According to a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Mike Barber, sophomore Ben Emelogu has left the Virginia Tech men's basketball program.
SOURCES: Virginia Tech sophomore guard Ben Emelogu has left the #Hokies basketball program.— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) July 4, 2014
Last season Emelogu was named team captain as a freshman. The guard from Grand Prairie, Texas played in 22 games and started 11. He averaged 10.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.9 assists last season, and was a promising young player.
I didn't not see this coming, but perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised.
In early June Buzz Williams was a guest on ESPN 950 AM's radio program "Hardly Workin'" hosted by Greg Burton and said the following in part about prioritizing and reshaping the roster in a short amount of time.
"I still think honestly, we still have another transaction or two. I don't know whether or not that you can say they'll be necessarily good or bad, but I think there's still a couple of more transactions that we've got to make as it relates to our roster and our staff over the next 60-80 days before school starts."
It's unclear if Emelogu's departure was what Buzz was referring to at the time, or why Emelogu left the program.
Mike Barber added to his report.
"[Emelogu] hasn't been with the team this summer. He has returned to Texas. Its unclear if he will continue to play college basketball."
Comments
Wow, that is a big loss for me. He was the most promising young talent we had.
I will definitely miss screeching "EMELOGUUUUU" when makes buckets. I thought he was going to be a great player for us but best of luck to him. In Buzz/Whitt we trust.
Whitt ;)
Oops. Extra T. Damn smartphones and technology trying to take over the world.
2 Ts is the preferred way to spell it...I've sent Babcock many emails on it. /s
Definitely a big loss but the three wings coming in (Hudson, Bibbs, Hill) are all extremely talented and not too mention Smith and Johnston are still around.
Smith seems to have a very positive attitude this summer, especially when compared to his attitude during last season. It seems he is very happy about the way Buzz is running things as he is pretty athletic and he could very well be a starter, which isn't something I thought was a given.
This is very disappointing but wish the young man good luck. Our freshmen will have to grow up very quickly.
I'm as big a Buzz believer as anyone else, but it's still really weird to have Emelogu, Wood, Kirby AND Thompson all leave. I'm sure things will get better, but I got used to rooting for those guys on our terrible, terrible teams the last two years. I thought at least a couple would stick around, but I guess not. Strange times.
Agree with all: I trust Buzz given his history.
Can't say it doesn't make me uncomfortable to see so many kids leaving Tech though. I like to think that for most people, being a Hokie is forever. I know that in college athletics, basketball especially, these kids who believe they have a pro future have to make rational decisions about their futures that might not include staying at VT.
They'll always be Hokies to me, regardless, and I hope they excel wherever they go.
I'm not uncomfortable or surprised. Buzz is clearly upgrading the program and I'm confident he'll upgrade again with the new open scholarship. Ben sees a log jamb of players at his position and has calculated he has a better chance of more PT at another program - and is probably right. I thank him for his contributions and wish him well, but we're on our way up if he stays or goes.
Very shocking. He definitely had a lot of promise. Wish him well.
In Buzz We Trust
I'm sorry, but this offseason just keeps getting better'n better'n.../s
This has been a very good offseason for basketball, in fact one of the best in program history. Not sure what you're talking about.
I'm referring to the collective recruiting misses and higher than usual (for us) players departing the school.
The negatives always stick out more than the positives, especially when we don't have much to talk about in the offseason. The basketball program is obviously on the rise with Buzz here and Whit here to actually funnel money into the program. Football...yeah there have been quite a few recruiting misses but once again, we have Whit here who has proven himself competent and make smart decisions for continued success. We're fine.
He was the only one on the team last year that could create his own shot. Will miss seeing him play.
I trust Buzz doing what's best for the team. However, I got attached rooting for these kids, especially those that gutted it out during a terrible season last year.
It'll be sad not seeing them in maroon and orange.
He has pretty much steamrolled through the program. If you aren't on the Buzz train, then you are getting left behind it seems. He has pretty much been given full reign to do whatever he wants as far as roster and staff. Hopefully that pays off in the W/L record and in attendance/revenue.
