There is no thread to cover all the upcoming changes to roster and coaches....Throw your info on assistant coaches, player transfers in and out, grad transfers, recruiting etc. here
Coach: Mike Young
Assistants: Christian Webster, Chester Frazier, Antwon Jackson
Director of player personnel: Ryan Nadeau
RETURNING
Jonathon Kabongo
PJ Horne
Isaiah Wilkins
Landers Nolley
In the transfer portal:
Wabissa Bede
KJB :-(
Sign LOI:
Emmanuel Miller 247 Profile Word is released from LOI and has visited TX A and M but no decision
Released LOI:
Anthony Harris 247 Profile
Yavuz Gultekin 247 Profile Texas A&M
Andre Gordon 247 Profile Texas A&M
OUT
Chris Clarke
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Great thread idea! I'll be dreading every time it gets bumped with a new comment. /s Sorta....
Thanks!
agreed. this is a great idea
Technically should add Clarke to the "transfer portal"
nah, doing so would imply that it's a voluntary move on his part
Maybe add him to an 'outbox'
I'm all torn up about this /S
Buzz loses a potential starter
I'm sure he'll have lots of suitors, but it would be pretty funny if he ended up at VT.
Wouldn't be shocked to see him end up at a place like UNC though - if a blue blood comes calling it'd be hard for any college player to turn down. They lose a lot and he'd find minutes there, but should still be competitive enough to make the tournament.
UNC loses a lot, but they're just reloading. They have a 5 star committed, and Cole Anthony, and Matthew Hurt (both 5 star kids) will most likely be rolled up by the end of the month. Garrison Brooks will be there, as will Woods, and Leaky Black will stick around.
Tar Heels will be a top 10 team next year.
Strange that Buzz doesn't try to keep him around longer since he's under 6'6"
/s
Fun fact about Buzz and transfers.
While at VT, Buzz had more players transfer out of the program than players who graduated from the program.
Malik Mueller, JVZ, Emelogu, Hudson, Maurice Kirby, Trevor Thompson, CJ Barksdale, Marquis Rankin, Marshall Wood, Satchel Pierce, Adam Smith- in the period of about 13 months.
That's what happens when you take over an ACC program that doesn't have a lot of ACC talent.
Well Mueller is a pro in Germany and played for the German U-17, U-18 and U-20 national team, Thompson started for OSU, Emelogu started for SMU, Hudson will likely be drafted out of Fla, Barksdale is a pro in Europe, Smith played big minutes at GT.
Not sure where you're getting that Hudson will likely be drafted. Can't find anything that puts him on the board.
I mean I'd agree that he had ACC talent, but I'm pretty sure he won't be drafted.
Hudson was mocked as a second rounder (late 30s) last year before returning to school. He had a bad down year so I don't think he'll be drafted this year. But don't be surprised i he makes an NBA roster in the next 2-3 years.
The point that most of these guys were talented enough to play in the ACC stands. The exception is Pierce, who was a Buzz recruit.
What number did you assign to Sy for the transfer out category?
About tree fiddy
I gave that monster tree giddy the other day
NM
So, does it mean anything that Kerry has not announced that he is going to the portal yet? (knock on wood). As a grad transfer, does he even have to go to the portal, or can he just go anywhere instantly? Since we have not heard anything from him yet, is that a good sign?
I've been wondering the same. I know the dead period ends today and recruiting opens up. I think Blackshear has to enter the portal in order to talk to other schools or to be contacted by other schools. Not sure about that though. However, there is also the pro-angle here. He could still choose to declare for the draft, hire an agent, and test those waters. So a lot of ways it can go still. I think it is too early to try and speculate one way or another.
There's hardly a chance he'd be a 1st-round pick this year. I really hope he stays another year, even if it's not at VT, and gets his stock up even higher.
I actually disagree - Kerry is pretty old, so isn't really out there to show massive potential or anything like that. Unless he averages 20+ points a game somewhere next year (which could happen) he is better off entering the draft next year.
He is older than the typical NBA draftee, but his progression the last 12 months has also been very atypical.
Not only was he a much better player from his sophomore to junior season, but he also made a huge improvement during this past season. If I'm an NBA general manager, I'm at least keeping an eye on Blackshear to see if he continues to improve.
He already has 3 things that are NBA-worthy: his passing, his outside shooting and his 6-foot-10-ness.
If he hires an agent, he's not testing the waters, he's gone. If I understand it correctly, he can declare for the draft without hiring an agent, and still be able to play next year if he gets unfavorable feedback.
That is correct.
This year you can hire an agent and still return to school if you so wish too.
Interesting, thanks for the update
I'm so mad this just got implemented. Marshall's center last season who happened to be the leading shot blocker in the nation declared with an agent, went undrafted, and was unable to return. Then Marshall, who literally lost no one else who got minutes in their tournament run, loses in the quarterfinals of their conference tournament this season because they had no inside presence whatsoever.
You still have to withdraw your name before the draft. It's just that signing with an agent doesn't immediately end your NCAA eligibility. So in the Marshall kid's example, if he saw the writing on the wall leading up the draft, this definitely would've helped him. If he had a Jerod Evans moment and thought he was getting drafted right until he didn't, it wouldn't really help.
Well it was over for him the second he signed an agent. He signed an agent early in the process before he could really get feedback from NBA teams on whether or not he is ready. He was a smart kid. He wouldn't have pulled the Jerod Evans stunt.
I really can't see him going pro. Anther season like this past one? Then yes
Since the dead period ends today and it is time to start critically recruiting, how come we have not seen any assistant coaches/support staff hired? That has to be concerning.
We have our assistants, expect an announcement(s) soon.
are they good? or is it the wofford staff?
I hope folks realize that those two things are not mutually exclusive........
Sure they are not. But look at their resumes yourself and tell me if you think that they are what we are looking for? Most of them have very little experience at any level let alone at the P5 level. The only one who seems experienced is apparently slated for the HC job at Wofford. Wofford Roster
I am not trying to be negative. But IMO these dudes are just not what we should be looking for in an ACC assistant coach. I am trusting Whit with the hire, but MY needs to surround himself with some great coaches for this to work.
The names I'm hearing will probably sit well with most of the fan base. Think Whit and MY realized that going the Wofford route probably won't cut it.
Talked to someone this morning, going to try and follow up tonight and see when to expect an announcement if they haven't been announced by then.
Edit: I wouldn't be surprised if at least someone from Wofford is hired, just not sure who and in what capacity.
If we're loading up on excellent recruiters, then this has a chance to be an excellent hiring season for us. I know Mike Young is a very good x's and o's coach, but the knock on him is just an apparent unwillingness to
recruitplay the necessary games in the recruiting circuits. If our assistants negate that and turn that weakness into a strength, things look a lot different going forward.Agreed, I think the transfer portal and trying to keep guys like Blackshear, Nolley, Harris etc will be the first main focus of the staff. Really too late to chase a lot of 19 guys, but I think getting in on 20 guys as soon as possible should be a main focus as well.
