Figured we could use a catch all topic for any news rumors for both men's and women's hoops whether its transfers rumors, recruits and coaching moves. Maybe actual commits should get their own threads but we can use this more for rumor discussion.
[mod edit: commits, decommits, portal entries, transfers in, changes to staff all should get their own threads. thank you!]
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So first up is a couple of news tidbits that have been brewing the last couple of days;
-Kevin Giltner, one of CMY's assistants, is a leading candidate for the HC job at Wofford. He's an alum and was on CMY's staff there as well. No decision as of yet, but it looks like we could be in the market for at least one job on the bench.
-Tyler Nickel is transferring from UNC. He was a 4 star recruit and a heavy VT target last year but lost interest when UNC offered. Rumors are we've already made contact with Nickel since entering the Portal
I remember Nickel being interested for sure. Listed as a 6'7" G, so possible Mutts fill-in if Mutts senior Day walk was any indication he is hanging them up.
I thought Mutts was out of elegibility?
He is. Cattoor and Basile are the ones that can still come back.
And Basile didn't walk on Senior day.
Poteat looks like he can step up in minutes and be a much bigger contributor next year. In NBA terms I think VT needs a 3 and D style player. A 6'7 lengthy perimeter defender who can nail threes is a dire need on this team.
I'm really hoping Camden can become this for us next year. He showed some flashes in a couple of games that have me thinking of his defensive/utility potential. Has to get better at 3s though!
Really expect Buchanan to minimize Camden next season. Honestly wish he would have played this season, especially with how it played out.
Let the best man win
Welp..... shit
Yep...my language was alot more colorful when I saw the news.
I get a chuckle imagining your avatar and having it yell: "FUC......HSIA!"
Among my favorite colors....
Poteat needs to get quicker on defense. He was a step late getting back to his guy off hedges all season and was often a step late coming over to help. Some of that is experience and timing.
He did improve on his adjustments as the season went on. I saw a lot of improvement from our new players as the season went on.
Poteat spent his first couple years in a zone defensive system so transitioning to man has taken some time.
IMO Nickel would be a big get. He could help mitigate some of the challenges we're gonna have with Mutts gone.
On3 appears to have put in a prediction of Nickel to VT
https://www.on3.com/db/tyler-nickel-117902/
6-7 PF rated 3* by Rivals
Blue Cain is interesting because I believe we had an offer out to him before he committed to GT, but so far it doesn't look like we've reached out to him and a bunch of other schools are after him because he did really well his senior year at IMG.
Jace Carter 6-5 SG rated .89 by 247
Robert Jennings 6-7 PF rated .87
Blue Cain 6-4 SG rated .96
Interesting to see us gaining traction.
6-7 PF rated .88
Good news. If I remember back to his recruitment correctly, the thought was he was gonna be a VT commit until UNC offered him and made a harder push for him later in the cycle when the missed on some other targets. UNC was his dream school so it was over as soon as they showed him love. With the previous relationship, I was hoping we'd be strong contenders or favorite for him this time around but you never know with the Portal and NIL.
6-4 PG rated .92
6-5 SF rated .85
6'4 Combo Guard .89 247Sports Portal Rating
Grad Transfer from Bryant
In the Bulldogs' D1 history, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound guard is their fourth-leading scorer (1,528), runner-up in rebounds (750), sixth in assists (250) and leader in steals (144) over his four-year career.
This season he helped Bryant pull the upset at Syracuse as well.
REGULAR SEASON AVERAGES
PTS 15.1
REB 6.0
AST 2.3
STL 1.3
BLK 0.1
If this guy landed at VT I'd "Kiss an Angel Good Morning"!
6'4 195 lb Guard, former 3 star (.87) recruit. Averaged just a tad under 13 pts for Butler last year (shooting numbers aren't that good though)
Color me "Meh..." on the Tyler Nickel rumors. I watched him grow up, great kid, great family. But he appears to be another really good basketball player that lacks P5 athleticism (we have a roster full of those type of players).
Don't get me wrong, I would be excited if he came to Blacksburg, but I might be more excited about CMY going after some transfers who posses P5 athleticism, which was a glaring weakness of this years team.
