Virginia Tech Loses 3 2019 Basketball Recruits

Virginia tech lost all 3 2019 basketball recruits within one hour this afternoon.

BJ Mack
Keyshaun Langley
Kobe Langley

All 3 decommit from the Hokies within the same hour.

Keyshaun Langley

BJ Mack

Kobe Langley

[Mod Edit: Embed original tweets to reduce BIG IMAGES.]

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Comments

All 3 seem to be mutual partings... Interesting.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

Oh boy.

"What kind of person would throw away a perfectly good dog?"

WTF??!?! Is Buzz still our coach?

Buzz is going to Coach football at Tennessee!

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Rich Rod can come coach basketball!!

Here lies It's a Stroman Jersey I Swear, surpassed in life by no one because he intercepted it.

Ok

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Not the reaction I was hoping for...

Here lies It's a Stroman Jersey I Swear, surpassed in life by no one because he intercepted it.

Means he ain't coaching football and that's what I care about.

Wet stuff on the red stuff.

Join us in the Key Players Club

Seems legit

VT '10--US Citizen; (804) Virginian By Birth; (979) Texan By the Grace of God.

Rick Monday... You Made a Great Play...

I also root for: The Keydets, Army, TexAggies, NY Giants, NY Rangers, ATL Braves, and SA Brahmas

Definitely seemed too good to be true

"Why gobble gobble chumps asks such good questions, I will never know." - TheFifthFuller

On the bright side, that opens up spots for 5* recruits when Nickeil wins us back to back nattys after winning the Naismith award and being the number 1 overall draft pick in the 2019 Draft

Virginia Tech had the number 4 recruiting class in the nation with all 3

When a majority of the Top 100 players have yet to commit to anyone, this is an extremely misleading quote. When it was all said and done, this class probably wouldn't have ranked as highly as 2017 or 2018

Edit:
https://247sports.com/Season/2019-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings
^^^ The entire list of ranked classes for 2019 consists of only 17 teams. Being # 4 meant we just had more commits than everyone else

Yeah that's kind of how this feels. Certainly seems like we might have backed off them as much as they backed off us.

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

Paging ltrepeter2000!
1. How many scholarships will we have available for 2019 (approx)?
2. There has to be a reason for this - I'm thinking recruit class target oriented. Any info?

Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

2. There are better players out there

Always choose joy.

See Tweet from Jerry Meyer and relax a bit. These three recruits right now are rated #146, #198 and #200 in their class. Gone are the days where that would be a rockstar recruiting class for Tech. Look at 2018 with Landers Nolley being a top 100 guy and NAW in the class before him. Also consider that these are two point guards and a big man. We all know Buzz history with bigs and PG barring people leaving has a traffic jam in front of the twins.

I would love to see Buzz replace BJ Mack with Armando Bacot, but that may be a stretch. Bacot is currently the #17 player in his class., is coming out of Richmond, but is considered a Duke lean right now.

The timing of this action and that it is all three at the same time makes me believe that this was communicated from our staff to the players rather than the other way around.

Now to the scholarships, there are a lot of factors that will play into how many are available.

These are the locks:
1) We have three signed for 2018, so barring any changes there, that's 3 of 13 accounted for
2) Bibbs and Wilson will be gone so that opens 2 spots this season
3) Outlaw, Hill, Clarke and Robinson will be graduating as these sign so that's 4 more
4) Fullard got a scholarship of convenience this year due to Sy departing, he will likely return to Walk On status next season
5) NAW may or may not be a one and done or a two and done at most
6) There are only 12 on scholarship right now unless Buzz gave one to Ammerman.

So the answer for how many we have is anywhere from 3-6 and that's barring anyone else transferring out of the program, which we have seen in abundance so far under Buzz.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

Thanks for talking me back from the edge of the pandemonium cliff, started to think Buzz notified some guys he had only another season and a half left in him.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ #YNWA

Is it common to send a scholarship player back to walk-on status?

I just sit on my couch and b*tch. - HokieChemE2016

Happens quite often. Typically when a scholarship opens up that they cant fill otherwise as with Khadim Sy leaving, so why not reward a guy for at least one season if you have it available. Have to wonder if the younger Leday is kicking himself now that Sy left especially now that he was forced to sit out 2017-2018 at ECU.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Especially with Lebo resigning this week. Not like ECU was a great situation to begin with, but yuck...

As an aside, I vividly remember Lebo being the overwhelmingly preferred option on TSL after Ricky Stokes was fired. He was a hot name back then, and now, 15 years later he's resigning from one of the worst programs in the country. Ouch

"When I was growing up, Virginia Tech was a school that was kicking ass and taking names, and it's time we get back to that" - James Franklin

Yeah, he was a hot name. Greenberg wasn't. He had been a hot name coming out of LBSU but really didn't do much at USF. We got lucky there.

Another glad-we-missed was Bobby Tyndall when Buzz was hired.

There will be at least 4 scholarships available for the 2019 class. If NAW goes pro after his sophomore year then make that 5 available.

2017-18 scholarships: 12
-
2018 departures: (-3 = 9) Wilson [PG], Bibbs[SG], Fullard (returns to walk-on status if needed)
2018 class additions: (+4 = 13) Mcallister[SG], Kabongo[SG], Nolley[G/F], PF to be determined
-
2019 departures: (-4 = 9) Robinson[PG], Hill[SG], Outlaw[SG], Clarke[G/F],
2019 class additions: (+4 = 13) PG, P/G, SG, PF

2020 is kind of a class crunch with only Blackshear graduating unless someone goes pro early .. like perhaps NAW after his Jr season.