And here it is:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.kansascity.com/sports/college/big-12/ka...
Looks like the guy can recruit
Lot of moving pieces depending on who gets the Wofford Head Coach position. Seen three names tied to that search that have also been tied to potentially joining Young at Tech. Shane Nichols at Murray State, Tim Johnson at JMU, and Jay McAuly Wofford Asst Head Coach under Young. Odd that those already confirmed havent been announced since they were supposed to be recruiting today. Thats why the press conference had to be when it was so their paperwork with the NCAA would be complete by Wednesday.
Tim Johnson is an interesting name on that list. I don't know much about him, but I do know that JMU is lacking in talent and isn't a very good team right now.
Gultekin is out.
Bummer- Seems like the type of player who would thrive in Young's system
I agree. When I look at the 4 recruits, he was the last I expected to pull his LOI.
I'm surprised he committed in the first place. He's way too tall for Buzz's system.
As predicted.
I remember Buzz bringing along the Marquette recruits when he came to VT as well, so no surprise there.
I understand wanting to play for a particular coach. However if a coach sold me on coming to a particular school to build a program and then the coach bolted at first chance to go to another school I'd be pissed. I really hope these guys stick with Tech just to show Buzz they can do it without him.
Yeah, but that's the thing though. In the big college sports, especially basketball, you're not being sold on a particular school as the driving factor. You're being sold on the coach first. It's been that way for quite awhile. Really the only places that actually have the selling point of the school itself are the historic blue bloods. Damn near everywhere else the first priority selling point is the coach and the system he implements. The school itself is a secondary factor. The nature of the sport is "Come play for me at X university" not "Come play at X university".
Complete List of Players Currently in the Portal
584 players for 353 schools. Wow.
131 immediately eligible, 8 from VA/DC/MD. Maybe one of these guys wants to be closer to home?
SG Drew Edwards MD RS JR 6-4 Providence
PG Terrell Allen MD RS JR 6-2 UCF
SG Brandon Kamga VA RS JR 6-5 High Point
PG Keith Oddo VA RS JR 6-1 Richmond
SG Aaron Robinson MD RS JR 6-6 Quinnipiac
SG Andrew Robinson MD SR 6-6 Quinnipiac
SG Austin Vereen DC SR 6-4 VMI
SG Isaiah White MD RS JR 6-6 Maine
Let's take them all.
Still no one over 6'8"!
That's a big list. Even if the roster doesn't get filled with 4-5 star guys, if he can grab a slew of 3* OKGs, should be able to assemble a respectable squad. Plenty of kids should be excited by the prospect of playing in the ACC if coming from smaller conferences.
FWIW I saw on Twitter that Chester Frazier recently followed Mike Young and the Hokie Men's BBall handle on Twitter.
Current KSU Assistant
Played College ball at Illinois and HS in Baltimore.
For people concerned with recruiting, Frazier was listed as the secondary recruiter (with head coach Bruce Weber as the primary recruiter) for 3 out of the 4 Kansas State signees so he seems to have at least some experience in that capacity
#RecruitingSZN is upon us!
We just offered class of 2019 6'7" G/F Jeremiah Davenport from Hargrave Military Academy per his Twitter account
247 profile: https://247sports.com/player/jeremiah-davenport-46076925/
Sweet! We just have to beat out *checks offer list* St Bonaventure and Steve "ROCK NATION" Roccaforte at ECU
ECU just got three other wings the same size as this guy so we're probably in the clear. My pirate #sauces say their #1 target is Sy and he'd likely be the last player they take this spring. They want Clarke too but don't think they can get him
Supposedly he's getting some P5 looks now, so it's possible other significant offers come in
VTU! VTU!
the rumor is Frazier + Webster + Giltner
but maybe Giltner is a staff position? And they are waiting on someone who doesn't get the Wofford job?
That seems like a good combo. Young gets to bring one of his former players and coaches in Giltner, retain a coach who has been at VT for three years, and bring a seasoned assistant coach from a program that has been having some recent success. I'm on board with this.
Chris Colston said on the TSL podcast that one of his sources said the Webster is potentially the worst recruiter in college basketball, or something to that effect, and that Buzz was most likely to replace him this season had he stayed.
I have heard quite the opposite, I know that he was a huge reason for getting Nolley on board.
I don't know anything about Webster really. One possibility is that he just wasn't good at recruiting the way Buzz liked it to be done. I don't understand how he could be such a bad recruiter. This is a guy who had a great career at Harvard, played in NCAA tourney, is young, and so, what is he bad at? Maybe he isn't good with people/relationships, idk. I guess we will just have to trust Whit and Young if he joins Young's staff.
You also have to factor in whether or not he has good relationships with anyone on current roster. Could help keep them at VT.
That's pretty strange, Webster was the lead recruiter for Anthony Harris, Wassiba Bede and Landers Nolley. In this article, it seems like Webster is worried about being pigeonhole as "just a recruiter". Webster is seen as a rising star in the coaching community, he was named a "30 under 30" by the NABC in 2017.
Josephat Bilau... A name to keep an eye on if Frazier is actually one of the coaches. Offers from KSU and VT.
Kid is way underrated. Poor man's Joel Embid.. Has massive up side, has a good handle, can shoot the three, really good feet, great passer... athletic and in Young's recruiting wheelhouse being at a school in Winston-Salem
A BIG
Oh hell I like it
That would be nice. There are some impressive YouTube vids of that kid
*checks height*
approve
Josephat Bilau Vid
Yeah 6-11 PG
YES YES YES
I'll be most worried if Wilkins leaves.
You're more worried about last season's 7th man than a potential all ACC forward in KBJ?
Yes, because wilkins appears to be the most bought in to stay. Him leaving means bad news - kbj leaving is bad from a talent level but is not unexpected.
Not that we should really read into it, but Isaiah Wilkins on Twitter has liked several posts welcoming Mike Young and liked a post urging current players to stay. Like you say, he seems bought in to stay so i'll focus my worries on the other guys unless/until new information presents itself
Chico's got class. Cutting and running is just not in his game. He's a big picture kid.
We were the only real program in the country willing to take a chance on him and he's grateful because of that.
Runaway cynicism causes balding.
Should add an offer list to the main post.
We have a recruiting thread don't want to clog this up too.
Sure, could do that in the spring time frame since things are going to be moving fast
There's some kind of "PJ Horne scoop" behind a paywall on 247 sports. People on twitter indicating he is staying though. Not that he would have been expected to leave, but positive news
Not going to name names but you are going to be pleasantly surprised who all stays.
