Now that we know what our team will look like next year (posted below) I wanted to hear anyone else's knowledge and opinions moving forward. Just had a few question that can be answered by the community. Side note - This is my first Topic, don't roast me too much if I made any mistakes.
1 Malik Mueller Rdshrt Fr
2 Joey van Zegeren rJr
3 Adam Smith -Jr
11 Devin WilsonPG So
15 Ben Emelogu So
22 Christian Beyer Sr (non Scholarship)
25 Will Johnston Sr (non Scholarship)
42 C.J. Barksdale Sr
Shane Henry Jr
Ahmed Hill Fr
Satchel Pierce Fr
Jalen Hudson Fr
Justin Bibbs Fr
Seth Allen (sitting out) 2yrs left
Zach LeDay (sitting out) 2 years left
**1) Am i correct that we only have 1 scholarship available for 2015?
**2) Considering our outside chance at Thon Maker, it looks like we will only have 3 scholarships for 2016... reading multiple other threads, it looks like we have a lot of offers out. correct me if I am wrong
**3) Wanted to hear some opinions on the next few years outlook. This year being out of the bottom 1/3 would be great. 2015 looks very optimistic with the 2 transfers becoming eligible; the team has the talent to upset top teams and get into the tournament. What I am really excited for is 2016. Allen, LeDay, Devin, Ben all in their final year. Our great freshman class are Juniors. 2016 looks to be a great class, I only imagine we will snag a few impact Freshman.
The basketball outlook is great. I attended many games at Tech and loved the team even when we struggled. Cassell will final start filling the stadium, and hopefully we can add seats as well.
Well, there is my mid-day rant to hopefully make the day go by faster. It's almost Happy Hour, Go Hokies!!
Comments
"Cassell will rock again."
Don't be shocked if he's not done with 2014 yet. Yes, we're full...but everyone hasn't reported back (will in fall).
could you explain exactly what that means (I feel dumb now) . Which players wouldn't report back, if any?
Players can elect to transfer or not return/enroll. There is some rumbling about additionally attrition. Not citing any #sources...as it's just rumor stuff right now. Tell will be if CBW is still pursuing players, meaning he knows he would have room.
Could be right. No names mentioned but Buzz did say in a recent radio interview that there "could still be another transaction or two to roster and staff coming in the next 60-80 days". I've tried to include a link to that interview below - some may have already seen it on TSL in the last couple days. Its at about the 9 minute mark. You have to scroll about half way down the page.
http://www.espn950am.com/page.php?page_id=72
The thing is...look at the roster. Who can leave? Unless we are talking about non-scholarship guys.
Barksdale is a senior...Smith just transferred in. Unless Emelogu, Wilson, or JVZ?
Who else could be leaving?
That's what I was thinking as well, there's not many options....
Probably not Emelogu. He was recruited by Buzz to Marquette so obviously he's the type of player Buzz wants.
I doubt he let's go JVZ after Trevor Thompson left leaving our 4&5 depth pretty thin. Plus I really think JVZ has a lot of upside with proper coaching being an athletic 7 footer but that's my opinion.
Wilson and Mueller are the only 2 PGs so don't think Wilson is let go.
That leaves Smith which would be my guess if some roster moves happen. He's an undersized shooting guard which sometimes could work like Russ Smith at Louisville, but we all know our Smith isn't that caliber. Would it suck after sitting out a year after transferring to only play 1 year? Definitely. I would feel for him if it happens.
Just my opinion. Not sure what happens tho. I did see a tweet yesterday that VT was in contact with another JUCO guy so there that.
Edit: here's the tweet. Don't know how to embed on phone.
https://twitter.com/kiptjam/status/477232137955856385
Get all the players to play as a unit and start winning ACC championships and going to NCAA tournaments and attract more recruits to Blacksburg to make Tech an elite program.
I am no expert, but pride myself in thinking my opinion matters.
1 - As for Thon... Just a word of wisdom to Hokie Nation. Let this dream go. He's not coming here. Not happening. We're not going to do the shady kinds of business his handlers want done behind the scenes that powerhouse (coughNORTHCAROLINA&KENTUCKYcough) programs are willing to do, which is a shame because Thon is a legitimate good guy and would be a great addition to Hokie lore.
