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What to make of the Hokies?
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They lost two major pieces from last season. Tobi Lawal is now with the Dallas Mavericks, and Neoklis Avdalas, most unfortunately, is a Tar Heel.
Avdalas scored 33 points in his second game, along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists, in an overtime win against Providence. He was pretty productive until he suffered an ankle injury against Virginia in a triple overtime win on New Year’s Eve, and that really changed the trajectory of his season.
What can you do? Injuries happen. But did it hurt the Hokies?
Yes – a lot. And he wasn’t the only one, as we’ll see.
Jailen Bedford is also gone, along with former Blue Devil Jaden Schutt.
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Virginia Tech finished the season 19-13 overall and 8-10 in the ACC, good for an 11th place tie with SMU.
Mike Young is a gifted coach. He beat UNC twice while he was at Wofford, and nearly knocked Kentucky out of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Yet, things probably haven’t gone as expected in Blacksburg.
His best season was in 2021-22, when Virginia Tech upset Duke to win the ACC Tournament.
He’s made the NCAA Tournament twice, but hasn’t won a game. He’s made the NIT twice, and won one game.
In Young’s defense, he arrived at Virginia Tech just in time for Covid, and not long after, free agency was essentially started in college basketball.
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We’ve come to respect Virginia Tech, not least of all their homecourt advantage in Cassell Coliseum, but the basketball program has some real obstacles to overcome.
First, football will be the priority, and second, the Hokies are well down the ladder in NIL money.
In the last four seasons, Young has won 19 games three times, and had one 13-19 season. Our sense is that while he’s well-liked and respected by his peers and employers, he needs to make a case for retention this season.
So what is Young working with? Better than you might imagine.
BACK
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Tyler Johnson – 6-5 JR
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Sin’Cere Jones – 6-7 SO
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Solomon Davis – 6-11 R-FR
PORTAL PLAYERS
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Ethan Copeland – 6-2 SR – Stetson
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Isaiah Elohim – 6-5 JR – FAU
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Jaylen Curry – 6-1 SR – Oklahoma State
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Kuol Atak – 6-9 RSO – Oklahoma
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Ned Hull – 6-3 – Elon
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Musa Sagnia – 6-10 SO – NC State
FRESHMEN
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Eltayeb Eltayeb – 6-8 – NR
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James Caldarella – 6-3 – 4 Star
First, he returns pretty good talent in 6-8 senior Amani Hansberry and 5-11 Ben Hammond.
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Hansberry put up 14.3 ppg and grabbed 7.4 boards. He also averaged a very decent 2.4 assists.
As for Hammond, he’s quick, and he ran his team reasonably well. He averaged 3.2 assists, 13.2 points, and 2 steals. Most teams would be very happy with that. His height is a bit of a concern, but really, he’s proven himself.
Johnson got solid minutes last year (26.2) and averaged 8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.6 assists. He’s an excellent defender and a floor spacer.
Last season, he shot 53% overall and 41.5% from behind the line. If he can maintain that while shooting more, he’ll be a nightmare.
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He might have been that last year, but like Avdalas, an injury struck, and cost him 15 ACC games. That really hurt the Hokies.
Jones ultimately redshirted last season, and didn’t play after January 7, so we haven’t seen him a whole lot. However, the DeMatha grad might surprise.
Young picked up three big men in the portal – Atak, Heide, and Sagnia.
Atak is a really interesting addition. He scored 7 ppg in just 12.4 minutes an outing last year at Oklahoma. He also hit 41% from behind the line. Assuming Hansberry can pick up the rough stuff under the basket – Atak weighs just 215 – he could be a huge asset.
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Or he could go with Heide. His stats were modest at San Diego State, but he weighs 240, and he could wear people down.
Sagnia got 12.4 mpg at State last season, but was not overly productive. Like Heide, though, he’s a big, strong guy, and he showed a promising amount of hostility last season. Plus, he’s just a sophomore.
As for the four guards, Elohim could be really good. He was a Top 50 recruit who left USC for FAU, where he averaged 12.4 points, along with 4.2 rebounds.
Curry is also likely to be helpful. A senior, he averaged 10.1 ppg and 3.2 assists. He had a tremendous game against Nicholls, with 30 points and 10 assists. He’s also got the potential to be really good with the Hokies.
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Copeland came up through a JUCO, then transferred to Stetson. Last season, he averaged 15 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assist. He also hit 42.9% of his threes.
He may not start, but he’s going to play.
Finally, Young got to see Hull when Virginia Tech played Elon last year, and must have been impressed. At a minimum, he’ll be a useful practice player, and it’s possible he could move up in the rotation.
Finally, the freshmen.
Young may have gotten a recruiting coup with Eltayeb. He entered high school at 6-1 and guard skills, and arrives at Virginia Tech as a 6-8 utility man.
He could play guard or forward, and if he bulks up (he’s currently 200 lbs), he could mix it up inside.
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Caldarella comes to Blacksburg from Rhode Island‘s Cheshire Academy, where he built a reputation as a tough, smart, two-way guard. From the cheap seats, we’d expect it would take a year or two for him to excel, but we’ve been wrong before.
Will Virginia Tech be improved? From here, we’d say absolutely.
They have some acceptable big men, a boatload of guards, led by the excellent Hammond and Jones. And this team has Young’s secret sauce, some sharp three-point shooters, in abundance.
A lot could ride on production from Atak and Eltayeb. With them, the Hokies have a lot more size in an era where size is a priority again.
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Thing is, though, with a vastly improved ACC, the Hokies could be better and still struggle.
They certainly got a good draw in ACC play: Clemson, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, SMU, and Syracuse have to come to Cassell, while the road games are to California, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Stanford, and Wake Forest.
They don’t even have to play Duke.
And the home-and-home? Virginia, of course, and Boston College.
So we could see them winning 23-25 games with that draw, and possibly 1-2 games in the ACC Tournament as well.
If they manage 25+ wins this season, Young won’t have to worry about keeping his job.
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