If one of those names rhymes with "Nanders Lolley" then I'll be more than pleasantly surprised
I'll be more than pleasantly surprised if the ncaa lets him play
Edit: consider me pleasantly surprised
i might be most surprised if Nolley stays but having not seen him play and knowing that Blackshear has All ACC potential and is our only post player with height, I still think Blackshear would be the most critical player to keep in the fold.
How about "Babissa Wede?"
Seems there is more of a chance that KJB will stay than originally thought. Still probably under 50%, but it's possible.
No on Nolley.
Bede Anagrams to "Babies Sawed" IJS (brutal imagery)
even more impressive, you only have to move one letter.
relax, it's a cake!
That is unsettling
My Dog in Heaven...have you no heart?
OK, that's the funniest thing I've seen all day.
Where are you getting the No on Nolley?
I'd be even more than more than pleasantly surprised if one of the names anagrams to "Rehab Larks Cry Jerk".
So greg marshall is staying?
/s
All right, you made me laugh. All are coming back except possibly KBJ and Nolley off team. No on NAW, obviously.
So we're either potentially in decent shape, or depending on what Nolley and KBJ decide, we're fucked
maybe /s
Obviously I would have liked to hear KBJ and Nolley in that list, but Kabongo, Bede, and Wilkins is a nice start. Horne could be a nice contributor if he can play a 4 rather than 5, but CMY needs to make sure he shoots from 10 ft and in.
How do we not have assistant coaches yet?
A good article with quotes and reactions from Wofford players on the Mike Young to VT hire. Says a lot about Young and his relationship with his players. Also found it interesting to see such candid quotes from the players, while no comments/quotes from VT players.
LINK
Probably because the VT players don't know anything about him, the writer is a beat writer in South Carolina, and the majority of last years Hokies are graduating, going to NBA or transferring.
I took that as him referring to not hearing anything from our players on Buzz's departure
My point was, you don't see any Berman or Teel or any other local articles quoting any VT players about their reactions to Buzz leaving.
The more information I read about coach Young, the better I feel about the direction of the program. I think Whit made a solid hire.
I tend to agree. The more I see and hear about MY, the better I feel about him being one of us. Just need to keep most of the guys we have, bring in a good group of assistants with recruiting talents, and hit the recruiting trail. Losing a few guys is normal and we can withstand that.
I'm liking the transition on this site, from OMFG to oh this may be alright.
Looks like things are starting to settle a bit and things could work out in general.
I am really stoked to have Andre Gordon on board. That guy seems like he will be a Chris Clarke/Deron Washington high energy guy that fans are going to love.
Do we know for sure that he is staying on board?
Yes.
How do we know?
If so this is awesome. He is electric
Boogie. Woogie woogie woogie
About that...
Buzz is not keeping Coach Jeff Reynolds down at Texas A&M apparently. This is shocking to me considering Buzz always gave Coach Reynolds a ton of credit when he was here and the only reason Coach Reynolds left was to get a pay raise down there but I assumed since the moment he went down there Buzz would be following shortly.
Ouch that was probably awkward and shocking to coach Reynolds. Wonder what kind of recruiter he was?
Where is this being reported? Always thought he was good when he was here.
I used to be pretty tight with coach reynolds when he was here and still stay in communication with him and some of the people he hangs around. I haven't asked him directly yet but one of his good friends told me.
Zac Ervin, Youngs top recruit at Wofford, has decommitted and reopened his recruitment.
ftfy
I've been watching this kid's tape for years now because he was Mac McClung's teammate at Gate City. I always thought he looked really solid and stole the show from Mac a few times, but their competition was garbage in that part of the state. Having Ervin and McClung on the same team against AA teams wasn't even fair. I haven't watched any of his AAU tape, but based on what I've seen he could be a solid 6'5" spot up 3pt shooter to stretch the floor for us in the right system.
Don't know how to embed tweet but MY visiting. Anthony Harris tomorrow
Link
That visit actually happened today, tweet was posted last night
Yeah Young definitely was there today
All I can think is that they are waiting until the third assistant is final to debut the staff officially. As is two of the assistants are out recruiting already. Looks like we will have to wait for Wofford to select a head coach before the third is in place.
Who besides Webster do you think he hires?
Runner up to the Wofford job and one of his Wofford assistants
Delete 😊
Frazier is the second assistant hired, correct?
Would be a huge pickup.
Would be a hell of a start to his recruiting to pull that off would feel Tennessee is the favorite though
Techs been the favorite for awhile, hopefully the opportunity to get major PT or even start at PG would be enticing enough
Only wonder if that was only because of buzz or not guess I'm too pessimistic maybe
Webster has been the lead.
It's all making sense now I need to get a tweeter to follow all this again
Jalen Cone vs. Kihei Clark for the next three years plz #shawties
The option to join? Is that the same as an offer?
Well.... thats not good
Andre Gordon decommits
Who's that?
Andre Gordon?
Thanks sorry I don't got a tweeter didn't know he had gotten his release
I was told by a Gordon family friend that he would stay with VT...wrong!
WELP
I loved Gordon, but if we can close out on Cone it's a improvement. Gordon is 27% on 3s while Cone is 50%. And you get the same type of electric athlete..
That sucks.
Damn hope Coach Young can bring some back into the fold
Cashius McNeilly commits to aTm... following his Uncle
He had been a silent commit to VT previously.
NAW type player.
No - he was a silent commit to Buzz. Why did he never announce before? Why did he announce shortly after the move?
The answer is simple - he knew long ago that Buzz was headed to A&M.
Great point, especially with the Drake reference, man Buzz had it set up for awhile, still ain't mad at him though, knew he was a mercenary the day he stepped into the Burg
Which is why he'll never be a Coach K, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo etc. He ran away from the challenge of trying to build an elite program because he's scared to scrap against the Jay Wrights and Tony Bennetts year in and year out.
Gultekin commits to A&M
Man FOH. I know the game is the game but I still hate it
Buzz Williams doing what Buzz Williams does.
No surprise there.
Most new coaches bring recruits with them. Basketball players, more than football, commit to the coach. Especially if he takes staff with him.
I know, that's why I said the game is the game. Recognizing it and hating it can be mutually exclusive tho
What Living4Fall said down below.
This is the Buzz MO. Renews his lease after 5 years. Leaves at the top of the cycle, takes the recruits, gets a head start on the next job with the "new job" rebuild allowance.
Pretty good for him personally. Not quite as optimal for the ex-employer.
It's a fool-proof plan. Keep the aura of genius, no one has to see how tough of a rebuild he would have had here next year. Now he's just a hot commodity moving on to another big rebuild, will get 4-5 years to work his magic and he'll be out the door before the going gets tough.
I don't see a lot to get worked up about. We knew McNeilly would go where his uncle was. Nobody thought Gultekin was any good anyway. Gordon is a great athlete that I hoped we could keep.
Clarke will probably end up there too but he couldn't play here.
I felt like Gordon was the guy we would most likely retain. I'm already expecting Emanuel Miller to go to A&M because he's Canadian.