WoW. This is big for me. Was never really surprised to see players leave, it's natural in these situations; but with Emelogu's physical toughness, basketball talents, college experience, and given the fact that Buzz recruited Emelogu himself coming out of high school...it makes me wonder what our ball coach is actually looking for.
Well we already have a ton of guards and are in good shape with high 4 star guard Chris Clarke in the 2015 class. I loved Ben and will continue to pull for him wherever he goes and know he will be successful. I think Buzz knows what is looking for and is going to give his all to go and get it IMO.
Buzz has always been extremely clear about what he desires in a player, not sure where the confusion originates. Emologu & others have chosen to leave, just as many choose to drop out of military special forces. Buzz's program is not for all. I find that to be much preferable to the embarrassingly weak nature of the program only a few months ago under Johnson, when we were being decimated by teams we should run out of the gym. If Ben or anyone else on last year's team wants to leave? No problem, no insults, no regrets. It's better than them quitting midseason after failing to handle the task assigned them. In three years, the sensible will look back and think - 'How did we ever wonder if it would work?'
It seems a lot of you believe it was Buzz's decision, could be the young man made a decision that he felt was best for his future and it may have been a decision that Buzz understood or may not have been happy with. Truth will probably come out in days ahead.
I hate to see Emelogu go...but he was not going to play a ton...he didn't buy into what we ade trying to do...I believe in Buzz. We have offered a JC SG anyway. I like our roster right now...Buzz has his guards and wa ts more flexibility. Trust that we end up with a better player and don't burn 3 more yrs on a guy that doesn't want to be a Hokie anymore.
A lot of assumptions with no facts yet.
The facts we saw about the last two seasons show that wasn't working, and that it would be difficult for it to work even less. Thus the overwhelming predictive on Buzz is that he can do at least a little better than Johnson. Especially considering Buzz's Elite Eight & Sweet Sixteen appearances. Those seem like fact enough for me. I'm in on Buzz, and refuse to slam anyone for leaving. I also refuse to bemoan anyone leaving. We'll be just fine. I forget, how many games did we lose last season? I'll take the under on equal losses for this season, whatever that number is.
Yeah, I am curious about this:
"Its unclear if he will continue to play college basketball."
Sounds like more than just "creative differences".
That excuse is used almost as much as 'I just wanted to be closer to home/family/friends...' Neither of those almost ever turn out to be the true reason. Of course, the true reason doesn't really matter, as Emologu was hardly here long enough during this last (hopefully) forgettable season to stress over a whole lot. He'll move on, we'll move on. It happens at dozens of schools every season. All part of the game...
While surprised that Emelogu decided to leave now this isn't the worst thing for this program moving forward. It likely means keeping Hudson in a more active role which probably keeps him in the program at least for this season. It also gives us more flexibility with next seasons scholarship offers which could be critical as Buzz continues to shape the program to run the defensive alignment that he is known for.
Ben had a solid season but as for being one of the only ones that could create his own shot, I more times cringed when he created his shots because many times they were ill advised and poor percentage opportunities many times with teammates out of position to successfully rebound if he missed.
The talent level of this roster continues to rise regardless of the defections. I wish Ben well in his future endeavors but overall I think this will be a positive with Hudson seeing more playing time this season that with Emelogu here wasn't necessarily going to be the case.
Emelogu was a good player and leader for our team, but we shouldn't worry about Buzz because of this. Look at Maryland, Tennessee, and other schools that are losing lots of guys because of coaching changes. This is the new norm of college basketball. The concept of transferring for playing time, scheme, coaches, or better exposure actually begins in high school now. I also think it is interesting that players like Thompson, Emelogu, and Kirby were all playing really far from home. I don't think that's the reason for transfers but it can't help. Best of luck to Ben.
Do we even have any basketball players left? There has been so much in and out I can't keep track
someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that every player that Johnson had recruited is now gone
Devin Wilson.
Malik Mueller; technically Jalen Hudson, Justin Bibbs and Adam Smith would count as well.