According to SI, he is one of CBB's top international players
https://www.si.com/college/virginiatech/basketball/virginia-tech-basketb...
"Avdalas is testing the NBA Draft waters but is poised to be an instant impact player at the college level should he choose that path.
The 19-year-old prospect has already claimed several major honors in his young career, securing the Greek Super Cup in 2021, earning Greek All-Star recognition in 2023 and capturing the Greek League Best Young Player award in 2024.
The 6-foot-8 Avdalas averaged 8.1 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game with Peristeri B.C. (Greek Basketball League) last season. He shot 39.3% from behind the arc.
https://www.eurobasket.com/Greece/news/937172/Virginia-Tech-land-Neoklis...
BREAKING: The #Hokies receive a verbal commitment from Greek forward Neoklis Avdalas if he withdraws from the 2025 NBA Draft, per @Eurohopes.Avdalas (6-8, 198) a 19-year-old, averaged 7.5 points in the Greek League. pic.twitter.com/hxEXbC8LG6— Tech Sideline (@TechSideline) June 9, 2025
Comments
6'8" Wing player. will be nice to be able to maybe have some size on the court this year.
Reading a reddit page about him, sounds like many folks thought he would be a first rounder
...yet
Having a tough time picturing our starting five. He and Hansberry seem like the same style and size. He, Dorn and Lawal are all looking to go to the NBA next year so have to think coaches committed to highlight them. I kind of expect Pasha to start at PG with Hammond backing him up. Expect a combination of Bedford/Johnson/Schutt at the 2-3.
I am happy after last year that Mike Young is going to have to choose between which of his future NBA players he is going to have to start and which is going to have to come off the bench.
decisions, decisions
He and Hansberry seem like the same style...
Nah. Avdalas
wouldWILL likely be a point forward. The question would be whether you start Johnson or SchuttMr. Popadapolous!
Fernando Leonardi Kratsky Dopopolopolous
It's not quite official... still waiting on confirmation he's withdrawing from
The draft process. We've got him on the hook, but he's not in the boat yet.
Okay, I'll say it. Camille Chen was so highly qualified, in my humble opinion.
I'm trying to see how this comment relates to the previous ones, and I just for the life of me can't see it. /shrug
In the commercial, she was the woman that did not have State Farm and the guy was dangling the dollar to.
Also saw on Hokiesports that we got a commit from 6-11 Dematha Forward Solomon Davis on Friday for this coming season. Didnt see any chatter here about it......
https://hokiesports.com/news/2025/06/6/tech-boosts-frontcourt-with-6-11-solomon-davis-from-dematha
He's raw- but please play him because he won't be here next year.
There was a post on Davis. Don't expect to see him on the floor next year except in maybe mop up duty. Low 3 🌟 out of Dematha. He committed about a month and a half ago. Last week he signed.
Ok- sorry my bad. I can't remember new shit anymore. I think my brain is full.
odd they posted about it on June 6 when Lt Rob had it a month earlier
https://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2025/may/8/hokie-hoops-solomon-davis-...
Posted signing versus commitment. They did same thing for Brett Freemann.
Re: Freeman, does that 6'5" include the hair? ;^)
6'5" regular height....Bucky height including the hair... /s
With this, I count 9 new Hokies.
4* C Christian Gurdak 6-9 260
4* PF Sincere Jones 6-7 195
C Solomon Davis 6-11 200
C Antonio Dorn 7-0
SG Brett Freeman 6-4
3* TR SG Jailen Bedford 6-4 180
4* TR PG Izaiah Pasha 6-4 190
4* TR PF Amani Hansberry 6-8 240
SF Neoklis Avdalas 6-8 198
Returning Hokies
PF Tobi Lawal 6-8 200
SG Jaden Schutt 6-5 205
PG Ben Hammond 5-11 170
SF Tyler Johnson 6-5 215
For those counting at home, that's 7 of 13 that are 6-7 or taller
There are 2 scholarship positions available, and 7 unclaimed 4* transfers, with 2 coming from the ACC, both of whom are guards (Jalen Blackmon - 6.9 ppg, from Miami and Ty-Laur Johnson - 6.1 ppg, from Wake Forest)
Scholarships are no longer a limitation. We paying players. Part of their payment plan is tuition, room and board.
there's still a roster limit. It's 15 for men's basketball
the operating assumption is that anyone on the roster is getting compensated to some degree in cash or scholarship
Hope we have the budget to buy all the big uniforms for the height of these guys.