I guess in 5 years it will be retiring cause he cant coach forever. then go down as a great coach who created successful programs, yet never really sustained them...
This has been his work at his previous two stops.
Get a veteran team highly competitive on a 5(ish) year cycle, then leave, taking all the kids you recruited with you. I certainly don't hate the kids, they gotta do what is good for them in this situation, but dang...
People forget he brought Med here.
It happens.
And Satch!
(Wish he had brought Shayok)
I totally get it. For me, its not so much about the kids as it is Buzz sprinting towards something only to "collapse" after finishing the sprint. I don't dislike Buzz... I hope he found his landing spot.
Could be a landing spot although I think it's at least equally as likely he is a career nomad, a la Larry Brown.
Nobody has forgotten that. We're just saying it's part of what he does. The Buzz giveth, and the Buzz taketh away.
While it worked temporarily for VT, let's just say it was optimized for Buzz, Inc.
Hard to see Harrell drop 26 in an NBA playoff game knowing he couldve been a Tech alum, hoping NAW puts us back on the map.
Harrell?
I'm still not over seeing Steph Curry do everything he does, knowing he could have been a VT alum.
I see a lot of talk on here about how we all knew buzz was a mercenary and all that. No we didn't none of us knew anything about him and we all bought into his family bs. The way he went about all this is wrong and unethical and it will catch up to him. I'm personally glad he's gone I'd rather suck but sleep at nite then sell our soul for a snake oil salesman and a few good years.
the writing was on the wall. most of us just chose to ignore it because we were winning.
the team meetings (in lieu of press responsibilities).
the inspirational tweets.
the way he answered questions (pressers and and at events).
put his name on everything.
the way he left Marquette.
the fact he doesn't use an agent.
If you didn't know, you had your head in sand. Literally the day he took the VT job, everyone that followed the sport was like "He won't be there long". Hell, every season ended with numerous threads of "Is this gonna be the school that finally gets Buzz?". Buzz leaves VT and people out here embarrassing themselves like they just got dumped on Prom night.
Most of us suspected he was mercenary. We were just disappointed when he proved it by leaving at the optimal time for him, and the sub-optimal time for VT.
Like that hot girl we didn't quite merit, but managed some good times with. We knew it all along, and it stung when it was over, but would do it again. But still, we don't admire her quite the way we once did.
Hot girls don't always age well. Takes a lot to stay hot! High maintenance can get old.
Maybe the pretty, smart, nice girl wins the race!
You're mad that your ex left you, get over it and move on to the new thing
Buzz who?
That's the ticket. Wish I'd thought of it.
Coach Mike Young looking better and better, everyday. And he hasn't even had to do anything yet. Morals and values always go a long way.
Totally agree, 800%.
So apparently Andre Gordon claimed his high school (Sidney) would win the title in his senior year. Then he transferred to Huntington Prep before his senior year. Then, the day of the first game of the year, he left Huntington Prep and went back to Sidney, supposedly without telling his coaches he was leaving (according to rumors). Now, he commits to A&M despite never (publicly) de-committing from VT. This guy wreaks of locker room issues.
Hopefully Mike Young gets some of these new guys like Jalen Cone, who might actually care where they will live for the next 4 years
Never can tell, but Cone seems like a good character kid. Just hope we sell Cone's parental units on VT. :-)
Bimbo Coles reincarnated!
We should be so lucky. I'll never forget watching him score 50 against S.Miss.
Bimbo and Wally Lancaster..... That was a show
Wasn't it? Wally was round and looked lazy as the day is long, but spot him up and he was money on the long shots. But of course, you and I know that Hokie basketball didn't start until the Buzzard came to town, right?
I recall one game... Wally goes cold, does not care, keeps firing and is booed by Cassell faithful. Dude had NO conscience.
Interesting fact- in the 141-133 game over So. Miss, Wally was selected at end of regulation as player of game on TV with like 35 points and Bimbo at 30. Wally fouls out, and by end of 2 OT's Bimbo is over 50.
I was there for that game. At the time it was one of, if not the highest scoring game in D1 basketball history, but my memory is pretty suspect. I remember the Cassell as rocking particularly hard that game. Coles was a machine in the OTs. Man, that was a fun time.
It was 51 by Bimbo including 36 in regulation and 15 in the two OT periods. Lancaster had 39 after regulation and was named player of the game. I remember we were down 62-48 at halftime and my friends were down; I said "we can come back from this"-and we did to tie it at 110 all after regulation. Then 121 all after the first OT and final score was 141-133. I have never seen so many GUARDED three-pointers from Steph-Curry range. Bimbo saved the game by causing a turnover late in either regulation or the first OT. Incredibly there were a few fans who left AFTER the first OT!! (IDK how bad the traffic would have been-no WAY would I have left. FYI-you can watch the entire game on Youtube uploaded by Hokietapes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsEqr1AWvlk
According to him, he will be deciding on 2019 very soon.
LINK
Well good news for Jalen is that he has that option in Blacksburg. Mike Young isn't going anywhere. Really hope we get this kid
Just feels important for CMY to get his first signee to generate some momentum. Whether it is Cone or someone else he is pursuing, I think it'll be good for the program to get some recruiting momentum. Hopefully Cone, and then Bede and KBJ make it official and decide to stay.
Wait...kids can leave HS a year early to play college ball?
They can reclassify, Cone can either decide to reclass to 2019 and become part of the current class or stick to 2020. Cashius McNeilly just reclassed to 2019 for A&M its pretty common. A lot of the time its returning to a graduating year which the person was eligible for already, or if they are are ahead academically they can complete what they need earlier than their peers.
if they have the NCAA core classes and the credits or whatever to graduate HS early.. yes
I'm liking the sound of this... Except wish Barnes had not signed new deal with Tennessee. Not sure how much of a threat they are
Personally, I think it's A-OK for people to be salty about the Buzzard, and breaking up is almost always hard to do, so let folks grieve and piss and moan a bit as the Buzzard circles 'round again to see what other bones there are to pick. He'll move on soon enough, our wounds will heal and that bald headed carrion picker will move on and foul someone else's nest. Right now, I'm moving on to softball and the powerhouse team we've got this year.
This one had me like
Jahaad Proctor, grad transfer High Point hearing from MY
Jahaad Proctor
Domino's should start to fall re: asst. coaches I suppose
Hauser brothers leaving Marquette, in transfer portal. Would look real good in O and M but are Wisconsin kids
Speculation is that UVA is the leader in the clubhouse for them, since Bennett recruited them pretty heavily.
UVA just got a commit from a rising 3* so they may not have space for both Hausers.
Rumored leaders UVA, MSU, Wiscy. Kids are from Wisconsin, rumoured to have issues with Wojo/Markus Howard. What I have heard is had an issue with Howards 36% usage and might have considered him a ballhog. One of them will have 1 eligible year, the other will have 2. Both are not eligible immediately.