Do not see him listed in 247Portal Rankings
6'6 225 lbs Small Forward
Grad Transfer (Possible 2 years left)
2022-23 Stats at New Hampshire
Games 30
PTS. 15.3
TRB. 10.7
AST 1.3
6'6 182 lbs Point Guard transferring out of Florida
247Sports Rank .93 but was a .98 out of high school.
Jerry Meyer eval out of HS.
"Possesses nice length and athleticism for a wing shooter. Top notch shooter with a quick release. Shoots well off catch and dribble. Has niche shot turning or dribbling right where he doesn't fully square up. Much prefers to go right. Comfortable with the ball but is an upright handler. Needs to develop a more physical side as a rebounder. Comes up with steals defensively. Fits the mold of valued shooters with length and athleticism"
Games. 31
Pts. 8.5
REB. 2.6
AST 0.5
FG% 37.7
First season at Florida in a reduced role went much better. This season with more minutes much like Maddox, he struggled shooting the ball since his focus was spread on the whole game rather than as a shooter. Looking for a fresh start but would not expect to see him in a starting role barring big improvement
I'd pass on Reeves. I'm not liking this bit of trend I'm seeing looking into our transfer targets and seeing such poor shooting numbers. Reeves numbers especially are just bad.
I agree. I much prefer Charles Pride who also can dribble penetrate.
For those wanting some defensive toughness on the team, he'd be a very nice get (still a year away though).
I feel pretty honored that we are on that list of final six schools. Don't know much about his stats but I love to see recruits as well as a transfers.
Mike Jones is the biggest reason we are on this list. His AAU connections to Coach Nick Jones with Team Curry plays a big part.
When do we project when Mike Jones gets hired as a D1 head coach and leaves VT?
Some people foolishly thought he was gonna go to Georgetown, which never made in any sense given their situation (program on life support isn't gonna take a HC that was in high school 2 years ago). Depending on how the carousel spins, I think there's an outside chance George Mason might look into him this year. But I think more realistically it'll be another year or two. Yes he was very successful at Dematha, but he hasn't been in the college game long at all. Most schools would want someone that's been in the college game at least a handful of years. The small schools (think Fairleigh Dickinson level) would go for guys at his level, but mid-tiers or higher typically look for guys with some experience, even if its just a few years. Another year or two of seasoning and his name will come up more often.
While I agree with much of what you said here, I don't think you can underestimate the network he has, especially in AAU, which for some struggling programs will be enough to think he might be able to bring an instant splash to recruiting. The man can flat out coach so being able to talk strategy and intent will not be an issue. I think the longer he is away from Dematha it actually lessens his attractiveness to a small extent. The concern obviously will be in whether he understands the background operations and rules enough to successfully build his own program.
I would not be surprised if he is on some short lists already but we likely won't be looped in until those lists shrink again.
This factor is why I am still so tentative about looking forward on this program because I could see his departure gut several recruiting classes for our program.
Is this the place for coaching speculation too? If Giltner does get a chance and lands the Wofford job, would love for Young to take a look at J.D Byer at VCU. Has been with Rhodes during his time at Randolph Macon, Rice, and VCU, was a former assistant at Radford. So Virginia knowledge, comes from a school/coach known for defense (which we need). Plus, he's married to Virginia Tech's women's VB coach....sooo book it?
Not that I spend time browsing the Wofford boards (if they exist), but the people I see pop up on Twitter the last couple of weeks searching for Giltner news don't seem to be happy with this. They wanted Giltner or someone new. Good news for us at least.
Christian Webster is a candidate for American but I haven't heard much in recent days about it either so its looking like we might keep all of our assistants, though there's an outside chance George Mason might make a run at Jones. It's nice to have your assistants wanted but it would have sucked to lose a bunch at once. Still, even with them staying, it'd be nice to get someone to bolster the defense.
Darren Buchanan Jr. in the portal
*clink clug clug*
Darren Buchanan entering the transfer portal
Other offers out of high school included: Iona, Loyola Chicago, Xavier, Rutgers, Richmond, Towson, GW, as well as others.
i went ahead and started an individual discussion thread as per best practices
https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2023/march/21/f-darren-buchanan-jr-en...