All unis uni the same
With how little Nike is paying on the uni deal we should have near unlimited quantity allowed
They should at least be the quality of your local parks and rec pee-wee unis!
Whit should be fired for that farce alone.
Not sure why this got down votes. This should be a major evaluation point. It goes directly to the budget vs revenue per seat conversation. This is some of that external to game day revenue the Hokies are missing out on annually.
Yes, and he negotiates from a documented position of weakness "Our Nike deal is beyond dollars". puke. how would we survive? Kanas hoops, MD hoops, ND, Wisky, etc, etc all do much better than we do without Nike.
While the timing made him getting fired unlikely, I agree with the sentiment. I was appalled at the approach, essentially conceding instead of negotiating.
It is pretty difficult to sell more merch when you don't have equal support as other teams from your vendor.
As fans, we all see the lack of Hokie versions of merch that it feels like all other Nike teams get. This alone is an easy point to argue when it inevitably gets brought up, and not successfully negotiating ANY sort of an increase is insane, especially if the ranking of the deals value TSL posted is actually true.
Sadly, there was no competitor to Nike at the renewal. It was take their offer or nothing.
I have a hard time believing this is true. And if it is true, I have to put that on the AD too. Under Armour, adidas, Jordan brand, whatever. Somebody needs to be selling our fan base and our brand to those guys.
Nike isn't some mom and pop shop. They choose to sponsor us not because they have to, and not because somebody has to, but because they get something out of it.
The AD not only needs to sell our brand to potential season ticket holders and donors, but to corporate and apparel sponsors as well.
If there's only one apparel deal on the table, that's a failure too.
How soon after the new AD got in office did the old deal expire?
Babcock started in January 2014. Contract extension under him was done in July 2014.
Original contract goes back to 2007. Contract was extended in July 2014 to 2022. At this time it was 45th out of 50 that Will Stewart at TSL had the details on. At around the time Hokies agreed to extension in 2014 that pays just under $4M annually between equipment/cash combined, UCLA struck a deal with Nike for $18.7M annually.
Contract was extended by 5 years in 2022 but seems like both sides have an opt out annually. Doesn't appear the amount has increased in the last 8 years.
Thank you very much, Lt.
There is a much better apparel deal out there for VT. But in typical VT fashion, we don't lead, we get comfortable, we accept status quo. Whit could get a better deal, he just refuses to.
We don't possibility have Leonard Hamilton as an assistant coach do we? /s
I had the mental thought are we sure that isn't FSU's recruiting/transfer list.
CMY is keeping his promise of bringing in more talent.
IMHO, Neo is effectively a high 4* or low 5* - a guy who will easily be a first round draft pick (with lottery potential) with a good year at VT.
You mean donors live up to their promise of supporting Mike Young this year.
It's crazy what happens when you give more resources to good coaches. Maybe the football program can learn from that.
Gotta find a good coach first
Pasha is a PG not a SF
expect a starting lineup of
Pasha, Avdalas/Schutt, Johnson, Lawal, Hansberry
Do....do we have a good starting 5?
Dorn from Germany is really the only true 5 but Hansberry will get alot of run there
Solomon Davis after a year of bulking and getting healthier from his injury this Spring should be a 5 next year
I think he meant a good starting lineup
"Solomon Davis after a year of bulking and getting healthier"- will hit the portal
So I'm holding off being excited about this until I hear he's withdrawn from the draft, which I know has to happen before the 15th.
Any idea on if this has or is going to happen?
From what I've read on other sites, it sounds pretty likely to happen. Supposedly he was looking for a first round evaluation and that hasn't materialized.
