Virginia Tech junior guard Nahiem Alleyne will transfer, source told @Stadium. Averaged 9.6 points for the Hokies this past season.— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 12, 2022
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Not entirely surprised, he looked like a square peg in a round hole for us this past season.
He just never seems to be comfortable...especially this year.
He's got a ton of talent, but yeah... I'm not sure our style fits his game and he's better off transferring to a better fit.
Best of luck to him, though I'm not sure he'll need it.
what style of play would be a better fit?
One that can drive with both hands and facilitate.
I would love for him to stick around, but I think he will be giving up minutes to Maddox. He has the potential to be a big star at a lower profile school.
portal giveth and portal taketh, praise portal
Wonder if this opening means something regards to other transfers. If KA and JM stayed we were tapped on scholarships. This opens one. Mutts "declaring" opens another, but he left the door open to return (like Keve did last year). Think there are two very solid takes in the portal for us right now.
Best of luck to Dream. He gave us 31 minutes per game and helped us win a ACC championship. I hope he lands where he wants to be.
Edit: gonna miss the home announcer screaming "NAHIEM ALLEYNE FORRRRR THREEEEEE"
Which is odd as he was a slightly worse shooter at home. 37.2% vs 37.5%.
I thought Khadim Sy was "Dream"? I might be wrong though.
Basketball tradition dictates that anyone whose name rhymes with "dream" be referred to as either "The Dream", or "Dream". That's the Hakeem Olajuwon rule.
He's probably dreaming of a 7th year of eligibility and a 6th school change
Jokes aside, what a bizarre career he had. He wasn't really any better in year 6 than year 1
Man it's sad to see a good player, teammate, and person leave but I understand. If you have professional aspirations, it doesn't make sense to take a cut on playing time. Seems very difficult to keep a team together these days.
It's friggin impossible for more than 2 years.....heck, maybe each year....
This applies to corporations too. Gotta do what's best for you and your family. Respect.
Nooo no no. We better have a replacement ready
His name is Darius Maddox and he is a bad, bad man
Yeah but there will still be a lot of minutes to go around at the 2/3. We def need to hit the portal for a wing and at least one big
might be easier to find a portal wing who is cool playing 15ish minutes a game than it would have been to tell Alleyne "I know you were a 31 min per game player who started 50 straight games for us, but youre probably coming off the bench next season."
it's entirely possible that B is going directly lead to A here
I get what everyone is saying, but you don't simply replace those ACC minutes easily. He's a proven leader, and while he struggled this season we know who he is and who he has the ability to be.
I trust that CMY has a plan, however one of our major issues this year was a direct result of players transferring out. We shall see.
I get what you're saying, but he just isn't keeping up, statistically with the other guards at crunch time.
In the postseason, he was 5th out of 5 with 30 points, 4th in rebounding, but 2nd in minutes. I don't see, statistically, where that leadership came from.
With the development of Pedulla at the point and Maddox at the 2, and Cattoor's production levels at the other wing spot, Alleyne may be the #4 choice at guard next year. Yes, having a quality bench guard is a good thing, but I think we're going to be ok if Rice and Collins are as good as advertised.
This sucks but between Alleyne, Maddox and Cattoor, not all 3 of them would start next season and they are all starter-quality.
the reality of the portal is we will be fine, we had 3 starters this year who transferred in, so I'm sure CMY has a plan. Alleyne had some big time plays but this year was not consistent on offense. Maddox has more scoring instincts and would have taken minutes from Alleyne next year.
He is a rock solid contributer, plays good defense, smart with the ball, dangerous enough from 3 to keep the defense close. He will be missed. These are the kind of lower profile players you need to win games in a conference like the ACC. I am sure it's hard for him to accept a role player title and maybe he is looking to be a more focal part of the team. I wish him will and hope he finds what he is looking for.
I thought this might happen, he's a good but slightly flawed player. He could still come back but if not, his impact on this program is unforgettable.
The very worst part of the numbers always working out.
Best of luck, young man. Thank your for your time and effort here.
It's a bummer, but I understand. I'll always remember him basically keeping us around single-handedly in our NCAA tourney game vs Florida last year! Best of luck, Nahiem!
This sucks but it does make sense. Pedulla, Cattoor, and Maddox are now entrenched as starters. Nobody wants to come off the bench.
SI lists Alleyne as the 16th best transfer prospect in the country
https://www.si.com/.amp/college/2022/04/13/ncaa-basketball-transfer-port...
he'll have no trouble finding a good situation
https://saturdaytradition.com/illinois-football/illinois-reportedly-in-c...
and Arvin (247) says it may be twice this number
Hopefully he goes outside of the ACC. I want him to do well but not against us.