Edit: Looks like UVA may not have space with McKoy commit.
Wow, McKoy is a middling 3 star with biggest offers being KSU and PSU.
Late bloomer who really took off his senior year. He decomitted from Penn State recently and picked up offers from UNC, UVA, NC State, etc.
Ah. Ok
Kihei Clark started a bunch of games for Bennett as a true Fr and he was a previous commitment to Cal Poly or Cal Bakersfield or something
Can't see Clark as a front line player; was a good compliment to 3 NBA level talents who made some winning plays but also got abused on D by better/ bigger athletes and for long stretches was a liability on offense - we'll see.
FYI- Shane Nichols started following Chester Frazier, Jalen Cone, Fuente, VT Football, and Aaron Mcfarling on Twitter
I love Twitter sleuthing.
It's starting to look like Webster, Frazier, and Nichols will be the three assistants, and that would be a nice staff.
Chester Frazier joining VT as an assistant coach.
FRAZIER
This is a good get. Excellent player development coach and good recruiter. Mike Young doing work!
While I am a fan of this hire, I am not impressed with how our Athletic Department is handling all of this. No official announcements from the school on any of the assistant coaches. Frazier was one of the pending hires and two others are already recruiting so it would be nice if they could make this official for everyone's sake. Depending on the final determination regarding Shane Nichols, it will likely determine which position one of the two people out recruiting gets between Assistant Coach and Director of Basketball Operations.
Maybe they're planning to announce them all at one time.
Given that they're they're rebuilding the entire basketball program in two weeks, I'm willing to give them a bit of leeway, particularly as the coaches are actively recruiting.
Yeah it seems like the McAuley hire, taking care of all those assistants, who's going to come to Tech, who's leaving probably has taken more time then than we all would have hoped for
Is that unusual? From what I can tell, only Buzz Williams is listed on the coaching staff on A&M's website. I don't think they've officially announced assistants either
whooooo finally some good news coming in instead of going out!
I don't know what a TikTok is, or what her relationship is to Bede, but he retweeted this and she is an A&M softball commit.
It's just a viral video that a 19 y/o retweeted. Move along.
Yes, I hope so.
I don't know about y'all, but personally; I'm pretty damn stoked about the future of Hokie hoops (Youngketball, heard it here first!). I feel like, unlike when Buzz came in, with Young, we've got a guy that is a great basketball mind, who will be here for the long haul. When Buzz came in, we hoped he would stay a while, but if we're honest with ourselves, we knew we were a pitstop, it was just a matter of how long of a stop it would be. I think Young will have great success here. Rather than a flash in the pan, couple good years, then jet, Young will have sustained success for years once he gets going.
I didn't know much about him when the hire was announced, but I trusted in Whit. The more I read about Young, and not only the type of coach he is, but the type of person he is...I love this hire.
Well one thing is for sure, VT fans were pining for a "Beamer of Basketball" type coach. Listening to Young's press conference and some interviews, he has a very similar personality and value set to Beamer. If we're ever going to have a "Beamer of Basketball", then Young is the guy. Fans just better have some patience.
I didn't get a chance to listen. Was he saying things like how much he loved the town, and this is home, and he loves the community, etc? I feel like we just had a coach who sounded a lot like that a number of years back....
Except he does love the town, it is home, and he does love the community. Grew up in Radford, talked about his love for the game starting in Cassell
I'll believe it when he turns down a more lucrative job to stay "at home". Until then, color me skeptical of what I view as "standard coach speak"
I understand this entirely, but FWIW I'd bet money that this is different. I may lose that money, but considering his dad still lives in Radford, he grew up going to Cassell, he's turned down other jobs to stay at Wofford, etc., I feel good about it.
2nd this, Buzz was gone the day he stepped on campus. If I hadn't switch phones twice I'd have the text message to prove I wrote that. But everything I've read about Mike Young makes me think he is going to be happy to be hear for the long haul.
I'm interested as to the content and context of those messages...
Grew up in WV, so I have a lot of friends that went to WVU (on that was VT undergrad and WVU law) and no one at WVU likes Buzz for him dancing on their logo, then when WVU stomped him for that in their next game he wouldn't talk to the media afterwards.
Basically it was a bunch of us not likes the hire, but just like dickrod, buzz might be an ass, but he was our ass. And everyone thought that VT would just be Buzz's stepping stone, like WVU was for Belien.
So would Buzz be our Dooley type guy?
Give us a taste of what we could be and winning and then leave us in the dumps for the next guy who brings us to prominence?
I hope not, as Dooley left VT with a bunch of NCAA violations under his watch as both coach and AD.
Ehhhh, not so sure about that one.
If we're workshopping names here, how about Young's Guns?
Young will be about Virginia Tech Basketball, not his own brand of basketball.
YMCMB
It was a joke, I know it sounds terrible
I like MYBall.
Or maybe CMYBalls?
"YoungFu"?
via GIPHY
Edit: Duplicate info about Frazier
Kevin Giltner
Giltner likely is the only member of the Wofford staff joining Young at Tech now. As for whether he is an assistant coach or the Director of Basketball Operations, that I think is yet to be determined based on whatever happens with Shane Nichols. Glad the news is finally beginning to be made public so I can talk about it.
Wrong logo dadgummit!
Seems to me that Virginia Tech basketball is for real, even without Buzz, Inc.
It's a rebuild, for sure, but Coach Young is doing all the right stuff.
We've made one official hire, haven't signed anyone yet, and haven't gotten anyone to retract their names from the portal. I understand it is early in his tenure, but what 'doing all the right stuff' even based on?
Hiring good staff and getting on the road to talk to recruits.
Yeah, I know, we want results. But I see no reason to criticize him before he even gets traction. The man knows how to coach. Let's give him the space he needs, because, we're going to anyway.
I'm not criticizing him, and even acknowledged it is early in his tenure. I was curious as to why you're speaking like he's doing so well when he's literally hired a staff member and 'talked to some recruits,' which is his job. Given we're at about as bad as we could have expected in the portal situation, I'm just trying to understand the rah-rah post for the sake of a rah-rah post.
People need to cool it with the downvotes just because someone is less optimistic about things than they are.
People need to cool it with the
downvotesacid rain just because someone islessmore optimistic about things than they are.FIFY
The difference is that downvotes are regulated by the community guidelines, but attitudes aren't. It's clear that some folks around here catch a lot of flak for deviating from the rah-rah groupthink, and outoftowner is definitely one of them.
It was a valid criticism of the comment at the time the comment was made. After having (apparently) pulled in Chester Frazier and Antwon Jackson, it's less valid.
Everyone has their role. Some guys are the rahrah guys and others are the Eeyores of the page. Downvotes don't need to come out though. My only problem is if Mike Young hadn't hired good coaches, outoftowner would have been the first guy to crap on him just like he does with all of Fuentes assistants.