Yay its official
Looks like the withdrawal deadline ended about 5 minutes ago. Not seeing anything yet about whether he withdrew or not, but maybe some news shows up tonight.
Did Mike just land the top international player available this year....YUP
UVA might have something to say about that, but Avdalas and Dorn are great combo
Hokie sports just announced it's official which means he signed his paperwork
Dude being compared to Vick and Kevin Jones in terms of impact. I hope he can play
And then Christian Webster leaves...
had already left and was replaced by Frazier who recruited Hansberry, Dorn, and Avdalas
he can play. I hope the collection of players fits together sooner than later
agreed.. really hope these guys gel during camp and early season tune-ups.
from a talent level perspective, this roster is light years ahead of the '24-25 roster
returning
[****] Tobi Lawal - Forward/Center - 6'8 - age 21
[***] Tyler Johnson - Wing - 6'6 - age 19
[***] Jaden Schutt - Wing- 6'5 - age 20
[**] Ben Hammond - Point - 5'11 - age 19
transfers
[*****] Neoklis Avadalas - Wing/Point - 6'8 - age 20 - pro
[****] Amani Hansberry - Forward/Center - 6'8 - age 20
[****] Iziah Pasha - Point/Wing - 6'4 - age 19
[***] Antonio Dorn - Center - 7'0 - age 22 - pro
[***] Jailen Bedford - Wing - 6'4 age 22
freshmen
[****] Christian Gurdak - Center - 6'9 - age 18
[***] Solomon Davis - Center - 6'11 - age 18
[***] Sincere Jones - Forward - 6'7 - age 18
[**] Brett Freeman - Point - 6'5 - age 18
This will likely be a different style of play on offense than we've seen from MY up to now...3 pointer will likely be the second option most of the time and we should be at the line much more often. May also run a little more. Pasha and Avdalas both will look to attack the basket...Bedford as well (he likes to bomb it but attacks the rim way more than Schutt). Regardless, we should be able to go 8 or 9 deep without being embarrassed. Just need to sort out the rotation. Should also see a little better D with Frazier in their ear every day.
Trying to imagine a starting five of:
Tobi - Forward/Center
Amani - Foward/Center
Neoklis - Wing/Point
Iziah - Point/Wing
and either Tyler or Jaden.
Both Johnson and Schutt may come off the bench for Bedford
Unless Schutt can be more consistent this is what I want to see.
Agreed. He is one dimensional and that dimension wasn't stellar last season. Bedford gives you similar 3% but also drives to the basket and is a plus defender
Double Post
I'll be happier than a pig in shit if we can beat the fucking dogshit programs in the ACC that masquerade as good twice a decade- Pitt, Clemson, NC State, Miami. Beat those fucking teams next year. I won't mention Net 600 traditionally B fucking C who we never beat anyway. Win against those fuck faces, and I'll buy Mike Young's drinks forever. If we lose to Duke, UNC, Louisville- you live with it. I am tired of losing to fucking Brownell, mid ND, mid Wake, etc.
I read that he was predicted to be a 2nd rounder in the NBA draft...so what do we expect out of this guy? The only 2nd rounders in the past 20 years that VT has produced have been Deron Washington (pick 59) and Erick Green (pick 46), so if he ends up somewhere around those guys' talent level I'll be very happy lol. I reckon he'll either go to the draft next year (optimal solution) or we'll get big-dogged in the transfer portal, but let's just enjoy whatever happens this year.
Tourney contention and I'm happy. I just want/need a reason to watch.
Well, all things considered. Even though it's basically a brand new team, as long as they gel and have some sort of chemistry, this team has the talent and potential to make a lot of noise.
Unless you are a team that has a coach who can convince your players to stay all 4 years, this is probably going to be the norm going forward
I just hope we are not "still ass".
By all talk I've seen on other board, he would be a five star recruit; and likely at second year NAW level or better coming in technically as a freshman this year. Granted he's a one year rental
it's startin' to come together Pepper, it's startin' to come together...