2 - As for the 2014-2015 season. There will be struggles, as you would expect from any team that is 62% freshmen and sophomores. We will drop games early that will frustrate you later in the year. That said, you're going to see a monumental rise in quality of play from this team as the season progresses. You're going to see a team that is physically tough, but also will work its ass off to run you out of the stadium night in and night out. You will see this team wear down opponents late in games over the course of the season, and that comes straight from the Boot Camp early on where the guys run, run, run, and then run some more. You will not see a better conditioned basketball squad. You will also see 1 or 2 guys put in a transfer request as preseason workouts begin, once they realize they just can't handle the demands that come with playing for Buzz. This has always happened to his programs, and will always happen, it's just a part of the whole package with Buzz, and which is why the Boot Camp does so well. Its a weed-out regiment.
As for how we'll finish... Much better than last year, but not as good as some would like. We may get into NIT consideration, but I wouldn't put money on us playing postseason basketball... this year. Starting in 2015, we're going to be an NCAA tournament at-large quality program, but its going to take some time to get there. Temper your expectations for this year, and just enjoy the ride. We have more quality talent in this program right now than we have in a very, very long time. But the problem is, they're 62% freshmen and sophomores.
I really appreciate the response! I've never posted before and I figured it would fall into the pits of forum death with no comments. Confidence boosted
Maybe Im wrong but I thought it was all up to Thon Maker to make his college decision. What kind of shady business do Thons handlers want?
I don't have intimate knowledge, but from what I understand, the typical 'you scratch my back I'll scratch yours with my player' kind of demands that are typical from AAU coaches. This is stuff that Virginia Tech has never really gotten involved with, and likely never will. At the end of the day, Thon is every bit the 1 and done kind of player that you expect him to be, and, to be brutally honest, we're not yet ready to take on 1 and done kids. These kids want to go to programs to contend for National Titles. By the time Thon wants to declare, we're MAYBE a borderline NCAA Tournament team, not one that's going to be a contender. As much as I'd want him to come here, it really wouldn't even be in his best interests to come here, and, when you consider the long-term goals of this program, where we're trying to build and establish a STRONG foundation of players that can survive long-term even after Buzz is gone, I'm not sure a 1-and-done kid is even in our best interests... at least not yet.
You have a point. But as long as he hasnt signed with any school yet, Tech has as much as chance to land him as any University. Buzzs been trying hard to change the programs image by landing top notch recruits. From what Im hearing, Thon Maker could be a program changer.
He could be a program changer, but how much could he change our program? I mean really, we're looking at being a bubble team in 2015, which is the ONE year that Thon will be in college. He very well could come in and make this team a whole hell of a lot better, but it probably won't be as good as we would hope. I mean, if he comes in and takes a bubble team and gets us to maybe the Elite 8, is it really that much of a program changer? Looking at Buzz's history, we're going to be at a Sweet 16 level eventually, Thon just might get us there a year or 2 earlier than we'd originally think.
What I'm saying is this... If this class we are bringing in right now were Juniors and Seniors during the year that Thon would come in, I completely agree... get this kid here any way you can. He'll benefit from the senior leadership and we'll already have a very good team and Thon could make us GREAT. But with an already young team with little experience trying to bring in a true freshman to be THE guy who changes the program? Yeesh, that's just too much reliance on youth, and only VERY rarely do situations like that work out for the best.
I thought maker was a 16 recruit?
He is. He will be a Junior this year.
I've been reading a lot that he is going to get eligible for being a 2015 recruit and teams are beginning to plan with that being the case.
He has been making moves to make himself eligible to be a 2015 recruit by utilizing college classes and summer school to be able to graduate early, although currently still is considered class of 2016. I agree that getting Maker here is closer to a pipe dream than reality, even with Buzz here. The "handlers" of Thon go further back than even the AAU program. The guardian for this kid and his brother first went and got them out of Nigeria but took them to Australia first. After a year in Australia the two brothers were brought to the US to improve Thon's chances at the NBA. All of these moves have cost a pretty penny so eventually the "guardian" is going to want some significant return on investment.