Your format makes sense to me. Thank you.

like perhaps NAW after his Jr season.

he won't be here for his junior season...might not be here for his sophomore

Always choose joy.

barring anyone else transferring out of the program, which we have seen in abundance so far under Buzz.

Unrelated to most of your post, but has this been good or bad for us? I tend to forget guys after they leave.

11 bonnets on the ball!

Jalen Hudson alone kind of swings the scale towards bad

I hear ya given Hudson's production this year, but does VT Hudson = UF Hudson? I don't think we would see this production at VT as he was in the dog house so much his Freshman season. It appears that the split was good for both parties and I'm happy to see him succeeding at UF. I'll be more in agreement with you if he bounces us from the NCAA tournament, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

eh.. UF needed a scoring guard and Hudson is just that. We need guards who do more than score, plus our roster is loaded with 6'5" guards who are filling up the bucket. He would not be as a big of a contributor here as he is at UF.

One of those situations you like to see out of a transfer - both teams better for it.

Hudson was a case where you would DH you could trade players. He was surplus here but valuable elsewhere. Too bad we couldn't have swapped him for a power forward.

Yeah, what I said was admittedly hyperbolic. Just making a comment on how good he's been playing. Legs all around

I would lean towards positive or neutral effect. Sure Hudson is having a good to great year but he didnt want to be here anymore. Any one like that can start to be a big problem in the locker room. The other piece to consider is who we get with the open scholarship. Was it PJ Horne or wjs it NAW? There isnt a one to one correlation but considering the team overall has improved makes me think they were the right moves.

Rob Peterson
VTCC
Charlie/Hotel Company
Class of 1999

Every time something happens in roundball i look to this man for my information. Thanks LT

not a huge loss. we can do better

"Welcome to the Terror Dome." -- Corey Moore

Feels weird and if I'm being honest, a little dirty, to be saying something like that.

But I get the sentiment - Buzzketball is on an upward trajectory, and I think that bigger names are seeing what's happening in Blacksburg.

We have 5 JRs, and assuming Nickeil stays we would have 4 Scholarship
1 JR is walk-on
If Nickeil leaves, i believe we would have 5 total. Correct me if I'm wrong though. I think that's how it would work.

For 2019 it's gonna be a tough recruiting battle going head-to-head with Duke for Bacot, but if we can land him that signals that we are becoming a premier football AND basketball school (which we already are taking steps toward). It's evident from watching this year that with two more talented forwards this team is looking at Final Four potential in the next couple years. Hopefully with a potential Sweet 16 run this year we can grab a really talented forward, 2 wings, and guard (from my calc, we have 4 spots for 2019 class) to put us in position to compete for ACC titles!

Do you have any reason why we could land Bacot. Has he announced a list for his schools yet?

He's cut his list to 10, but he was recently quoted that Duke, VT, UNC, Ok St, and VCU have been pursuing him the hardest.

Duke: "I just know if I were to go to Duke and the players that they have been recruiting, like me, Joey (Baker) and Vernon (Carey), I just know we could be a very versatile lineup like this year with them having Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter. They're just showing that they can play three bigs at the same time, but also go small. I know that they would have versatile lineups, and I can show all that I can do."

Virginia Tech: "I just love coach Buzz Williams and his message. I can tell that he cares about me off the court. Coach (Christian) Webster has been with me from the start. They have a plan for me and think that I can be a one-and-done. They have been throwing it all at me."

VCU: "They love me down there. Every time I go down there, people ask me for pictures and autographs. I can just tell that they really want me. I just know if I were to go there I would have the ball from the jump, and it would be my city and my team."

UNC: "I just like their inside-out game. They're going to go inside first, and that is definitely a plus. I just feel like I could go in there early and start and make an impact on the team."

Oklahoma State: "They are just a program that thinks that I can be a one-and-done. They have been telling me that they don't really have any back-to-the-basket bigs that they can throw the ball into, and that I could help change the culture down there."

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/news/big-man-armando-bacot-has-a-big-decision-ahead

Thanks, coudln't find anything

Looks like he really likes Buzz.. Hopefully he stays

Seems to be the theme of the day.

Now, it's time for a beer and the weekend.

Hurry up. I'm three ahead of ya.

Reel men fish on Wednesdays

Pain is Temporary, Chicks Dig Scars
Glory is Forever, Let's Go Hokies!!

BJ Mack hurts the worst here. Damn. I know we may end up with a better class at the end of the day, but I was really looking forward to seeing these three guys in Orange and Maroon.

I found TKP after two rails from TOTS then walking back to my apartment and re-watching the 2012 Sugar Bowl. I woke up the next day with this username.

Yeah I was looking forward to Mack the most b/c he was position of need and had some good highlights. Hopefully we can land one of the 5-6 talented big man in the top 60 overall we have offered along with a few talented wings a a guard.

Sometimes you have to let the small fish go so that you can catch some bigger ones!

Touchdown Tech!!

Or use the small fish to catch the big fish, but I'm not sure how that would apply here. Nevermind.

Reel men fish on Wednesdays

Who now?

Mack's departure was a mutual decision.

Mack's father, Brian, told the Observer that both parties agreed to the decision and that his son was re-opening his recruitment.

"We enjoyed the process and we want to say thank you to coach Buzz Williams, the Virginia Tech staff and Hokie Nation," Mack said. "He feel it's best to open up his recruitment and see what other opportunites may be there for him."

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/article187521858.html

The copy-pasta on decommitment announcements always makes me chuckle a little. Templates really emphasize how much this is just a common thing these days.

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This Jimbo Fisher fallout is worse than I thought.

___

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