Virginia Tech wing Landers Nolley has entered his name into the transfer portal, a source tells @Rivals. Sat out this past season. Former Rivals150, four star prospect— Corey Evans (@coreyevans_10) April 8, 2019
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But... but he likes the Mike Young Instagram post....
Most likely he entered prior to last night. Correct me if i'm wrong, but transfer portal news doesn't typically break instantaneously. Bede and Nolley are probably going to look at all their options and then decide what to do
Hope we manage to keep him, somehow. Has Young even had a chance to meet with the players yet?
It was reported that he met with the team before the introductory press conference
I mean he's probably following Buzz to aTm and will probably get a waiver to play immediately due to the precedent that Tate Martell set. And I would suspect the same for anyone who leaves the VT program (Bede, and Blackshear, Wilkins, Kabongo, etc should they decide to leave as well)
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised, though Blackshear wouldn't need a waiver
I'm curious how quickly it takes the portal to update.
Are we even going to have 5 guys to field a team with at this point?
Yes, they may be last minute add ins but yes.
Buzz is a great top 10-15 coach, except for having more than 5 guys left in his program that is..
Gd damn it
Wasted no time getting that in after meeting coach. Yikes
Edit: Damn, though crowd on here past couple days.
Probably entered his name before even meeting Young and it just so happened that news only broke on it now.
FWIW he was at the event and seemed to be in a good mood
Probably because he knew he was already gone, and didn't have to deal with this next year.
even I'm not sure how sarcastic I'm being with that comment
As was Bede and NAW. Med and JRob too. Let me tell you, these are great guys all around.
This is not surprising. Next year or two is going to be tough but we will need to be patient with Young and just hope that by year three we are challenging for a tourney bid.
We gon have Isaiah Wilkins and three walk ons next year
The portal can be our friend too. Young will likely get a guy or two if need be from the portal
And Horne! Maybe Kabongo!
And to think it was Fuente who was joking about inviting frat guys to try out...
May have to see if there are any Will Johnstons in the basketball club.
If there is one person who has to be loving all this attention on the Bball program it has to be CJF. Nobody is even talking about football right now and spring practice is in full swing.
It's sad that our football program should want to fly under the radar.
It is what it is. Maybe better that we are considering we keep getting worse under Fuente and we get little to no information about the squad.
I for one honestly forgot that spring practice had started
K A B O N G O D Y N A S T Y
Man it's going to be so awesome that Nolley is eligible right away with no issues to play for Buzz at AM.. awesome.. /S
This sucks.
Texas A&M Starting Line Up for next year:
Wabissa Bede
Kerry Blackshear
Chris Clarke
Landers Nolley
.......and some point guard.
Ant Harris
Dang, that's a good team!
this is what I imagine it was like being a st Louis rams fan watching the LA rams in the super bowl last year. I don't know if im going to be so pissed I cant handle it or be excited and happy because those are my guys out there!
I think it would be more like a 90s Cleveland Browns fan watching the Ravens in Super Bowl 35. At least with the Rams, anything they win goes in the same trophy room as all of their St. Louis achievements.
Well fuck.
Oh look, I got a notification on my phone, what is this....
The big one is KJ. If he stays and Young can attract another good name from the portal, then the others very well might stay. If he leaves, they all leave without question.
"They all leave without question"
Unfortunately, there's really no one left to leave.
I don't understand why anyone thinks KBJ will stick around.
He's graduating, and would be a very hot commodity on the transfer market.
He'd have very little to gain by staying, and can find a home with a NCAA tournament quality team elsewhere.
Yeah I've had him as second most likely to leave behind NAW who was at about 99.9% (now 100)
He wouldn't be stupid not to tbh
I believe those were my exact words haha. For his sake I hope he leaves.
Me too. He doesn't owe us anything and this situation isn't his fault. He should go play the place he has the best chance to show off his talents
My source say (and by source, I mean my pizza delivery guy) he's either going to UCF or a "blue blood" if he goes into the portal
Good thing we're basically a blue blood now
Kind of like how UVa is basically an Ivy League school #WhatTheFuckIsAPublicIvy
Why would he stick around? I dunno? Maybe because Mike Young is a great coach who knows how to feature post players? Maybe he acquired a fondness for Blacksburg like most of us who went to VT? Maybe he likes the grad program here? He would have options if he transferred, but he would be guaranteed to be a featured player here.
Have to think he'd be preseason All ACC
I think we're all just pessimistic knowing that the transfer portal has mostly been a net negative for us for both football and basketball. It's hard to stay positive with how the last week has played out especially.
Buzz has three spots open to start with but we know how he clears out space. THE NUMBERS ALWAYS WORK.
Nah.. at AM, he will always have 12 healthy scholarship guys and use a 9-10 man rotation. Bank on it. Thin rosters, attrition, season long injuries, arrests and eligibility issues are a VT hoops thing- for as long as I can remember. Texas AM will magically have 12 healthy, good bodies at all times.
That 12th man is their specialty.