Love the "what he would have done" post, but here is my take:
If MY would have just brought his Wofford staff, yes I absolutely would have been disappointed, because that would have been a staff woefully unfit and unprepared to be competitive in the ACC. Instead, he surrounded himself with P5 experience and higher level recruiters to help bolster what he even admits is a weakness. That's commendable in my eyes, and shows awareness that I feel like is lacking elsewhere within our athletic dept.
That was my point. He had made 3 solid hires for his staff and you were questioning why people were happy and saying we're doing the right things when, in your eyes, he really hadn't done anything yet. However if he had hired 3 guys you didn't like, you would have crapped on the decision, without even giving them the chance to succeed or fail. You can't get question people for getting excited prematurely (happens to the best of us), when you would have criticized them way too soon also. I get you don't like the rah rah stuff and thats fine, but just understand why some people don't like the chicken little stuff also.
That is inaccurate. Those hires were not all official at the time the comment was made. Also at that time, the Antwon Jackson hire was not really on the radar, and again, I wasn't criticizing anything MY had done. That is the whole point of this sub-thread.
A. Apologies for not looking at the timestamp of your post.
B. That doesn't really change anything. We were making good strides in hiring a support staff and VTkey (and most others) liked what he was seeing. The dude got excited about a coaching staff hire and you tried to shit on his excitement. If you don't wanna see "rah rah" posts then don't come to a virginia tech fan site. Thats like going to a porn site and getting mad about the naked chicks.
The point is that we should support our new coach, and coaching staff.
The point is that we should
supportgive the benefit of the doubt to our new coach, and coaching staff until we have results to evaluate.I agree with that, but I'm encouraged by the developments so far.
Absolutely agree there. Much more credence with Nolley out of the portal too. MY deserves credit.
FWIW, I stand by my original post at the time.
I stand by my original post as well.
Well first of all, he's hired two assistants (Webster and Frazier) and the staff including Young is actively recruiting. Just because there hasn't been a press release about it doesn't mean it hasn't happened. And the NCAA allows interim coaches be designated for recruiting purposes as well, so it's possible we have a full recruiting crew on the road. (Justin Hamilton was on the road recruiting for football last year before Nix was hired)
Can we count "keeping Landers Nolley" among the examples of doing all the right stuff?
Yes, but nobody knew that when this exchange happened. See outoftowner's post above
Let's just all be winners here, huh?
The point is that we should give Coach Young the benefit of the doubt as he re-establishes the program.
Point is, he's been doing all the right stuff since he got here, and that was still the case when that exchange happened.
You can't possibly have pointed to an outcome that hadn't happened yet as validation for a process that to that point was incomplete. That's all I'm saying.
I'm saying even before Landers announced, Young had been doing all the right things as of Monday, as of yesterday, and as of today, he is still doing all the right things
Coach Mike Young anagrams to "DOING ALL THE RIGHT THINGS"
no it doesn't
Webster stays as part of the staff, so now we need to know if Nichols is joining the staff as well. Coach Young also has to decide what other outside staff he is bringing in outside of Ryan Nadeau.
Nichols isn't the only person being considered for that 3rd spot fwiw (and no, I'm not talking about Giltner). If the name I'm hearing is correct, it would be a big pull
With that said, I still expect it to be Nichols.
boooooo had us hyped
Such a tease.
LA Was Antwon Jackson the big name?
I saw somewhere, can't find it now, that Nichols interviewed for the Wofford job.
It was discussed on here in one of the threads. He was one of the candidates and essentially whoever didn't get the head coach job between Nichols and McAuley were thought to be joining Young here at Tech.
Hope Nichols becomes official soon. What will Frazier do with his twitter handle @CoachFrazierKSU? haha, does twitter allow you to rename/switch your handle?
Will KSU tryo to claim like RT with Bitter? haha
Twitter does allow you to change the @name structure of your account so he will just have to change it when he is officially on the Hokies clock. Just another example of why its important for the school to make a statement, so he feels comfortable changing it and so when recruits go to look him up, they don't get confused with the KSU stuff.
Interesting list of transfers that are available at this time. Wonder who CMY would go after, fun to speculate based on this list. Enjoy!
Would like to get Proctor and Pat Andree
How about Admon Gilder??!!
I also wouldn't mind seeing them pursue Pierce or Milon from W&M. Milon is likely a better fit for Mike Young but Pierce would give you that athletic wing in the image of a Hill/Clarke. Defensively I think he would also give Young a solid on ball defender as part of his desire to go to a man to man defense.
I'm sure most have you have already thought about this, but it just hit me today!!!
Maybe the timing of this coaching change couldn't be better! Sure we are starting a rebuild (with a largely depleted roster) but think about the advantages today....
1) we have tons of scholarships (flexibility) for the future installation of Coach Young's system.
2) with the transfer portal (and more eligibility exceptions) coach Young can put a team together that can run his system from day one.
3) because these transfers will only have a 1-2 years of eligibility (mostly), it gives the staff time to recruit freshmen and develop our next generation.
4) with "one and dones" being eliminated in 2020, there is an argument that coaching, recruiting to system and player development will be more important and bring more parity to the tournament. (Especially to the Blue Bloods that now have to re-tool as well)
5) upcoming improvements to Cassell and program upgrades will provide excitement and growth with a new group of coaches (energy) to tell the story.
Maybe I'm just drinking the Kool-aid, but there's a roadmap here! And it's NOT just a 3-5 year plan!
Only thing I would disagree with here is your point about the Blue Bloods that have to re-tool. To me, if anything, the elimination of the one and dones might make the job easier for the Blue Bloods, as they will still likely get all the One and Maybe Dones but worst off, the top talent of every class. It will mean in some cases these coaches wont have to constantly reload and you might see some of the Blue Bloods return to more of the form that Michigan State under Tom Izzo has maintained but slightly better in talent. The transfer portal and relaxation of waiver rules also benefits the Blue Bloods the most because it means if someone doesn't pan out they can make the numbers work while also robbing other programs of top talent when they need a piece.
SHIT
Painful but not surprising. I hope Blackshear finds whats best for him. No need to waste next season in a rebuild if he can get attention on a contender to brighten his chances of making the NBA.
Given his age, I very much doubt that staying in college will improve his NBA stock even if he has another good season. He's a 2nd round to undrafted guy right now and that's probably where he'd be next year to. That's not me being negative, I'm just reflecting on how the NBA evaluates talent. It's REALLY hard to make it. The only reason imo for him to stay in college is if he wants to play for championships (conference and natty). Nothing wrong with that either. Best of luck to him either way
Tough reality check. Hope CMY can reel him back in, but will certainly be rooting for him if he goes. Such a likable player and key to our success this year!
