According to Evan Daniels, a basketball recruiting analyst for Scout.com, Virginia Tech and Buzz Williams secured commitments from guard Ahmed Hill and center Satchel Pierce. Both are class of 2014 prospects that had signed with Marquette in November 2013. Both were released from their LOI this past week.
Ahmed Hill, a top 100 shooting guard in the 2014 class, just committed to Virginia Tech, per a source.— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) April 19, 2014
Satchel Pierce, a three-star center, just committed to Virginia Tech, according to a source.— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) April 19, 2014
The 6-4.5, 192 pound Ahmed Hill is rated as a 4-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite, and the 54th player in the ESPN 100. Satchel Pierce checks in a 6-10, 250 and is listed as a 3-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite.
Anonymous Eagle had an interesting tidbit of information on Hill from when he committed to Marquette in October.
Hill is a 6'4", 190 lb. shooting guard from Augusta, Georgia, where he attends Aquinas High School. Aquinas went 22-7 last year and reached the state semifinals in the Class A Private division before falling 62-59 to St. Francis. Hill was held scoreless in the first quarter of that game, but still finished with 29 points.
What I found interesting is the reason why Hill attends Aquinas. He went to Peach County for his freshman year, but transferred to Aquinas before his sophomore year. Hill knew he was already attracting recruiting attention and didn't want anything to stand in his way of landing on the biggest stage possible. Aquinas made sense for him due to the private school's academic reputation, and it's worked. He's improved his grade point average since enrolling at Aquinas.
Roger Gonzalez of The News Virginian spoke with Pierce yesterday before his commitment.
Pierce is a 3-star center from Kiski School (Pa.), and he recently got released from his letter of intent to Marquette. The star big man, who is 7-feet tall and weighs 260 pounds, played in a tournament at Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro last season and showed his potential. He has a soft touch around the rim, a college-ready body and a fundamental style of play, while also being able to hit mid-range jumpers.
"I really like it," Pierce said of Tech. "I've been sold on Buzz's plan since November when I first signed to Marquette."
As far as recruiting is concerned, Buzz is off to a tremendous start.
Comments
I can't tell, but I'm pretty sure I need an adult after seeing this...
You need to see "The Big Lebowski" (if you like Cohen brothers films - Fargo, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, etc)
Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion, man
The Dude abides......
"They're calling the cops, Man....."
Hm, I was wondering when this guy was gonna stop cocking his gun and actually start using it....
Been watching these two since the Buzz hire. And now my watch is ended :)
Tell 'em, Satch
Chances of adding JaKeenan Gant before all is said and done?
Its so weird to actually be excited and watching so many others want to see how basketball is going to change for VT. I grew up playing soccer all my life and didnt get into college football until I went to VT. Maybe now its time for me to actually get into basketball as well......
VT basketball, when it is exciting is awesome! The Cassell can just get insanely loud. I'm telling my age, but back in the late 70s and early 80s the Cassell was electric. VT basketball was always in the national conversation - even more then Greenburg's best years.
Whit has done VT a huge service with the Buzz hire. Look how fast this is turning around? Now with VT in the ACC (compared to being in the Metro back then), and with what Buzz is doing...all I can say is WOW!
My prediction is the Cassell will top those days in the very near future. WOW!!
Very happy with both players. Additionally, we've needed a big center for quite some time, and Satchmo definitely fills the bill.
Bibbs has a private twitter account so I can't embed his tweet but let's just say he is pretty happy with this and it seems Hudson will be as well.
So we have the 29th ranked class right now and if Gant commits we could have a top 10 class and if not him and instead someone else we could have a top 20 class. Just think about that for a second.
this is terrific, turkey legs all around!
I have to admit I was wrong. I thought it was a bad idea to fire JJ. When they announced Buzz, I was hesitant to say anything since I knew little about him. But after reading up on him, this is turning into a huge signing. Now lets play some basketball, Hokies! (not you football guys, coughExum)
So you're saying it was a Good Friday?
I see what you did there
How many more players can the hokies take in this recruiting class? The team needs as much help as it can get .
At the moment there is only one more open scholarship
one more
Is it two now with Kirby gone?
Yes, it would be two available but Buzz still may choose to only fill one so he isn't left with only one scholarship for next year, it also will likely depend on how the final decisions of Atwood, Henry and a few others go.
It would be nice to snag Henry, then hold the other scholarship for next year. Also, I'd expect a couple more holdovers to be gone by next April. Buzz can show recruits how his plan actually works in the ACC, and we'll be in the mix for other quality recruits. Having 2-3 scholarships next year would put us on the path to normalcy really quickly.
I agree that it would be nice to have an extra scholarship, but to me it really depends on the recruits. If there are 2 top 150 recruits (not that 150 is the bar just as an example) that want to come to VT this year, by all means pick them up. One of our problems has been depth, would be nice in case of injuries or people leaving the program to have a full roster.
The BB Elevator at VT has risen to new Floors for Sure. Buzz has it In the high rise Mode...
Wow, big news. Welcome to Hokie Nation, gentlemen! May your years in maroon & orange be successful in every way!
Page Pierce, in my opinion is massively underrated. 6-11/ 7-0 250 with that skill set is very rare. He will be an absolute beast.
Good stuff! Huge step forward for the basketball program!
Awesome, now we have 2 legitimate bigs (Pierce and Kirby) and JVZ who I equate to a tall tree. Hopefully one of them can knock him out of the starting lineup.
It'll be interesting to see what we do with the SF situation next year, I'd have to think it's gonna be one of the freshman. Emelogu would be the best option from this past year but he would have to improve a lot this Summer in my opinion.
I think JVZ has a tall ceiling and improved dramatically toward the last half of the season. He has a lot more confidence and does well handling the ball for a big guy. I think if he continues at the pace he had at the end of this year, he could be a great player for us next year. I hope Pierce will challenge him and hopefully the whole unit will get better as a whole. I think you could easily play both guys with JVZ at the 4 spot. He's athletic enough and showed last year that he can put the ball on the floor well for a 6-11 guy.
Just posted it on the recruiting thread but saw a tweet saying Kirby has decided to transfer, so Pierce may need to step up that much sooner now.
Nothing against Kirby, but that is good news for the future. Meaning - a better opportunity for Buzz to get one more of 'his' guys, and it is another scholarship open. That means another ACC level player can be brought in this year or next. I had thought about it this weekend, and decided that there would be 2-3 more holdovers from the previous regime that would not be on the roster after next season. It will become obvious once they begin practice, and they'll look elsewhere.
Man Purse Pierce just sounds weird...
I really want that t-shirt. LOL
Click Here
That's great! I hadn't actually looked yet. Too bad its sold out in ALL sizes at the moment. Boo
But thanks for the link!
There were others, I just chose that link because it was the cheapest.
Try Here: Amazon
You are awesome. And thanks for looking out for my wallet. :)
Looks like Jamie McNeilly will be on staff. Not sure what capacity. This is according to coach chew's twitter.
Yep his twitter bio says that he is on the staff at Virginia Tech. Not sure if he will be an assistant though.
For those interested on McNeilly's background. Seems like he was a video preparation specialist for Marquette. He played for Buzz at the University of New Orleans as a senior.
Here is his Marquette Bio:
http://www.gomarquette.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/mcneilly_jamie00.html
I think he will be in that same capacity here since he has set up office in the video room.
According to Ahmed Hill, McNeilly is also a workout freak: