Hokie Hoops Central:
Elon (7-4)
at
Virginia Tech (10-2)
2pm
ACCNX
Hokies -14.5
O/U 157.5
ESPN Analytics: Hokies 89.2%
Last Tune Up
The Hokies have the chance at 11 out of conference wins. It would be the third time under Mike Young. It would also put them TWO wins away from last season's win total.
We let Bodie cook on the mic for Kids' Takeover Day 🎙️😂 pic.twitter.com/AbhR8IIOG3— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 16, 2025
The Elon Phoenix come in 7-4. Their losses are to Marshall by 7, Miami by 27, Mercer by 7, and Furman by 9.
Wins over Belmont, UNCG, Gardner Webb, Appalachian State, Wofford, NIU, and Richmond. The only real surprise in either column is beating Richmond. Home game where they outscored the Spiders by 9 in the 2nd Half to win 73-70.
Head coach Billy Taylor is in his fourth season at Elon, and has led the Phoenix to a 45-63 record overall but has shown improvement year over year. First season was 8 wins, then 13, and then a 17-16 record last season.
He has a very experienced squad on the floor to start games with three Seniors and two Juniors. They are led by Senior Forward Chandler Cuthrell, who is putting up 21.5 ppg. There are two other starters in double figures along with one more off the bench. Only one starter, Harrell, is a returning player to this team.
Make no mistake, this team can shoot the ball. They hit 56% of interior shots and 36% on the perimeter. They are getting to the line for over 22 attempts per game and hitting around 14 of those.
Klaczek, Harrell and Cokley struggle with fouls though which limits the time on the floor for two of their double-digit scorers.
One major change for Coach Taylor is the makeup of his roster from last year in terms of size and speed. Last season, Elon was one of the tallest teams in the country but lacked elite speed. With much of his height departed to bigger schools, Taylor focused on bringing in speed and perimeter shooting this offseason.
Offensively, they are pass first and predominantly looking to shoot the three first. They attempt over 28 shots from outside per game. They are also quick to get to transition although they do not create a ton of turnovers. They hold a slight rebounding advantage on the season but got crushed by Miami on the boards 34-19.
Defensively expect to see a variety of zone defense that sags more to the paint so opponents get quite a few open looks outside. They are attempting to limit space in lieu of height in the paint with no starters or early bench players over 6'8 this season.
New merch drop 🔥🚀@igb_Amani has been lights out this season 😎 To support Amani and rock his new merch, go to https://t.co/35ACIBONau 🙌@HokiesMBB | #GoHokies pic.twitter.com/w1HzmqC6gm— Triumph NIL (@Triumph_NIL) December 16, 2025
Phoenix Starters
Chandler Cuthrell
#7 SR F 6-8 220
21.5 Pts, 7.2 Reb, 1.5 Ast
Randall Pettus
#11 JR G 6-3 185
14.5 Pts, 3.4 Reb, 1.2 Ast
Kacper Klaczek
#6 SR G 6-8 220
11.6 Pts, 6.1 Reb, 3.0 Ast
Ja'Juan Carr
#3 SR G 6-2 195
8.8 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 4.3 Ast
Isaac Harrell
#12 JR F 6-8 195
6.2 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Phoenix Bench
Bryson Cokley
#0 SO G 6-6 188
11.3 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Ned Hull
#22 JR G 6-3 180
4.1 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.7 Ast
DeMarco Johnson
#8 FR G 6-4 176
3.7 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 2.8 Ast
Caleb Middleton
#5 SO C 6-11 215
2.9 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 0.4 Ast
🎥🔥 Hokie High Top 5 vs. UMES pic.twitter.com/ISPjMmQlRP— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 16, 2025
Hokies Starters
Neoklis Avdalas
#17 FR G 6-9 215
14.6 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 5.0 Ast
Amani Hansberry
#13 JR F 6-8 240
15.9 Pts, 7.9 Reb, 3.3 Ast
Jailen Bedford
#0 SR G 6-4 181
8.9 Pts, 3.1 Reb, 0.7 Ast
Tyler Johnson
#10 SO G 6-5 215
9.7 Pts, 5.3 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Antonio Dorn
#77 FR C 7-0 230
3.9 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Hokies Bench
Jaden Schutt
#2 JR G 6-5 185
10.7 Pts, 1.3 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Ben Hammond
#3 SO G 5-11 170
9.7 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 3.5 Ast
Christian Gurdak
#32 FR C 6-10 260
4.6 Pts, 3.6 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Izaiah Pasha
#4 SO G 6-4 190
2.1 Pts, 0.6 Reb, 0.7 Ast
OUT
Toibu Lawal
#1 SR F 6-8 200
12.8 Pts, 10.3 Reb, 0.5 Ast
Hokies have the 4th fewest turnovers in the country so far this season which is a major factor in their success. As part of this their opponents have the 2nd fewest steals per game at only 4.5 per game.
