Preseason NIT Basketball Preview

After a successful season opener against East Tennessee State, Virginia Tech welcomes three schools to Blacksburg for the opening rounds of the Preseason NIT on Monday and Tuesday. The Hokies are the #4 seed in the 16-team tournament and have the potential to play the #1 seed Syracuse in the semifinals at Madison Square Garden next week. Oklahoma State (#2) and Stanford (#3) are the other hosts in the opening rounds Monday and Tuesday.

Here’s the schedule for the Blacksburg (East) region:

• Monday
• Virginia Tech vs Monmouth (7 PM, ESPN3)
• George Mason vs Florida International (9:30 PM, ESPN3)
• Tuesday
• (If win) Virginia Tech vs GMU/FIU winner (6 PM, ESPNU)
• Monmouth vs GMU/FIU loser (8:30 PM)

As for the teams themselves, here’s a look at what to expect:

Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0)

• Head Coach: Seth Greenberg (9th season)
• Projected Starting Lineup:
• G #11 Erick Green (6-4, JR)
• DNP in Opener
• G #5 Dorenzo Hudson (6-5, r-SR)
• 9 points vs ETSU
• F #15 Dorian Finney-Smith (6-8, FR)
• 10 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks vs ETSU
• F #31 Jarell Eddie (6-7, SO)
• 8 points vs ETSU
• C #14 Victor Davila (6-8, SR)
• 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks vs ETSU
• The Hokies started off their season with a 64-53 over East Tennessee State on Saturday. Tech struggled at times with creating consistency against the 2-3 zone of the Bucs. Despite the struggles, Dorian Finney-Smith made an impact debut, recording a double-double in his first career collegiate appearance. He’s going to be a special player to watch in the coming years.

  The key for Virginia Tech is whether or not Erick Green will be able to play after missing Saturday’s game with a strained Achilles tendon. Tyrone Garland led all scorers with 13 points in Green’s absence, but struggled at times at point guard, committing seven turnovers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Green sat out Monday against Monmouth and then made his debut on Tuesday against either Mason or FIU.

Monmouth Hawks (0-1)

• Head Coach: King Rice (1st season)
• Projected Starting Lineup:
• G #1 Dion Nesmith (6-0, JR)
• 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks @ Villanova
• G #2 Jesse Steele (5-8, JR)
• 12 points @ Villanova
• F #20 Mike Myers Keitt (6-7, SR)
• Team’s leading scorer last year, 2 points @ Villanova
• F #32 Ed Waite (6-3, JR)
• 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists @ Villanova
• C #51 Phill Wait (7-1, SR)
• 10 points @ Villanova
• Monmouth comes to Blacksburg after a 106-70 season-opening defeat against Villanova. The Hawks were picked 10th in the 12-team Northeast Conference after finishing 9-21 last year. Despite the poor record, MU consistently played teams close, having 18 games decided by five points or fewer, the most in Division I. However, in those games they were 5-13, which led to their demise.

  First-year head coach King Rice inherits a Hawks team that’s leading scorer from a year ago, Mike Myers Keitt, averaged just 10.1 points. Rice, a former UNC point guard, hopes to implement a faster pace at Monmouth, but he’ll have to do so with seven newcomers to the college game.

George Mason Patriots (1-0)

• Head Coach: Paul Hewitt (1st season)
• Projected Starting Lineup:
• G #0 Byron Allen (6-3, SO)
• 9 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds vs Rhode Island
• G #11 Vertrail Vaughns (6-2, r-SO)
• 17 points, 5 rebounds vs Rhode Island
• G #10 Sherrod Wright (6-4, r-SO)
• 17 points, 5 rebounds vs Rhode Island
• F #24 Ryan Pearson (6-6, SR)
• 28 points, 12 rebounds vs Rhode Island
• F #22 Mike Morrison (6-9, SR)
• 11 points, 3 rebounds vs Rhode Island
• The Patriots won their season opener in overtime against Rhode Island on Saturday 92-90. Mason was picked to win the CAA this year and has the preseason CAA Player of the Year in Ryan Pearson, who started off his campaign with a 28-point, 12-rebound performance against the Rams. GMU made the NCAA Tournament last year as an 8 seed, knocking off Villanova before falling to 1 seed Ohio State in the second round.

  Mason had a tumultuous offseason, losing its head coach Jim Larranaga to Miami and hiring former Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt to replace him. In addition, GMU lost Luke Hancock (10.9 ppg) to transfer and senior guard Andre Cornelius was suspended for the fall semester after pleading guilty to credit card fraud. Despite the issues, Mason still received votes in both of the major polls prior to the season starting.

Florida International Panthers (0-0)

• Head Coach: Isiah Thomas (3rd season)
• Projected Starting Lineup:
• G #11 Phil Taylor (5-9, SO)
• 7.3 points, 1.9 rebounds in 2010
• G #32 Jeremy Allen (6-4, SR)
• 7.4 points, 2 rebounds in 2010
• G #14 DeJuan Wright (6-3, SR)
• 14.5 points, 6.7 rebounds in 2010
• G #33 Adetola Akomolafe (6-6, JR)
• Transfer from Mesa Community College
• F #3 Dominique Ferguson (6-9, SO)
• 7.1 points, 4.8 rebounds in 2010
• FIU comes to Blacksburg to open their season following an 11-19 campaign last year. This season, the Panthers were picked to finish fifth out of six teams in their division of the Sun Belt under third year head coach Isiah Thomas. Since coming to FIU, Thomas is just 18-44 in two seasons.

  The Panthers return seven players from last year’s squad, led by senior guard DeJuan Wright. Wright was the team’s leading scorer last season and ranked in the top 10 in the Sun Belt in both scoring and rebounding. Sophomore forward Dominique Ferguson was listed among CBS Sports’ Jeff Goodman’s top 25 list of breakout players to watch this season.

The Hokies should make it past Monmouth with little problem but could run into some trouble with a potential matchup against George Mason. Tech could really use Erick Green against the Patriots, providing some comfort and consistency at the point guard position.

Fatigue could be a factor for some of these teams as everyone but FIU played Saturday and will now turn around and play two games within 24-28 hours of each other. It should be a fun couple days in Blacksburg with a trip to MSG on the line.