Isaiah 43:2-3🙏🏿thank you Hokie Nation🧡 pic.twitter.com/cYmaNe4oVi— Jalen Cone (@J15Cone) March 25, 2021
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Isaiah 43:2-3🙏🏿thank you Hokie Nation🧡 pic.twitter.com/cYmaNe4oVi— Jalen Cone (@J15Cone) March 25, 2021
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This isn't ideal.
Uhhhhhh what the hell is going on in Cassell??
He probably wanted to start and with Storm Murphy coming in and everyone else staying put (so far) it didn't look like he would be playing the minutes he wanted
God dammit Fuente!
🎵🎶 a whole big oof 🎵🎶
Hate to see that. Was this expected, or was everyone caught off guard as much as I am?
I have no inside information but I'm not overly surprised. It might be unfair because the injuries to start and end the year probably influence how much I remember him playing but he seemed relatively under utilized. That said I remember feeling that when he was on the court he was a huge liability on defense and I never really felt comfortable with him handling the ball. My gut feeling is that he was never going to be more than a shooter for CMY and wants to be more than just a role player. Unfortunately we really need his shooting.
I'm surprised, but not as surprised that he, Alleyne and Cattoor all stuck around for the 20-21 season. Writing was on the wall last offseason with Basimile, Maddox & Diarra coming in that there was going to be a PT squeeze at guard.
Then Diarra opted out and Cone beat out Maddox & Basimile for PT this season. He'd be looking at similar challenge next year, except Maddox
& Basimilewould have become more effective in our system. Plus we're adding a CMY veteran in Murphy and another PG in Pedulla... meaning no room for Cone at PGApparently this was hinted at on The Athletics ACC centric podcast (don't listen to it, taking Bitter at his word) but fuck.... can we just have a normal offseason for once?
I know its been said before but we probably ought to reset our expectations for normal to include one to two transfers a year... obviously more in football.
...obviously dozens more in football.
FTFY
I think this is almost certainly true.
But I gotta admit, what the transfer portal has really done has made me start to not really give a shit about college sports at all. I could probably count on my hands how many VT football games I missed from 1995-2015 (I would listen to them on the radio if a game wasn't on TV). But I doubt I've watched a single game from start to finish the past two or three seasons. Last year, I didn't watch a single snap of at least half the games.
Are you certain that's cuz of the transfer portal and not because because Beamer left or because our football team has been tremendously mediocre?
It's definitely both, no doubt about it. Although I think player attrition and the mediocrity (that's exactly the word I was going to use in fact) of our football program go hand in hand.
Seeing promising up-and-coming players, as well as experienced starters, leave the program has hurt our talent level on the field. But it also means that I have almost no personal emotional attachment to the team, because I probably can't even name 10 current VT players without looking at a roster. And if I tried, I'd probably name at least a couple that have already left the team.
RIP to this
Making room for more o-linemen.
/s
Seriously, thank you JC. Appreciate all you did (including graduating early from HS so we could field a team). Go get yours...you deserve it!
FIFY
CMY's boy Storm Murphy is coming and he (Cone) likely wasn't going to be starting at PG...sucks but isn't necessarily surprising.
I blame Cornelson for not using him correctly.
The two highest rated recruits of Mike Young's 3 classes have both entered the transfer pool.
I'm glad he's done well with transfers. Hopefully that success continues when his old Wofford guys aren't options anymore.
As far as Cone specifically, I'm gonna guess that he didn't want to be a backup shooting guard. If he has any professional basketball in his future, he needs to run point (and start). Cattoor ran point with Cone off-ball when those two were on the court together. That was the correct decision by the staff, but Cone might not have been thrilled with it (my speculation).
Unfortunately, I am not sure there is much difference between Cattoor shooting from outside and Cone. Cattoor is also a better defender and has been working on his layouts, dunks, and inside shots. Cone would be giving Hunter a break next year.
I hope he changes his mind and stays. I am also wonder if this will cause Bam to rethink leaving.
Kid can hoop but I think he was stuck on an existing roster that makes him essentially the anti-bede. He's not really a true point guard, good teams can exploit him on defense and if he's ice cold like he was prior to his second injury this season Cattoor/Alleyne/Radford and maybe next year Maddox are going to eat his minutes.