Considering he's waited this long, I think its safe to assume he's already weighed the option of staying at VT with Young and has decided going elsewhere is his best option.
reluctant leg
Yeah, I can't find much a reason as to why he would stay, and him waiting longer to announce than others is telling. Wishing the best for him at the next stop
NM
So UVA has lost Hunter, Guy and Jerome to the NBA draft. How big is this going to hurt UVA?
But the real question is when does Kihei Clark announce..?
The real real question is why did every announcer pronounce Kihei correctly, but over 4 years not once get Ammod Hill right?
What about the ol' "Nickeil Walker-Alexander"
Don't know about all that... I'm am however really pissed that Buzz Williamson left the program in shambles
To be fair, it would have been badass if his initials were NWA.
NAW, it wouldn't.
They won't repeat but Bennett is an elite coach who doesn't need superstar players to win games so I'd still expect them to be back in the tournament.
To my knowledge, Guy is back for next year.
Nope. Announced today.
Best chance for NBA:
Go to A&M and have an offense you've mastered run through you with guys you've played with before against Big 12 competition.
I appreciate he waited some extra time to let the new coach get installed. Good luck KJB!
A&M = Big 12 competition be like...
A&M is SEC
Oops! 😬
The coaching staff needs to start pulling some momentum in before alot of fans quit on the basketball team
If fans quit on the team less than 10 days after the head coach was hired, then they are a pathetic excuse for fans. Everyone needs to chill out and exercise a little bit of patience instead of acting like my 4 year old when he wants to eat candy for breakfast.
Trust me their will be some not me tho I'll stay with team if they go 0-30
Frazier
Come on Coach, work some of that magic again!
EDIT: Wonder if Frazier got Nolley to stick around?
khadim sy is availbale.... again. lol maybe now that buzz is gone we could get him to stick he likes Blacksburg for short periods of time. around. kinda /s
his top 5 are ole miss, LSU, ECU, Arkansas, and PITT.
Sy has to be like 26 now with two seasons of eligibility left, guy moves around more than Buzz.
Buzz is a grown man Sy is/was a kid trying to figure it out. Like any kid playing D1 ball he probably had dreams of dominating and going to the NBA. I don't blame him for trying to figure things out for himself. I wish every kid picked and committed to VT for 4+ years but I won't fault them for looking out for themselves.
Small victories I guess but impressed Young took the time to meet with KJs parents...
Nolley is announcing tomorrow at 2 per Twitter can't embed sorry
I gotchu
Seems unlikely to set a time for an announcement if you're staying but I guess we'll see. I'd happily eat crow on this one but regardless look forward to supporting Coach Young and any players wearing a Virginia Tech uniform next year.
If he leaves, he's giving up a second straight year of playing. He must really be pissed about how we handled his suspension.
It wasn't a suspension. There was nothing VT could do to change the situation.
bruh, the NCAA declared him a partial qualifier, or whatever the term they use for that now. He wasn't suspended, he was simply not eligible to play his first year. If he gets decent grades he'll be good to go for next season. 4 years to play 3.
Last year counted against his eligibility? Couldn't that count as a RS year, and still give him 4? (if he's as good as advertised, no way he'd be around for 4, I know)
that's why being a PQ sucks. Still better than being a non-qualifier
actually I think partial qualifier can get back that 4th year of eligibility by graduating. If Nolley pans out as the player we all think he can be, he probably will go pro before then though.
edit: NCAA changed the term from "Partial Qualifier" to "Academic Redshirt" for Division 1. Still trying to find out details about it beyond the name change. Since the term 'redshirt' is used, I get the feeling they don't lose a year of eligibility like partial qualifiers used to.
this article lays out some background but doesn't really touch on eligibility going forward
https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2016/1/27/10822442/ncaa-academ...
edit2: Wikipedia (yeah I know) says academic redshirts don't lose a year of eligibility, so Nolley would have 4 to play 4
How's that crow taste? Mine's pretty good!
Is the "ga school close to his kid" still the general thought?
Somebody please tell me how to feel about this
I think it's a good hire. Good ties to the AAU scene, especially in the DMV where he once was an assistant coach at Paul VI (oh hey, Anthony Harris played there!).
It's good. If I'm not mistaken Georgetown really wanted both Jackson and Webster on their staff when they hired Ewing.
This was the name I heard, but I didn't think we would pull it off. Unreal pull by MY. One of the most well connected coaches to the DMV AAU scene in the entire country.
oh baby
via GIPHY
Have not seen this discussed yet. What do we know about him?
Also interesting that he is looking at both Cincinnati and VT. With the reported Antwon Jackson hire, seems like he must be involved.
He cheats on ham I guess?
I lol'd on a conference call because of this. Leg.
I'll give him a Haanif that's so.
So, for those way more in the know than I, is it possible to get a brief write up on these assistants and their strengths or areas to be concerned with? And, if possible, how these guys stack up against the rest of the assistants in the conference?
I'm really looking for reasons to be optimistic about hoops again...
Perhaps throw it behind the paywall since I'm sure people will really want to know this stuff and could boost key membership
Antwon Jackson. Looks like a solid hire. Link
Nolley Staying
Huge commitment for Mike Young.
HOLY &%$!
Love it great start for Mike Young.
I am starting to get real good feels about this hire.
Can OP update the OP plz
Bede has retweeted 3 things about Nolley's announcement. I feel like he's next and will also stay a Hokie
Its official aka also wanted to announce all 3 at once I guess
BIOs of assistant coaches at HokieSports
Someone needs to get Antwon a Twitter.
Just, don't let him get a hold of Galen Scott's handbook.
Thousands of coaches have Twitter. Why would you bring Galen Scott in on Antwon hiring?
I don't see the relation....
Galen is always getting into things he shouldn't be.
It was a joke...
If Bede and Blackshear stay, you got a pretty solid starting 5 with Nolley, Wilkins, and Horne/Kabongo. Still need to add some pieces, but that team would win some games. Heck, while we're all on the hype train right now, NAW could still decide he wants to do more in college and be a top 5 pick next year.
NAW is definitely not coming back. What I want to see is us bring Anthony Harris back and get Jalen Cone. Those two with Wilkins/Nolley would be some really good building blocks for the future.
I understand your realism and completely agree. I was just taking a moment to enjoy the Kool-Aid that is served on the Hype Train.
Better chance of KBJ returning than NAW.
Though we're talking 1% vs. 0%
Where do you get the 1% from?
Did a source tell you 1%?
KBJ is trying to figure out his best chance for joining the 1%.
I was making a point that I do not believe that there is a good chance he'll return...
Are we talking battery levels or something?
Let me pour that for you:
Chico seems excited about what's happening
800% excited
Staff is really starting to take shape... just need a good S&C coach plus maybe a recruiting coordinator and some GA's
Young - Head Coach
Jackson - Senior? Assistant Coach
Frazier - Assistant Coach
Webster - Assistant Coach
-
Nadeau - Director of Player Personnel
Giltner - Director of Basketball Operations?
