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wisec4g's picture wisec4g | 12 years 4 months # | winter storm... or lack thereof

It was nice and warm today at Shamrock the Block, so naturally winter decides to have the last laugh. The Winter Storm Watch went out around 4 here.

Shoog's picture Shoog
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| 12 years 4 months # | 10 Basic Commandments of Following Recruitment

9) The world won't come to an end if we don't get a specific recruit. We're not going to the national championship because we got a specific recruit. *

*Unless his name is Michael Vick.

HorseOnATreadmill's picture HorseOnATreadmill
| 12 years 4 months # | winter storm... or lack thereof

I think we have had enough discussion about that. However, if someone wanted to start a thread about James Johnson expressing an opinion about the job he's done or his potential future, I haven't heard enough about that.

ryane26vt's picture ryane26vt | 12 years 4 months # | 10 Basic Commandments of Following Recruitment

Something I found helped me stay levelheaded this year:

Rather than directly follow recruits I followed as many news/media types that follow recruits. That way I got to see retweets of interesting tidbits the prospects put out there but I didn't hang on every little word an 18yo kid said. I felt rather childlike following them directly.

RetiredHokie13's picture RetiredHokie13 | 12 years 4 months # | 10 Basic Commandments of Following Recruitment

Amendments to the above -

#2 - Always remember that the Tech coaching staff uses their own methodologies when it comes to evaluating recruits. They know good players when they see them, no matter how they're rated by the various recruiting services.

#8 - Signing an LOI increases the chances that a player will report to their chosen school, but they still have to get past the NCAA Clearinghouse and Tech's academic entry requirements. A better measure of a commitment is when he actually reports to his first class.

buggzy's picture buggzy | 12 years 4 months # | Top Two Teams in ACC Championship Game?

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/writer/dennis-dodd/24483893/acc...

i vote for no divisions, each team gets 3 protected games + 5 or 6 rotating games (preferably 6, but 5 works out to a nice, clean home and home every 4 years for everyone and keeps the schools with SEC rivals happy)

VT - uva, Miami, L'ville
uva - VT, unc, Pitt
unc - uva, NCSU, dook
dook - unc, wake, 'cuse
ncsu - UNC, Clemson, wake
wake - dook, NCSU, GT
clemson - NCSU, GT, FSU
GT - Clemson, FSU, Wake
FSU - Miami, GT, Clemson
Miami - FSU, VT, BC
BC - Miami, 'cuse, L'ville
'cuse - BC, Pitt, dook
Pitt - 'cuse, L'ville, uva
L'ville - Pitt, VT, BC

for championship:

1. top 2 conference records
2. 1st tie breaker is record vs #1 or "mini conference" record if multiple teams tied(ie, avoid rematches when possible)

after that, just follow traditional tie breakers in place today starting with head to head...

ie. if it's 8-0 FSU, 7-1 Clemson and 7-1 VT, Clemson is 0-1 vs FSU and VT is 0-0, VT would go, even if Clemson had beaten VT. say we see a worst case of 3 or more teams 8-0 who are all 0-0 vs each other, i would go to overall record as first tie breaker followed by record vs common opponents in ACC. i don't want to use rankings...

Hokiestud's picture Hokiestud | 12 years 4 months # | What To Do With James Johnson?

Count me as one of those who strongly believes that James Johnson deserves another year.

First of all, everyone needs to remember that VT is still paying Seth Greenberg. If JJ is fired and we have to pay him the remaining years on his contract as well, then that means that VT would be paying THREE head basketball coaches next year. I doubt that Whit Babcock is going to think that this is the wisest way to be investing the athletic department's money. We could use that money to be hiring more assistants for the football program, for example.

But my main reason for wanting to stay with JJ is that I really don't think the guy has had a fair chance yet. He walked into a total mess when Seth was fired and he had a very short time to put together a recruiting class for 2013. Even so, he and his new staff, in my opinion, did an excellent job. Three of our five best players this year were freshmen and one made the ACC all-freshman team.

He lost two players he was counting on having this year before the season even started. Donte Clark didn't make grades and Malik Mueller was ruled ineligible by the NCAA. That left him with exactly one true point guard this year and that one point guard was a true freshman. That's not a recipe for success in the ACC.

Then after the season started, his team was devastated by injuries. Things got so bad that he was forced to give two walk-ons significant minutes just to be able to field a team. Again, you're not gonna win many games in the ACC that way.

Although the W-L record doesn't show it, his team played significantly better for the last 1/3 of the season, coming very close to upsetting some nationally ranked teams. Most importantly of all, his kids never quit on him. They kept playing hard through all the losses. That says a lot to me about what kind of coach and motivator he is.

The fact is that VT simply needs better players, and I think they're on the way. JJ signed a very solid class for 2014 with Bibbs, Hudson & Lang. All three have the offensive skill sets that were sorely lacking on this year's team, plus we'll have Adam Smith, Maurice Kirby and Malik Mueller next year as well.

So I think the best move is to retain him for another year. Now if we finish 9-22 again next year, then obviously change will be needed. But JJ deserves a fair chance.

hokiejoe11's picture hokiejoe11 | 12 years 4 months # | What To Do With James Johnson?

I think losing Ugoka will actually benefit more of the team. It will make Tajah play harder and Dennis said he has possibly 7 recruits coming in next year with 2 being JUCO players. The biggest loss I think is from Tellier as she was the best defender on the team. If they can finish with the same or better OOC record next year, there is a good chance since now a lot of the younger players are battle tested and know what they have to do now to get those ugly wins.

hokiejoe11's picture hokiejoe11 | 12 years 4 months # | What To Do With James Johnson?

No, I don't think you extend unless he is above .500. After next year Seth is off the books and Weaver has one more year on it. Unless you can lure a Bruce Pearl to Blacksburg right now or this time next year, no reason to fire JJ and get some other unknown that can either win one or two more games or lose one or two more games.

hokiejoe11's picture hokiejoe11 | 12 years 4 months # | Hokie Hoops: Build a Compelling Basketball Environment

Yeah, definitely something that would have to be in the OOC schedule. Don't see that happening for ACC play, but I'd be all for having ODU, Radford, and VMI or whoever else in there for a weekend of games. Just means a couple of 12 hour days for the support staffs and a lot of coordinating for court time and locker rooms. We have tournaments for volleyball, but that is a lot more low key and easier to manage.

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