The Maker's also switched AAU programs in the last six months to go from the Boo Williams squad, where we would have had a pretty decent shot to be in the mix recruiting him. They are now both on the Team Loaded Virginia squad, where the Martin brothers were that are headed to NC State. We don't currently have many in roads with that AAU program that I am aware of so it makes it more difficult to get a commitment out of Maker.
If Thon moves to the 2015 class, I would say we have zero chance of landing him and I am not sure landing him would be in our best interest in that class regardless. If he stays in the 2016 class, than we might have a chance depending on what kind of relationship Coach Chew can develop with Team Loaded.
As for the rumors of additional moves, I believe we still have one open assistant coach position that needs to be filled so that would be something. Don't be surprised if that position is utilized in establishing connections to a critical area recruiting wise.
I also would not be surprised if Boot Camp weeds a couple players out. Buzz has consistently had that happen over the years. I hope that he has also identified a few more potential walk on personnel for this season to improve the depth overall as we saw how ragged this team got towards the end of the season last year and that was without the high intensity defensive style that Buzz requires.
That seems like a bit of a stereotype and a big assumption.
So if we were to get one more talented player for this class, who would get squeezed out in your assumption?
Hidden video from Thon Maker's recent visit to UNC...
Rob should weigh into this thread....
Being a sophomore at Carlisle with Thon I've gotten to become really good friends with him, and as much as I would love for him to join Hokie Nation it isn't going to happen. He doesn't really talk about where he will be going to college much, but when he has mentioned some schools Tech wasn't involved.
Sounds pretty shady to me....Hypothetically....if I had a bag of cash and gave it to you....Could you "accidentally" give it to Thon?
Yeah I think somehow it could end up in his locker or bookbag one day
What's Next. Winning games and dominating the ACC. (might take a year or two)
Touche salesman
**1) Yes, as the roster is currently configured we only have one open scholarship with Barksdale scheduled to graduate. The other issue is that currently all three walk-ons (Donlon, Meyer, Johnston) will graduate after next season as well so I am hoping that Buzz is identifying a couple more guys now that could work their way onto the team that might not have deserved a scholarship initially.
I think we will see some more turnover though as Buzz gets started with Boot Camp and as players see what their role may or may not be. One player to watch beyond Smith will be Jalen Hudson. He may be the odd man out on the wing player rotation so might be asked to redshirt or might decide to transfer elsewhere to get additional playing time with the logjam we currently have at the 2-3 spots.
**2) Buzz has a ton of offers out for both the 2015 and 2016 class. He even has a handful of offers out to the 2017 class but as we have seen with football, offers have all kinds of connotations and eventually the bottom line is we can only have 13 scholarship players.
As the roster currently stands, there will be three players graduating in two years. JVZ, Smith and Shane Henry. Again, I wouldn't be surprised to see another player or two leave the program during or after that season based on how they have fit in to Buzz system.
One thing I am not sure how Malik Mueller year this year was classified. If it was ineligible for cause he would only have three years left, if not for cause, then he may still have all four years of eligibility. That would come into play with the 2017 or 2018 class depending.
2017 currently will have four graduates in Leday, Allen, Emelogu, and Wilson. Mueller may also be done this season as well, which may be why we have seen Buzz be so active with the 2017 class already.
2018 would be the turnover of the incoming freshmen.
**3) Next year, I expect us to do fairly well in our non-conference slate considering most of it will have been commitments from JJ's time here. Something like 10-3 or 9-4. Part of the losses will depend on what holiday tournaments we are in. As for the ACC slate, I think shooting for a 9-9 mark is realistic, surprising a few teams that we might not be favored against, but also likely losing a few games where the youth is not focused enough for the level of competition. An 19-13 record would likely get us invited to the NIT if we were able to win our first game in the ACC tournament. 20 wins and we start to be an NCAA bubble team depending on how we fare in the ACC tournament.
I would actually expect 2015 to be the better season than 2016 in all honesty, with Henry and JVZ as seniors down low, we could have the men in the lane to dominate ACC play for a change. After that will depend on who Buzz is able to target down low with the limited scholarships he has until 2017. This is a big part in why I wasn't a big fan of the two transfers that we just brought in. They obviously were talented enough to earn Division I scholarships but I would have preferred to have the flexibility to get a couple more guys to spend a year as backups to JVZ and Henry. Don't be surprised if another JUCO player comes into the mix to plug this hole.