After watching this undersized over-scrappy basketball team be led and coached by Buzz, I have been overwhelmed by a feeling of nostalgia for the mighty Hokie football teams that we all remember so fondly. This team of BB players is rarely if ever overwhelmed by the opponent or the venue and Buzz's comments about their attitudes in and out of the locker room proves that. Buzz is teaching them life lessons and these young men play with relentlessness. THIS is exactly what the great football teams we have had played like.......unsung and under-recruited players like Corey Moore and John Engleberger dominated with skill and attitude and never let the moment be bigger than their desire to absolutely crush their opponent. Buzz has changed the culture and I am hoping that CJF is conjuring the same designs for our Hokie Football team, #Loyalty #NBA
This Basketball Team and Former Football teams et al........
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As a Hokie fan, other than the 99 football team, I can't think of a more fun team to watch than this years Buzzketball.
I believe they make a serious run in March.
As much as I like beating Duke, the offense against NC State, Louisville, Clemson, GT, Pitt, and UVA was unwatchable. I love that we've found a way to win games without our leading scorer, but it hasn't been pretty for most of it.
I found the 2015-16 more fun. It was the first time I had seen a winning VT basketball team, and there were no expectations so every game and every win was a joy/surprise. There's not much that can compete with LeDay driving slow-motion to the basket but still making a layup versus guys 3-5 inches taller.
I agree that this team is extremely well coached and scrappy, but we have a ton of 4 stars on this team (including the entire starting 5). This is a lot different than the Hokie football teams where 90% of the roster were 3-stars.
Current roster and their composite ranking:
3* (385) Isaiah Wilkins
4* (70) Wabissa Bede
4* (40) Nickeil Alexander-Walker
4* (101) Justin Robinson
3* (234) Jonathan Kabongo
(NR) Brendan Palmer
4* (62) Ahmed Hill
3* (208) P.J. Horne
4* (67) Landers Nolley II
(NR) Tyrece Radford
4* (121) Kerry Blackshear Jr.
3* (18 - Junior College) Ty Outlaw
Players from last year's roster:
4* (62) Chris Clarke
4* (86) Justin Bibbs
Yes, but we're still competing with teams whose entire starting 5 are future NBA players without a single 5* recruit of our own. And we had some football players through the years who were criminally underrated, in the time before the rest of the country caught on to the idea that the 757 was a hotbed for talent.
I don't really follow basketball recruiting, but do the number of stars in football actually translate directly to the number of stars in basketball? Seems like there are a lot of variables in play such as supply from high schools, number of scholarships per schoool, number of schools competing, etc.
There is no comparison between star ratings in football and basketball other than the general more is better. Pulling a top100 or 4* guy is magnitudes easier in basketball than football.
I don't agree. there are ~300 4-stars in football per class as opposed to ~100 4-stars in basketball. Also, more basketball recruits sign outside of the Power 5(6) than in football.
As far as my argument against OP's post:
Having a basketball roster with more than 50% 4-stars just does not compare to the VT football teams of old that relied on taking mostly 2/3 stars and developing them into stars. I do agree that they play with the same swagger and fearlessness as those old VT football teams, but currently Buzzketball is not a team of overachieving ragtag, under-recruited players.
You're just proving my point. It's easier for non powerhouse programs to sign 4*s in basketball than football.
There's 3 times as many football 4*s as basketball but the rosters are 6.5 times bigger. The top football programs can hoarde more than basketball.
I'm not proving your point. There are more attractive basketball schools for highly ranked recruits therefore spreading them thinner. Mid majors get a lot more attention in basketball than in football and have a legitimate chance of a final four/natty run.
I don't understand why you want to argue about this. I was just trying to prove that this roster is very talented from a recruiting perspective, therefore not a great comparison to 90s/early 2000s Tech football teams IMO. Most of our classes since Buzz's arrival have been in the top 25, so playing like a top 25 team is not that surprising to anyone closely following the program over the past 4/5 years.
The hoops teams under Buzz are very rarely overwhelmed. Even during Buzz's first year, VT would come out ready to fight against anyone, whether it was Radford or Duke. Yeah, they lost a lot of games but it was rarely due to lack of effort. Watching undersized guys like Zach Leday out work and out hustle future first round picks was amazing to watch and it really set a tone for a program that we still see today.
Edit: I should have qualified my Engelberger/Moore comment to mean attitudes vs their "Star" ranking. I just love how their attitudes and dominance were always on display. Apologies for colluding topics.
From what I read in that 247 article with Vick, he said that CJF is definitely continuing and building on the culture that Beamer created.
It was good to see this, as other football alum have said there isn't much connection to CJF for them.
If I were to compare this team (with J-rob) to a football team, I'd compare to a Chip Kelley Oregon team - that is, this team is small by design, not out of necessity. Buzz wants a fast team with versatile players. It's not like he's forced find 'diamonds in the rough' like the old Beamer football teams.
Good comparison.
Those (roughly 1995-2010) VT football teams were never intimidated and overwhelmed by their opponents or venues because THEY were the ones doing the intimidating and overwhelming.
My friend, who was not a VT fan, used to marvel back then that "no one in the country does a better job of suddenly being up by 28 points than Virginia Tech."