Somehow this is all Stinespring's fault
Fuck Pat Narduzzi
thank you, i needed a laugh today
Not good losing both Cone and Bam no matter what kind of spin you put on it. But there's gonna be a metric ton of kids in the transfer portal so hopefully we can snag a good replacement.
Assuming there are no more big surprises, we just need another impact big man from the portal and all will be fine
hoping the the portal will Qudus a break
Cone certainly provided some instant offense off the bench, but that was really about it. I'm not sure how high his ceiling really is.
I'm more disappointed in Bam leaving TBH.
This is where I am. Not happy that both of them are in the portal but I am more unhappy that Bamisile is.
Same. This isn't a big loss. At least when Aluma is off, he is still giving you rebounds and some defense. When Cone is off, whelp...
I appreciate Cone coming to Blacksburg when we were in trouble but others outplayed him and took his minutes. We kind of have an embarrassment of riches at guard.
to be fair, Cone outplayed a few guys and earned PT this year. The future PT forecast just wasn't trending the right way
going to miss his spark off the bench. Hopefully he finds a spot where he can earn steady PT
Cone really sizzled when he was sizzling. Unfortunately that sizzle didn't last nearly as long as we would have all liked it to.
My problem with Catoor playing point is that it's harder for him to get his shot. Catoor needs to play the 2, and man those 2 and 3 spots are mighty crowded. That 7'-1" dude in the portal sure would be nice to snag.
I keep seeing people say the 2 and 3 are crowded... but are they? For 2 positions you'd ideally have 4 players... with cone and bamisile gone I count 3 (radford, catoor, alleyne) and that's assuming catoor isnt on the 1 line. Are we assuming maddox is a stud? Do we expect Mutts will really play a 3? Why do we think our roster is so crowded?
Maddox is definitely in the mix for playing time. He was seeing the court more than Basimile until he got injured.
so we've gone from 6 to 4 players primarily playing those 2 wing positions. Not all that crowded, but all 4 won't average 20mpg either
* and that is not even accounting for Mutts getting time at the 3
I am still not at all convinced that Mutts will play the 3 at all. It seems much more reasonable to think you could have Storm, Catoor, Alleyne and Radford all on the floor at the same time than Mutts, Aluma and another big. At this point it seems we have 5 players for the 3 perimeter positions and that is if you think Pedulla will deserve PT as a true freshman... that isn't encouraging, to me.
5? I count 6 guards, and with our current projected roster we go 3 deep at every position except Center. Guard isn't very crowded but that's because 2 guards are transferring. Now it's only kind of crowded We also still have 3 open scholarships.
As for Mutts, he can definitely play the 3 depending on the opponent and how his skills sharpen during the offseason. This year Mutts showed that is a guy who can defend 3 positions (SF, PF, C) , can also shoot from the outside reasonably well, can score in the post, and can slash to the basket and finish at the rim. He reminds me a ton of Chris Clarke's skill set, but better rebounder and not as good a handle.
2021-22 roster projection:
Guards (6)
1. Murphy -
2. Alleyne -
3. Radford -
4. Cattoor -
5. Maddox -
6. Pedulla -
Forwards (4)
1. Mutts
2. Aluma
3. N'Guessan
4. Ojiako
Departures (5)
1. Bede* - graduation
2. Diarra* - graduation/transfer
3. Pemsl* - graduation
4. Cone - transfer
5. Basimile - transfer
Additions (up to 5)
1. Pedulla ('21, FR)
2. Murphy ('17, xfer)
3. TBD PF/C
4. TBD PG/SG
5. TBD ??
PG: Murphy, Cattoor, Pedulla
SG: Alleyne, Cattoor, Maddox
SF: Radford, Mutts, Maddox
PF: Mutts, Aluma, N'Guessan
C: Aluma, Ojiako
Does this make next season Young's 'Year-1' ?
Unpopular opinion: tranferring is too easy. It isnt as good for the sport or players as it is made out to be. Programs are going to need general managers to handle free agency soon.
This opinion is popular in my house.
Interesting take. Why is it bad for the players?
It's not bad for the players - they're already playing in an unfair system where the top players are paid well below market wage. This at least gives them more agency in their college career.
It's not bad for coaches for good programs - top players are going to stay, second-tier players that don't pan out are going to bail and those coaches get to cherry-pick replacements from mid-major programs/bad P5 programs. Coaches love it because they would rather have a "sure thing" sophomore that is killing it in the Patriot League than an unproven 4* high schooler.