Another crazy comparison is Hokies rank in shots per game compared to opponents shots per game. Hokies are 41st overall at 763 shots. Their opponents are 293rd at 728 shots.
Hokies sharing the ball an impressive 16.3 assists per game while opponents only reach 12.6 per game.
timeless 🙂↕️ pic.twitter.com/L85yFNgHqi— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 17, 2025
I reflected Bedford in the lineup but he missed last game due to illness. If that's the case again, Schutt moves to start and Pasha gets more run.
ACC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
NEO AVDALAS
Freshman making moves 👀@HokiesMBB pic.twitter.com/SvLLbev13G— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) December 15, 2025
Comments
No 7 footers in the opposing lineup, that's a relief. We seem to have no answers for an athletic big.
One at 6'11 off the bench but very minor role so far this year
Brutal. Dorn out for back and Avdalas out for illness.
That leaves us with 8 players, but we're down 2 starters and our best backup big.
Starting 5 of G Hammond, F Hansberry, G Bedford, G Johnson, and F Gurdack
Entire bench is G Schutt, G Pasha, F Jones.
I hope Snook is available.
Getting dumb fouls down low.
This team does one thing well. Shoot the three. So what do we do? Let them be wide open outside
And.... We lost
Too early
This is embarrassing
Any particular reason we are playing like ass today?
Missing three starters has something to do with it but still doesn't excuse this bullshit sloppy play
Let's hope Elon wakes up. They are unreal.
What.The.Actual.Fuck!
They are obviously taking away the arc but it's the shot as want to take.
Our D is asleep
Our TO's are pathetic.
It's fucking Elon
Much needed mini-run to cut it to 8 at half
Closed strong. Really thought we would be down 30 at the half
Come on boys.
We're down our best two players and our best bench big.
The struggle is understandable.
Maybe scoring wise but this has just been bad basketball. Self inflicted mistakes. Elon now has 14 points off turnovers
Can Tyler Johnson make anymore bonehead plays today? Jesus
Man a couple of the fouls on Hansberry called by a ref with no line of sight. Completely changes our games with him off the floor
Hokies take the lead at the under 4 timeout. Let's see if they can keep it
I don't know about y'all... but I'm sitting on the edge of my seat for this last 3:25.
I think the problem has been the big ass fans aren't turning.
If the game goes to OT, Elon may have some players foul out.
No technical foul on them for slamming the basketball on the sideline after Hansberry scored?
How. That's clearly was out on the Elon player
Johnson touched it last unfortunately
On gamecast cant tell who has ball
Gurdak was fouled trying to heave it but no call
extra basketball
They have 3 guys with 4 fouls. Go right at them.
Unfortunately the important one, Elon keeps subbing him out on defense
Weak ass foul puts Hansberry out of the game. Looked like a block.
Getting worked on the boards by Elon
And Johnson out. Can anything more happen to us?
we are taking some really bad shots the last couple minutes of the game
Essentially all bench guys on the floor. Bedford is only starter left.
Yeah I am thinking the Mike Young era won't be lasting much longer
This team shouldn't be this bad
Judging a "team" with four starters off the floor is pretty harsh. Elon is a pretty good portal team at least offensively
A little knee-jerk there. Lunardi has us in his last 4 out right now and we were down 2 starters and our 6th man. Im not surprised this was a tough game, but I can promise at this point that no one should be looking for Mike Young's replacement.
FAM
BEN HAMMOND
BEN FAMMOND
Lmao FAM
YEEEEEEEAHHHHH
Gutsy win FAM!
Let's go.
Never doubted for a second 😂
I'm with you brother.
Really dodged a bullet. Selection committee for the Big Dance will not consider we had three starters unavailable, if we had lost this game.
This is true!
Still expect Elon to be Quad 2 at season end
I thought if you had an injured player out it isn't the same team. somewhat /s
Only if it keeps you out of the College Football Playoff.
Never in doubt.
holy hell we won??
I'm surprised that as good a 3pt shooting team as Elon is... their last made 3 was at the 10:20 mark of the second half.
I think that was attributed to whatever halftime adjustments that were made. I've been unplugged the last couple weeks, so can someone explain how we had SO many starters out today?
Injuries and illness
Lawal: Left foot, in a boot, expected to be out at least til late January
Dorn: last game he got in a physical back and forth in the paint early in the game. Something with his back. He was wearing a brace the rest of last game and missed today. No timeline
Avdalas was out with illness.
Johnson left late in this game after stepping weird on Hammonds foot and did not return
Hansberry fouled out in OT after scoring 20 points
We only made 4. They still made 10.
That's what I mean. They only had two more attempts (both misses) at the 7:57 and 4:17 marks in regulation. And one miss at the 1:32 mark of OT.
I think they were 3 for 11 in the 2nd half. So did they go cold, our defense improve, or did our coaches call for a defensive adjustment?
Not that it matters now, I just think their lack of 3pt shooting in the 2nd half was a major key to our victory.