Why stop at just 12?
and 5 of those aTm players are over 6'8". That's four too many for a Buzz roster.
Maybe we could steal one from them.
That would certainly be worth the price of admission.
Not that I think that this is necessarily the case, but is it possible that Nolley put his name in the portal to gauge his opportunities? He could still decide to stay, right? I doubt that Young is pulling a Fuente and telling guys to take their name out of the portal or get left behind. Hell, I would think that everyone on the roster would put their name in the portal so they can effectively weigh their opportunities going forward.
No, no, no. He's already gone, he's been talking to aTm all year, Buzz secretly was recruiting him explicitly to aTm from the start. Not only that, but he's also told everyone that he's every played basketball with that Blacksburg is horrible and that Tech sucks just to spite all of us, on this message board, specifically.
Am I doing this right?
Bbbut Buzz left us in good shape, proved you could win at VT and made it an attractive job for a great hire and recruiting success, right? It must be true because I've read that often enough right here on TKP, right?
Nobody has said Buzz left us in good shape. But the cupboard isn't bare yet, and examining the portal doesn't mean they are gone. Just looking.
oh no the cupboard isn't bare /s he left us with Ka.... bong...... goooo! (no offense to kabongo I actually really like him)
Nobody's said the roster was in good shape, but plenty have said that Buzz elevated the program and made it more attractive to a top notch coach and recruits. We'll see. I agree, the cupboard isn't bare...yet.
Damn shame man... Bede/Harris/Wilkins/Nolley/KBJ is at least a solid starting five.
Fuckity fuck fuck
All those guys played for Buzz more than VT. They were their own family, and that's cool, because that's how he got them to come here. That's probably Buzz's biggest strength really, so no one should be surprised that those guys are gonna follow him. Really in no way an indictment of the new coach yet though.
I mean... Most guys that leave probably aren't going to A&M. Buzz has already inherited a roster there and will bring in recruits.
That's a good point. They can't all follow him. But a couple could potentially. Nolley and Blackshear?
I guess if you can't follow him, you have to ask what is the incentive to go elsewhere. Maybe get on a team that has a better shot at the tourney? But are there a lot of teams that have a spot like that? I don't know. Maybe all is not lost, maybe a lot of our guys end up liking the new coach and staying.
The most important thing you said was right at the end. I fully expected us to be looking for somewhere between 10-12 players for next season, regardless of the coach. Very few coaches would be able to retain a large amount of the existing players or recruiting class on the heels of Buzz. That is definitely not a knock against them, just the reality of the environment Buzz created.
I kinda don't blame him. He never got to play here so I doubt he really feel much of a connection to VT.
I'm not saying I blame him, because I don't. He should do whatever is best for him. But he did attend VT for a year. Did you feel a connection after your freshman year in Blacksburg?
I did, but I also got to do exactly what I signed up to do and that was to be a freshman in VT.
He signed up to come to VT to play basketball. He didn't sign here for the VT academic and college experience.
Not saying he can't have developed an attachment here, but it certainly must have felt extremely unfulfilling.
In other words: He ain't come to play school
At least, it wasnt the priority for why he enrolled at VT.
Put it this way
It would be like if you got accepted to VT to study Engineering at Tech only to see all of the faculty and staff of the VT Engineering department hired away to another school only to have it replaced by the one from Elon. Wouldn't you start looking around at that point, too?
Except Wofford had a top 25 basketball team this year, while Elon did not have a top 300 engineering program.
Regardless, if Landers likes Coach Young and wants to play for him, there's a good chance he'll return. Or maybe another good school that isn't rebuilding will offer him and he'll decide to leave.
Wofford has less than 1700 students, and they won 30 ball games this year. There are some of the things that need to be considered when trying to square this hire with heightened expectations, but I do think given a chance he will be capable of putting together a winning team if he can connect with the remaining players and recruits.
I just read an article that pretty much seemed to say that the last word on Nolley's clearance was in November and it hadn't happened yet then. I believe if he were cleared, we'd have heard about it.
But my engineering career will last a lifetime. These guys can only play basketball so long. There is more to life for these guys than basketball. Y'all just keep acting like there is only one choice for him, and that is to follow Buzz or go somewhere else. It is about more than just basketball to KJ and all the players on the current team.
Oddly enough I grew up in Burlington, NC, a stones throw from Elon.
I never said. All i said is that I understand the choice and that likely he never developed much of an emotional attachment to the university.
Everyone is gonna love this....Take a look at the recruit list for Buzz.
https://247sports.com/college/texas-am/LongFormArticle/Texas-AM-Aggies-mens-basketball-recruiting-Names-to-watch-as-Buzz-Williams-begins-first-full-week-130999126/
The only surprise is that they didn't have Nolley or KBJ in there
To me, this is the only significant area where Coach Young isn't as competitive as some of the other options floated. I think within a few years, he is going to be a good one for us (maybe a great one), but as seen in this list, aTm believes that all current players who entered the transfer portal and all VT players/recruits involved with Buzz are good targets. If Young was coming from a program with some 4-star athletes, we'd be expecting a few to jump with him. Not fun to watch this time around.
yeah, it's probably going to be at least a couple years until we get back to the top half of the ACC. I hope I am wrong, but this hire does speak to the long term so I actually kind of like it. Just like in Football (as much as we all love Blacksburg) VT is not really a destination school for a lot of athletes. But if Young can bring the consistency and stay around a long time, making us a perennially top 25 tournament worthy team, then I will be very happy.