It's bad for old school fans because we don't get to develop the emotional attachment of having a 3-4 year player on our team. Justin Robinson means more to Virginia Tech fans than [insert 1 year player who's better than 5 here]. I personally love it - Jalen Cone didn't pan out? Boom, here's Storm Murphy, a one-year rental that's going to be better than Cone. At the end of the day, I just want to win and the transfer portal creates a more efficient market.
This idea of every team needed a "general manager" moving forward is kind of dumb - those positions already exist, 10 years ago it was just the assistant coach who led recruiting efforts. Now another assistant coach has to follow the guys in the portal as well. It's not hard to get tape of any player in a country, I don't see why that's such a big investment.
I dont think I would go as far as saying it is bad for the players. I just dont think that the freedom of movement is as good as it is made out to be. It would be hard to prove, but I would guess that the number of players that achieve success after transferring is roughly the same as the number that would have success staying put. There are obviously exceptions and success is hard to define.
I kind of agree... First of all, the transfer portal isn't some magic fix for all player equity issues. Additionally, it also gives coaches an avenue to nudge players off the team. Furthermore, it's hurting HS recruits, because coaches are choosing to take known quantities over risky and hard-to-project recruits.
On the other hand, if your dream is to play major minutes in a college football game, you have options. If you were not a highly rated high school recruit, but you've shown NFL potential after accepting a scholarship to a lower level school, you have options to transfer somewhere that will offer better visibility, competition, coaching, etc. But most importantly, coaches can no longer force kids to stay stuck in shitty situations by threatening to yank their scholarship.
TL;DR - while I don't think that the portal is 100% positive for the players, I think it's win-win for coaches and players, and overall a net positive.
It could be bad for players on current teams. Someone might pick a school because they are not deep in a position so they can get early playing time. Or you might have an upperclassman in a system that has worked for years and is finally looking at a chance to get playing time. Both cases, a more heralded player might transfer in and take the minutes. You could argue that khalil herbert transferring in was good for the team and good for him but probably not great for every other running back on the roster.
Yeah, I can't spin this as a good thing. Cone gives our offense an explosive scorer that can quickly change any game. I expected him to possibly lead the country in scoring in a few years. We gotta get used to this though, transfer portal is now free agency especially in basketball.
Guess he got tired of running jet sweeps, jk I'm really gonna miss the guy he's been an awesome player to watch come up and I was really excited to have him back next year. Big bummer but understandable and in the day it's his decision and I imagine Mike Young is doing all to help regardless.
He has a kid and his girlfriend is at UNC.
Plus he won't have to worry about going to class-tough to compete with that
A smaller school would be the move if he wants to start and run the show at point guard
I'll never forget his huge contribution in ending the Carrier Dome curse last year, he is forever a Hokie legend for that. Good luck wherever you end up, Jalen!
Any chance Bam comes back?
There is both this and is there any chance Diarra comes back? Yes, he was a senior but this year didn't count. He also did not get a chance to highlight his skills for the European leagues.
Diarra gone bro.
What I figured, but COVID made this a really strange year.
It is what it is. I think their are better players in the portal that'll fit MY system
I keep reading the occasional "not a good look", "no way to put a good spin on these news", "etc", and I get that it's not good news overall, but probably something most programs will have to deal with with the Transfer Portal now being an option. I don't think Cone was unhappy at VT, BUT he has the option to transfer to a program where he can play more minutes.
By the time the transfer portal has cooled for the year, expect there to be about 2 players per team in the portal.
AOTP, there are 411 portal entrants for 357 teams
This is speculation on my part but Cone has a daughter. It could be a simple fact of not wanting to be a couple hours away.
Just like every other ACC underclassman, he wants to play in the NBA. At his size, point guard is his only option. He wasn't able to be the starting point guard here so he wants to go somewhere he can.
I think it's pretty straightforward. I'm sure the child element plays a role but I think that's the primary reason why he's leaving.
Cone will also need to bulk up if he wants to have a legit chance of making it in the NBA. You can't be short and relatively skinny.
