestaff & Brenen Lorient | Creighton Postgame
Saturday, April 04
Ross Hodge & Honor Huff | Stanford Postgame
Thursday, April 02
