BLACKSBURG – This has been a busy spring for Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Mike Young.
After losing five players to the transfer portal, Young replenished his roster this spring by adding five transfers and one high school transfer.
“(We were) looking for guys that fit how you want to play. … I’m sure we did,” Young told two reporters in his office Wednesday. “I feel very, very good at the end of spring.
“I feel very, very good about what has happened and what this team is going to look like.
“It’s really a talented group. We were in the weight room on Monday…yesterday they played fetch. … Good athleticism, good size.
“I’m convinced we’ve hit the mark in terms of things that are important to us… good basketball players, good kids.”
People are also reading…
Tech has had to settle for NIT offers the past two seasons. Does Young’s new team have the ingredients to make the NCAA tournament?
“The NIT is not good enough around here. … We were two wins away from going (to the NCAA last season); The two Miami games killed us,” Young said. “This has the makings of another NCAA tournament team. … Good basketball players, smart basketball players.
“It’s too early to say if the pieces fit, but I certainly think they fit.”
Eight players from last year’s 19-15 team are gone, including all five starters. Only four players return, and eight newcomers join.
“What our team is going to look like at first is going to be a lot different than it was in January and February,” Young said. “It’s not that easy to get kids together and have a masterpiece.”
Young didn’t like how the Hokies played offensively last season. They ranked 37th nationally in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s offensive efficiency ratings.
“(The offense) wasn’t as fluid as it was supposed to be. It wasn’t as smooth,” said Young, whose team went 10-10 in ACC play. “The ball was on the ground too much. … We had nights where the ball got stuck a little bit.”
So, will the new squad be better offensively?
“I have always given a lot of importance to throwing the ball. You have to put the ball in the basket. “I think we’ll be fine there,” Young said. “We have an important summer ahead of us to try to unite this group.”
Tech lost starters Sean Pedulla (departed to Mississippi), Lynn Kidd (Miami) and MJ Collins (Vanderbilt) in the portal, as well as key reserve Tyler Nickel (Vanderbilt) and little-used backup John Camden (Delaware).
“It’s a sign of the times,” Young said. “None of us are immune to it. You roll up your sleeves and chase after him. And that’s what we did. “I am very impressed with the work our staff did to find children.”
Did Pedulla, Kidd, Collins and Nickel leave because they wanted more NIL money?
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Young said. “In the case of Sean and Lynn, they graduated. …There was a chance we could get them both back. We had good conversations. In the end, they decided to go somewhere else.”
Tech fans might be worried that the departures of Pedulla, Kidd, Collins and Nickel are a sign that Tech lacks the NIL money to compete with some schools in that area.
That’s a lie, Young said.
“We are making progress,” he said.
What does Young have to say to Tech fans who might be losing interest in college basketball because of all the roster turmoil?
“Buckle up,” he said. “Does not go anywhere. … I think about (ex-Hokie) Hunter Cattoor: Is there going to be another five-year-old? I don’t know the answer to that. That is worrisome. This incredible fan base loves to…follow their team, their guys. But this is a different time. And those guys wearing the Hokie uniform (next season) have to do with Virginia Tech. It’s going to look a little different, but… that’s the moment we’re living in.”
Former Temple point guard Hysier Miller is one of the newcomers. He averaged 15.9 points and 4.0 assists as a junior last season.
“Tough on the ball, good passer,” Young said. “He’s going to play a lot.”
Former College of Charleston forward Ben Burnham has also joined. He made third-team All-CAA as a junior last season, when he averaged 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 Burnham will play power forward. Young said he could also play small forward, depending on his defense.
“He can shoot the ball. He’s a good sneaky athlete,” Young said.
Former Virginia Commonwealth forward Toibu “Tobi” Lawal also joined the team. Lawal, who is 6-8 and 200 pounds, averaged 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds as a VCU sophomore last season.
“He has a rocket in his butt. He is the most athletic human being I have ever seen in that (tech) gym,” Young said. “He reminds me of (ex-Hokie) Deron Washington; He is an athlete of that level. He has work to do with skill.”
Lawal will play power forward, but will have to go to the weight room to also play center. Young said he is currently too light to guard ACC centers.
Former Duke guard Jaden Schutt also transferred. He averaged 2.1 points for Duke as a freshman in 2022-23. He redshirted at Duke last season due to knee surgery.
“I recruited him out of high school; I couldn’t catch it,” Young said. “We caught him the second time. …He is a very good athlete. …He can protect multiple positions.”
Former California guard Rodney Brown is another newcomer. He averaged 3.5 points as a rookie last season.
“He can really score,” Young said. “Very good athlete. … Maybe (Tech has) a style that suits him better.”
Point guard Ben Hammond of national power St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Chantilly also chose Tech this spring. Hammond, who was rated the No. 5 high school senior in the Commonwealth by Keynote USA, signed with Rhode Island last fall but reopened his recruitment last month.
“He’s quick as a cat,” Young said.
Young still has one scholarship left to hand out, in case another player catches his eye.
“If I found one that could help us, I would choose them,” Young said.
Mylyjael Poteat, Brandon Rechsteiner, Jaydon Young and Patrick Wessler are back. The list also includes two high school recruits who signed last fall: Ryan Jones Jr. and Tyler Johnson.
Having a vintage team is important in college basketball. But the only players on the 2024-25 roster who will be in their final year of eligibility are Poteat, who will be a graduate student, and seniors Miller and Burnham.
Does Tech have a team old enough?
“I think so,” Young said. “What I … didn’t want to do is have six or seven senior/grad transfers and be back there chewing through that (portal) again next spring. … We struck a chord in terms of balance.”
Poteat, a center who averaged 6.4 points as a senior, is the only one of the top nine scorers from last season’s team to return. He spent a few days in the portal in March before opting to remain a Hokie.
“He loves it here, he loves this fan base. But he wanted an even bigger role and he will have the opportunity to have just that,” Young said.
In addition to the five players who transferred, Tech must replace three players who no longer have any eligibility: starters Cattoor and Robbie Beran and reserve Mekhi Long.
Keynote USA
For the Latest Sports News, Follow @Keynote USA Sports on Twitter.