Maybe so, but I didn't know who Young was 3 weeks ago and now I'm a believer. He has some impressive recent records, and something about the confidence he showed during the presser makes me believe the guy can accomplish success in the ACC. But, if the fans don't get behind him, how can we expect the players/recruits to believe in him? Buzz was welcomed back to aTm like military troops returning home, the school invested in a welcome Buzz campaign. The hoopla surrounding Young is really the only thing missing. I think Whit hit a dinger, but folks were too stressed to appreciate it. Hopefully in a year or two, we look at the list of potential candidates and we are thankful that we have Young.
Edit - I would give you an upvote, but I haven't gotten my turkey legs yet.
Apples and Oranges here.
Maybe the fact you hadnt heard of him for a long time isnt really a good thing. He was the HC at Wofford for 17 years. Typically top coaches from mid majors are constantly in the media as potenial hires for p5 teams. Why did he never leave? Was he offered jobs at better programs?
Agreed - all good points. Even though he has been there for 17 years, it looks like he just starting running a successful program in the last 5-10 (please correct me if I am wrong). There is very little wow factor, but he's growing on me, and I do think he can become something special at VT. I'm anxious to see who he selects for the assistant positions. How long does that normally take anyway? Frankly, this has been the first coaching transition that has grabbed my attention so much.
Oh I don't really know either. My questions are genuine. It definitely seems like it took some time to get the program to a successful place, which isnt an issue. Honestly, I think I'm just still stuck on Buzz. He was such a grandslam hire that you can't but feel disappointed in anything that follows. But time heals all wounds.
Typically he would have the majority of his staff in place inside of five days but in this case, he may leave one assistant coach position open until the Wofford head coaching search is over because his top current assistant is in the running for that position.
Well, all 4 of TX A&M signees have been released from LOI... of course except for 1 from Alabama they are all from Tx.
They can come to VT. It's part of the trade package for Buzz
So, Nolley just did an Instagram Live. Someone asked, "What do you think of Coach Young?" JRob answered for Nolley with "No comment"
Interesting. Probably smart since his name just got in the portal. Gonna miss JRob, but looking forward to seeing what he does. The next month is going to be rough waiting around for this team to form.
insert "not great, Bob" gif here????
I don't know how much you can really draw from that. It would seem pretty prudent to put a "no comment" blanket on any questions about either Buzz or Young at this point. Nothing good can come from responding to those questions.
That's my thought as well...unless the "no comment" was made while trying to keep a straight face, or not bust out laughing...I didn't see it, so I have no idea how it came across
While it was Nolley's Instagram, JRob started it (they were watching the game together). Anthony Harris joined the chat too, and Nolley commented on it. When someone asked "What do you think of Coach Young?" JRob got a big smile and read the question to Nolley (standing nearby). Nolley started mumbling something and JRob cut him off with "No comment, he doesn't have a comment. I'll act as his manager for now." Of note, JRob was wearing VT swag, Nolley was not.
Nolley has posted about his daughter on his instagram page; born in March. Probably going to transfer as close as he can to her. I don't where his daughter lives, but assuming it is Fairburn, GA, then a transfer to Georgia Tech could be a possibility.
Would love to see him play in a Hokies uniform, but for his sake, I hope he can transfer closer to his daughter and be with her as much as possible.
Don't think he can transfer to an ACC school without sitting out 2 years, regardless of the fact he sat out this year.
Georgia, UF, Alabama, Auburn, SCar?
At Georgia Tech, you can do that!
So... I may have missed it, but are there any quality current Wofford players or recruits that may come with Coach Young to the Hokies this year? After all, he's an excellent coach and they had a great team this year. Just wondering.
Considering Fletcher Magee is done, I don't think any of those players will do us any justice or favors by transferring to the ACC. Might as well look to the almighty portal.
Storm Murphy (8 pts, 47.2% 3 pt) is a sophomore and is worth a look for his name alone.
Yeah the players that gave Kentucky a run wouldn't cut it in a major conference.
They will not. 3/4 of a game in the tournament is not the rule for a full ACC season.
Or just the Almighty, cuz it's gonna take an act of God to salvage next year...
Wow...The negativity here is out of control. Think I'll stop checking comments for a few months.
NOLLEY BACK!
Make this its own post brother. It's certainly deserving as it is very big news in its own right. Plus people won't want to look at the bottom of a 100 comment thread.
That is great news and what I was hoping for.
I don't get the lion in the graphic, but I DON'T CARE! Great news!