He'd do himself wonders if he could bulk up to 180
Sorry, love Cone's ability to shoot but he needs a major transformation to make the NBA. Cone is not even close to Malcolm Delaney or JRob and both struggled in their limited appearance in the Association. Delaney would have done better if he left Europe earlier. JRob at Delaware is rounding up with improved perimeter shooting this season. I am hoping he finds a way on to the end of a bench somewhere now that the G League season is over.
Agreed, I don't think he can make it the NBA unless he dramatically improves AND bulks up.
I was just pointing out that he would absolutely need to bulk up. Nate Robinson and Chris Clemons (3rd leading scorer of all time, 🐪 alum, and Houston 🚀) were/are both 5'9 180lb and could shoot from the outside and drive to the hoop.
Yeah they were fearless flying inside, which just doesn't seem to be the case with Cone.
I hate this, as Jalen was a hometown favorite, and really fun to watch when he was on. Remember sitting behind the former GT coach at the WF game last year and hearing him marvel at how smooth he was. Wish he had figured out point and ACC level D fast enough to earn more playing time here, and hate that he got hurt and missed a chance to ball out in either tourney. I really appreciate that he graduated early and came in to help a VT team that really needed him last year, and wish nothing but the best. I'd love to see him stay, but hope he never regrets leaving. ❤️
I will miss the ice cream emoji tweets.
Well, at least we won't have to face him in the ACC
Sort of surprised an N.C. kid who has a kid and a pretty involved family is looking to go to schools no where close to N.C.
Cone posted an IG story showing highlights of him running point and saying "I just need to be let off the leash boss"
This transfer appears to be 100% about him not liking how he was used here and wanting to go somewhere to run the show at point. I suppose there probably aren't many in the NC area offering him that opportunity. If there were, I would imagine at least one would make the list
I have a feeling whoever is telling him they will let him off the leash will be telling him something else fairly soon after arriving on campus.
Have to assume he understood his place on the team this year with Bede running point, guessing he thought he would step into the role next year, then the Storm Murphy pickup left him in the same role as he had this year
I'm really happy for him actually! I hope he goes to OK state or Iowa State I'll still get to cheer for him!!
Jalen's decision to enter the portal hurts me the most. There was just something amazing watching him sprint back and forth the court with a desperate defender chasing him only to have Cone nail a 3 in a full sprint / stop on a dime turnaround.
His height and defense are liabilities though and unless he develops Iverson handles or stays hot all season, he won't be happy here.
He was so fun to watch early on, but he cooled off so much. It was a struggle watching him keep chucking up bricks. Like they said in the latest Last Chance U, guards are everywhere. I hope he gets his shot consistently falling and I hope he finds some handles.
It appears the Lumberjacks lost to Eastern Washington in the Quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Uh what?
I don't understand this move by JC at all.
Probably one of the only teams that was willing to give him the keys to the offense.
Playing time and hoping to bounce back to another power conference? Confusing but he may have overvalued himself before entering the portal.
It makes perfect sense based on his goals.
He wants to start at point guard and in his words from his IG story - be "let off the leash." Mike Young wasn't gonna do that and I don't think other Power 5 coaches either. He wants to be a ball dominant point guard, not a spot up shooter, so he needs to go to a smaller school. He has potential to put up numbers there too.
I understand what you are saying. I just don't get leaving an ACC school to go play at a school that I've never heard of.
It simply comes down to whether you would rather start at point guard (at small school) or come off the bench as a spot up shooter (at ACC school). He wants to prove he can do the former, possibly because that's his only chance at playing pro ball anywhere. Maybe you have different priorities and would make a different choice, but I completely understand his move. If he can be the next Max Abmas or something he could play pro somewhere.
You might be on to something it seems like Max Abmas was exactly what drove him to this decision. I find it odd that he's betting on a mid-major tournament run, but I applaud the kid for betting on himself and his talent, and I hope it pans out for him.
I think going to a lower level conference is the best place for people his size looking to show they can be more than a spot up three point shooter.
He should get the chance to be fairly ball dominant, which he never would've gotten at Tech.
Hoping he can have the success that Jason Preston has had at a lower level conference.
Yeah him or a Chris Clemmons 🐪🐪🐪
https://rocketswire.usatoday.com/2020/02/16/campbell-university-retires-...
Good article with some quotes from Jalen:
Virginia Tech Transfer Jalen Cone Commits to Northern Arizona After Seeing Max Abmas Dominate March
Drink
Damn, I didn't even see it since you'd embedded it right in your comment, ha.