PF 6-8 215lbs
247 Rating. .90
2 years Eligibility Remaining
8.9 points
5.3 rebounds
Started 29 of the team's 32 games. Started 64 of 81 games overall.
One of his biggest improvement came beyond the 3-point line as he boosted his 3-point percentage to 41.7% on 96 attempts this season.
His shooting percentage inside dropped from 57% two years ago to 53% a year ago to 45% this season. He improved each season at the free throw line, shooting 74% this season. Saw a significant total improvement in defensive rebounding from 102 to 146 this season or about 1.5 more per game. Averages less than an assist per game which is concerning. My biggest concern is turnovers though. He had 78 turnovers this season or more than two per game. His defensive efficiency took a big hit year over year but not sure its directly on him or whether it was team overall trying to learn Coach Payne's system as a new coach. Louisville was dreadful. He would be a good relief guy in a small forward role but don't see him as a starter. Passing, turnovers and defense are big drawbacks.
One of six Cardinals either in or considering the Portal.
Hard to believe he has eligibility remaining. Looking to take advantage of the notoriety of their conference Tourney run. On the move again for Cone.
Can VT take all of these guys? I know the numbers always work out, but...
No. Room for two for sure with Mutts/Buchanan(assuming he departs through portal entry.) Depending on decisions by Basile and Cattoor, that could be four. Then you have whether Maddox comes back after sitting out most of this season. Could create a fifth spot. Beyond that would be based on any other portal entries.
Incoming freshman take two spots in Rechsteiner and Young.
That said, the likelihood of landing them all is probably also non-existent even if we have space. Each of these guys are being reached out to by 30 or more schools. The best guys are going to wait to see what needs blue blood programs need and dominoes will start cascading there. One example would be Withers, who last night heard from UNC amongst others. I believe 7 ACC schools alone have contacted him.
The other aspect to this is how much is 🔥 versus self-made 😤 smoke. They get a bunch of analysts to throw their name out connected to a big program to grab eyes and spark actions by other schools.
Tyeree Bryan
Three years Eligibility Remaining
Position: Guard
6-6, 202lb (198cm, 91kg)
2022-23
G. 29
PTS. 10.5
TRB. 5.5
AST. 1.8
Freddy Hicks
Two year eligibility remaining
Tarleton State
Position: Forward
6-6, 210lb (198cm, 95kg)
2022-23
Games. 23
PTS 16.2
TRB 6.0
AST. 2.3
Zack Austin
Two years Eligibility Remaining
Position: Wing
6-4, 175lb (193cm, 79kg)
2022-23
G. 31
PTS. 14.1
TRB. 5.4
AST. 1.3
I was unable to find these three on 247 Transfer Portal rankings.
Hicks seems the most intriguing but is also seeing interest from more top schools so that may not matter.
Discussion thread: https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2023/march/24/espns-borzello-g-darius...
Bummer, though somewhat expected. Juke picks Wake over VT. Staying at home (he's from the area)
Yeah this isn't shocking but still a big miss
Think we need some more NIL investment to get some of these top 30 to top 40 kids. Now Juke specifically seemed like being at home was a bigger factor than anything but there's also rumors Tenn upped their money for him big time late and Wake matched. Even if we had money, if Wake matched or got close, he was always gonna pick Wake but I'm just saying in the future, it's gonna take more cash to get kids ranked that high.
Under the Buzz and continuing under CMY, we're making the final cuts for many of those types of prospects and they all have really positive things to say, but we can't close. That cash is needed. We won't ever get all our top prospects, we're not Duke or Kentucky, but getting 1 high ranking guy every couple of cycles (on top of what we're already pulling) is do-able with a tad bit more investment
Wonder if MY is taking the Pry approach and saving the big NIL money for current players and not utilizing big NIL money on recruits who haven't proven anything on the field yet. AFAIK our current bball players did pretty well with NIL this past year
Bam Bam back in the transfer portal. Oklahoma relegated him to a third tier bench role this season. Sooners were terrible this year and he only managed to get into 21 of their 32 games. Had zero games over 20 minutes. Had a pretty stellar year at GW which makes his usage at OU really curious at best.
Grass ain't always greener. Watering, fertilizing, aerating, etc your own side keeps things pretty green.