Recent Comments

Before dark we counted a dozen or so flakes here in Mathews. OK with me, but the wife really loves to see it snow.

Lots of bagging on Neo here and I get it. His play is uninspiring at a minimum and harmful at its worst. He wears a perpetual scowl and seems to be discouraged and it is only getting worse. I don't know why CMY doesn't adjust his strategy to take some pressure off Neo and let him get some less stressful minutes. Whatever happened to the dynamic sixth man strategy? He is a perfect sub to come on for Hammond to give him a breather and also to play with him when we need a little more size at the guard position. Coach putting him out there in lieu of Bedford today when we got close under ten minutes is just coaching blind. I know the coach isn't taking the shots or making the bad passes but he also isn't adapting or trying new things to get him out of this funk. Please go the sixth man route for a while, I promise it will help. PLEASE! And let's also stay Hokies to the end, Neo is one of us and I didn't like hearing the smattering of boos there in Cassell. That ain't us.

Wish we could just go back to something like one transfer and if
you transfer a second time you have to sit for a year. Stil pissed that Brock had to sit because his home was a couple miles out of the 100 mile radius.

What players sign and dont sign depends on the industry standard. And for most players, especially HS and undergrad players, they will sign a clause like that because (1) they are looking to get a chance to prove themseleves on the field, and (2) the next University will be the one paying the transfer fee. And ultimately, values will be placed on transfer fees based on market. Currently, the market of $4M transfer fee prevents transfer of a known QB talent (schools backed off of Williams at UW with a $4M fee, but Miami is alleged to be paying Mensah $10M with that playoff money, so presumably Miami would have been ok with paying around $2M transfer fee). Or, instead of a fixed number, the fee can be set at a percentage of the new contract, which is common for Japanese baseball players that come to the MLB (25% is standard).

Would a clause like that prevented Mensah from signing with Duke? No. And in fact, a clause like that would have made it easier and more efficient for Mensah to transfer because there would not have been a need for a lawsuit, TRO, and negotiations to release Mensah from his Duke contract. Just a cool $2M (or 20%) from Miami to Duke. If it was $4M, Mensah likely doesn't transfer, but that is also more efficient for everyone involved as Miami says No and moves on to a fee they are comfortable with paying.

The length of the deal and the player age makes a difference here too. Williams just signed a 1-year deal for 2026 to be the QB for that year. That makes sense for an upperclassman starter with known attributes. So, it makes sense that all schools within the P4 (or atleast the P2) would make it the industry standard for it to be unpalatable to transfer within that year. For a multi year deal of a HS or undergrad portal player, it would make sense for a team to incentivize the player to return for year 2 but also ensure they get value if a player "pops off" and wants to portal for a level of pay that the team cannot afford (or will not pay based on standards, principals, etc.).

From the players side, they should bargain for when a transfer fee kicks in based on snaps. For example, Hilson just transferred from Mizzou to VT, but probably wouldn't have had a chance if he had significant transfer fee. So, if a player signs a multi year deal, they should bargain a transfer fee doesn't kick in unless they play a certain number of snaps, games, etc.

This is year three for Sasso in the program. Went 11-8 in 2023-24. Went 10-1 in 2024-25 before injury.

Sasso is just one of four weights where there are concerns though. Does Gage get back? If not, what's the plan at 184?

Mullen drives me nuts because he seems to wrestle differently so many times out. Some nights he is Uber aggressive and blows guys out in the first. Other nights he is hesitant and super cautious almost to the point of stalling.

174 with Desiante/Burton seems to have more of a plan.

If Robie can recruit over any weight I'm for it. I think the collective freakout over a guy not wrestling to his potential in his first year starting is a bit overblown. Sasso has shown flashes This Year so forgive me if I'm not going to write him off as a bust. I do think the concern over development at the upper weights is fair although there's plenty of catastrophizing going around. I get that it's hard to have perspective when Tech has generational talent at 125-157 if you count Bo and Melvin.

Because he's a 5 star guy. While his play is absolutely contributing to our losses, with guys of that stature, sometimes you just have to keep playing them to keep future top prospects interested in your program. You bench them outright, it will get used against you in future recruiting so you just have to manage it best you can and pick your spots

Something's gotta give. You can literally point fingers at Neo single handed losing some of these games for us by wasting 20 possessions shooting bricks, lazy inbound passes, or lazy passes leading to turnovers. Situational awareness is lacking and I don't feel like schutt or TJ taking his minutes would result in less for the team (both play better defense and shoot better and rebound better). Feel bad he's in a rutt but it's getting ridiculous. Down 6 he had about 5 wasted possessions back to back all on him! These end of game scoring droughts I'm praying anyone but Neo ends up with the ball.

Furthermore mikes gotta make a decision with TJ coming back which will be all telling. Do you want to win and get in the tourney or keep Neo happy? It's two different routes it appears

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Neo stats:

1-8
5pts
0-4 at the 3
3 TO's
0 fouls given.

He brings nothing on D
His lazy TO's are brutal
He can't hit the broad side of a barn
Why is he on the floor?

Why no timeout with Schutt stuck on the floor and no help?

Before the last possession it was 7-2 fouls. Now 7-6. Did Dook suddenly start fouling or ref start seeing them?