I'm hoping VT and his new team meet in the 2023 Final Four
Id prefer natty
I'm trying to be realistic here
Anyone over 6'02 on this roster that transfers causes a problem for us. Alleyne could defend the 3 or 4 if he had to. This is an issue
So.... Anybody?
The only scholarship player returning who is under 6-2 is Pedulla
Who are the 3 and 4's that are returning? a lot of depth there?
you're right in that we don't know who the 3 and 4 will be (nguessan likely one of them?) My guess is we see Pedulla-Cattoor-Maddox all start with NGuessan and Kidd?
Buchanan will push for time but he's a true freshmen and CMY has been reticent to push true freshmen into action before they're ready.
Lynn Kidd will get a shot at the 5. We could bring in a transfer or two. Aluma and/or Mutts could return yet. If both leave, we have three scholarships available to use for transfers or to take another freshman (Tyrell Ward?)
David Cunningham had a nice forward looking breakdown on the subscriber side of TSL -- highly recommend.
Kidd didn't see the floor for even one meaningful minute this year. I highly doubt he'll be anywhere near ready to start.
Best case, Mutts and/or Aluma return. Otherwise, we need a starting 5 from the transfer portal IMO. Maybe even two big men if both Mutts and Aluma depart because Ojiako and Haynes are leaving. I would also consider taking on a veteran guard to get 20 mins or so. Our backcourt is promising but super inexperienced outside of Cattoor.
Agree with everything you've said -- I guess I could've been more clear. as currently constructed Kidd has to be the guy bc there's nobody else big enough
Mutts did say he was the best dunker on the team...
Shane Henry was also a brilliant dunker and one of my favorite players of the Buzz era, but ultimately not an ACC caliber player (might've been different if he'd had more than 2 years though)
Wow I haven't thought about Shane Henry in a while! Good reference
Agreed. I know a lot of people love Pedulla (I do as well), but we should hit up the portal for a guard that can play some point.
Isn't that the plan for Rice?
He is a combo guard but I think he's more of a shooting guard that's comfortable with the ball than a point. I'd prefer someone that's got more pure point experience and skillset. And coming in as a freshman, Rice will likely be more comfortable off the ball initially than he will be in the minutes spelling for Pedulla. Plus, if Pedulla were to miss time with injury, we're in a situation we don't really have a point guard, just guys that can patchwork minutes and hope it works. Ideally, it'd be nice to snatch a grad transfer type pg, a guy from a lower level that just wants to play some high level ball in his last go round, to serve the role Pedulla played for Murphy this past season. If Aluma and Mutts come back, we should be fine with just Pedulla and Rice. It's easier to balance minutes. But if one or none of Aluma/Mutts come back, I'm expecting us to play a lot of 4 guard lineups, so we could use another PG to fill some minutes.
Rice wants to play PG and is coming to VT partly because we told him he' play PG. He will be the backup PG as true freshman just like Pedulla was this past season
That's well and great. Doesn't change the fact that the roster would be better served having an additional guard that's capable of playing point guard. We've got what, 4 spots if Aluma and Mutts don't come back? One of those should be a guard. It's not top priority (that should be front court to replace Aluma/Mutts if they leave) but they shouldn't ignore it either thinking they're set.
I believe it's 3 spots to fill if neither Aluma nor Mutts returns
Catoor can play some point too in a pinch. He doesn't have Pedulla's handle, but he's a decent distributor.
iMGuessan you're right
If we want to compete for an NCAA bid at all in 22-23 I feel we desperately need a big guard that can play the 1 or 2, and 3-4 upper mid major or major "bigs" added to the roster. Kidd is not the answer IMO. Let's hope Mutts returns- that would be huge.
He could decide to become Dr. Mutts.
7 years of college in Mutts (dog) years is equivalent to just one human year right. Does that mean we can get 28 years out of him?
i think the emphasis in filling the three roster spots will be for the frontcourt. if mutts and/or aluma come back, that's big for the roster (lol get it)
I don't think there is a reason to hit the panic button yet, it's still really early in the transfer portal. I'm sure something will shake out there.
Nahiem will do well with them. All the respect for being a part of the start of the MY era. An outstanding Hokie in my book.
I know nothing about their roster but is he really expected to get more playing time at UConn than here? At the very least, he would have been first off the bench, if not an outright starter.
UCONN lost all of there PGs from last year's roster plus a few wings. It's a good place for Nahiem to land to compete for early minutes on a competitive team.
Both starting guards are seniors and not returning, plus UConn doesn't have much in the way of outside shooters right now so it is a great fit for him!
Not many places better than UConn to develop someone for the future. He should do well there and I wish him the best.
That said, I hope he loses to us in the title game next year.