??? - Strength & Conditioning
MY is bringing his S&C coach from Wofford.
So, next year's roster ATM
On Roster/Commits:
Jr PJ Horne F 6-5 230
r-Fr/So Landers Nolley G/F 6-7 230
So Jonathan Kabongo G 6-4 195
So Isaiah Wilkins G 6-3 230
r-Fr Tyrece Radford G 6-2 195
r-Fr Brendan Palmer G 6-3 190 wo?
Fr Emmanuel Miller F 6-6 200
Fr Hunter Cattoor G 6-2 185
Could Return from Portal:
r-Sr KBJ F 6-10 250
Jr Wabissa Bede G 6-1 195
Could Recommit:
Fr Anthony Harris G 6-3 180
Maybe Reclassifying Target:
Fr Jalen Cone G 5-11 163
Don't forget the walk-ons:
r-Fr Tyrece Radford G 6-2 195
r-Fr Brendan Palmer G 6-3 190
Though this has been disputed, I believe that Tyrece Radford is on scholarship. I think Buzz said that at one point, and there is an article from November where Norm Wood describes him as one of four scholarship freshman
Scholarships are year to year, and many times any unused ones are given to the most deserving non-scholarship player. If you are saying he is one of the people recruited as a scholarship player and is expected to keep it then I think it would be public knowledge.
I'd guess that he was awarded a scholarship last year, but that scholarship is back on the table now.
If KBJ leaves, we're going to be super desperate for some height
Yeah nolley is a great start but we need a few more commits to even stand a chance at winning an account game next year but I'm hopeful after today!
I had a mini heart attack reading ATM as aTm.
THAT PROFILE PICTURE IS F#$!%ING AWESOME
I APOLOGIZE
I was so bummed they didn't announce a re-release for the switch. I know it's not the most powerful machine but I thought it would be able to run the original borderlands
Holy hell we are short.
Just saw this.
Unfortunately this is not surprising. The Blue Bloods find their openings once the guys declare for the draft so they are most likely to have those one or two extra scholarships to chase remaining talent on the market.
If KBJ and Bede return from the portal darkness, we'll have a fringe NCAA team.
I like what Radford can bring. I think people will be impressed in what he has to offer.
Poor Buzz... AD who hired him leaving 2 weeks after he's hired... Less than ideal when you're a personality like Buzz. I'm all torn up inside /S
A&M AD to LSU
This probably turns out in Buzz favor. I would not be surprised if Buzz and Jimbo Fisher get a huge say in who the replacement will be with how the boosters work down there.
It's the SEC......Jimbo gets the say. Buzz gets the leftovers
Was gonna say, I would be very surprised if Buzz was not aware this was happening. Also agree that A&M may have used it as a selling point, offering some level of input over next AD.
From the way Buzz has acted and spoken about his new job, it doesn't seem that A&M had to sell much.
Don't be Whit don't be Whit don't be Whit....
via GIPHY
Haha agreed. Maybe I'm just bitter, but my opinion of Buzz has changed since he left. When we found out before the tourney that the rumors were probably true, I didn't feel any real animosity toward him. Logical career move for him, etc. But in my mind I was giving him a lot of credit for assumedly giving Whit plenty of advanced notice, being upfront with the team, and generally leaving with good relationships. I'm not sure those things are true. Kinda felt like Whit didn't know much more than us based on how the search unfolded (in no way disparaging the new hire). I wish Buzz well, but the magic is certainly gone.
Some scuttlebutt that Miller released from LOI and has visited AandM but has not decided what to do. If so, this would bode well for us IMHO
Pretty cool little video he has pinned on his twitter. I hope he sticks with the good guys. FWIW, he has retweeted Gordon and McNeilly A&M announcements. That doesn't really mean anything though.
I don't know if I trust anyone that's only 110% committed than someone who is 800% committed /s
247 has his lead recruiter as Webster
While that may be how it was written down, McNeilly played the major factor in bringing in all the Canadian players and Emmanuel Miller is one. That's why it was also interesting to see Kabongo stay committed because he was also part of the Canadian pipeline.
Any idea if Kabongo staying has any impact? Do they have any relationship from Canadian teams, etc.?
Not sure, but I think Kabongo's and Nolley's relationship had an impact on Nolley staying.
Of course they do, there's only one road in Canada.
Yeah, I know, that's why I found it so interesting that McNeilly wasn't listed as lead recruiter. We'll see if its accurate, but hopefully it's a signal that Miller will stay.
Mike Young when Landers decided to stay in Blacksburg
I can't wait to see this kind of energy from him going forward. He came off stodgy an old-school in the initial interviews.
That's because in a moment when all he could think about was assembling his staff and recruiting current and future players he was instead having to do press conferences and interviews. Seemed to me he was a bit frustrated with those media obligations and just wanted to get to work.
I mean, a lot happened in very little time for him with little time to prepare.
He's not quite like Buzz, Inc., where every camera is an opportunity to promote the personal brand.
You can argue that he should be, but we didn't select him on that basis.
Yep, I have no issue with it, and kind of like that about him. At the end of the day it is about winning and doing the right way. That's what his focus is.
Agreed and agreed on those good points. Whether he is forced into those introduction sessions/interviews or not, there are still opportunities to present yourself and personality to a very hungry fanbase. Perhaps with his full staff accompaniment (now) and some players in a few months, he'll return to discuss who the program is now and why we (fans) should be excited about it. It must have been so hard for him to answer those questions of "...what does a Mike Young team look like?" without having any coaches or players.
I actually believe this...
That the Earth is flat? In a couple years when Blue Origin is flying people up to space, maybe Kyrie can purchase two tickets and take you with him.
Anthony Harris visiting Indiana Friday and Saturday then UNC Monday and Tuesday.
Cole Anthony decision coming Monday... Not sure about impact on Harris as UNC favored for Anthony.
Guessing Harris goes home Tuesday and makes a decision late next week. (?)
Hunter Catoor, 6-3 guard Windmere Fl visiting. Former Wofford commit. Great shooter to NBA range, pretty explosive athlete. Hate to say it, but very similar to Kyle Guy
VISITOR
Catoor
Given his offer list, plus the fact that he was committed to Young at Wofford, you'd have to think we stand a pretty good shot with him.
Soph. shooting guard out of Brown, 2017-2018 Ivy League Rookie of the Year
6'4'' 180lbs. 15.7 ppg, 3.8 reb/game in the 2018-2019 season
Looking at those schools it looks like it will come down to if he came to play school or not.
Looks like Izzo has reached out to Blackshear to replace Nick Ward (Early entry NBA)
Tweet
That would be a great spot for KJB.
Just don't go to aTm.
Hunter Cattoor commits to the good guys!
First Commitment
Cal visited KBJ
Link
Calipari visited KBJs parents. Blackshear wasnt there