Ngl, saw 10 new comments and assumed we lost him somehow
Article in today's Richmond Times about this year's team. Coach is excited, got me hopin'.
A few really nice Neo passes on Hansberrys Instagram reel from today. Good to see he's in town and gelling with the team.
Why do people like to give me heart attacks?
Might as well keep the heart attacks coming!!
If he can keep that up, he is going to the NBA after this year.
Man would it be great if he could translate that to gametime. We need a spark badly.
If he does meet or exceed expectations, what does that mean for the team this year? Going dancing? Darkhorse ACC tourney champs? It would be great to have something to root for that provides a return.
I would be happy with a winning record in the ACC, gleeful going dancing, and backflip induced giddiness if we won the ACC.
seeing your comment without context, I wasn't certain if you were referring to football or basketball lol
It could apply to both. But I have more hopes for Basketball. One player can turn a team in Basketball. One player is only nudge a team in Football.
Michael Vick would like a word...
Vick was the best player on that team, but it was loaded with talent.
Vick was the most dynamic, but Corey Moore my break your ass in half if you dont think k he was the best player that year.
Loved Corey, still do, but no, Vick was the best player on that team, and on the field, regardless of who we played. The nadir of my Hokie life and I'm so glad I was on the train for the years before and after Mike, but I knew he was different from the first time I saw him in the spring game. Did he need that really good team to do what he did? Yep, you bet. But no doubt about it, he was the star of the show.
Will never forget the story that came out of one of their bowl practices. They were forced to practice in a basketball gym due to weather and Vick goes to midcourt and throws a football through left handed...then goes to full court and throws it through right handed.
Vick was definitely the nudge, but that was a team absolutely loaded with talent on both sides of the ball.
True, but without Vick there's no miracle in morgantown, no national championship game, no heisman contender, no number one first round draft pick....
I just want VT to actually be considered by the top players within 250-300 miles as a place to excel athletically. VT doesn't appear to even get a thought from the top VA kids.
I think this is just the nation of the nationalization of recruiting, that started 15+ years ago.
Looking at class of 2025... Only three of the top 10 Florida high school athletes are staying in state. 1 of the top 10 and 5 of the top 25 in California are staying in state. Three of the top 10 kansas high schoolers are staying in state. 2 of the VA top 10 stayed in state... it's not a regional sport any more. And that's not just due to Conference Realignment or NIL or portal... that's just life in America - people move way more than they used to.
There is something to this. North Carolina is about the same, first kid to stay in state is #13. Tenn is dominating Tenn though and Louisville grabbed most of the top of KY. Clemson and Sakerlina have most of the top in their states. I know things are more national, but it still feels like we should be starting from a little higher ground with VA kids and the more you land the more momentum you have with others. Hell Maryland kept the #1 overall recruit in the country home (for now).
Tennessee, OSU, Oregon... those are outliers for a variety of reasons. Even Michigan only has 3 of their top 10, with 2 more going to MSU and the rest leaving the state. MD always lands 1-2 guys out of nowhere, but that's it. But to your point...
I would agree there is room for improvement here.
Also keep in mind that the top 10 in a given state in any year might not be a P4 basketball player. You might get the 30th kid from California and that kid could still be better than 60% of the Top 10 of each state.
fair - i was looking at football ratings lol. But yea point well taken.
Haha pump the brakes man. Neo is a good talent but VT media has been going absolutely crazy cart before horse O&M glasses when covering him. TSL calling him a likely all ACC first teamer was just totally insane homer non ball knowledge to me. To me he's a young athletic potential point forward type who would be a tremendous 2nd or 3rd scoring option for this team.
Ideally we have a good facilitator point guard who is also a scoring threat with Lawal being the primary option and Hansberry and Avdalis being 2a and 2b. Avdalis would be secondary ball handler who would be an on ball scoring threat and facilitator, but I think he could be really dangerous off ball too.
Imo he's a guy that could be a nonfactor or severely limited if the defense focuses on him. But if the defense is focused on other players and some lanes open up, that's where he could be really dangerous and you could start seeing 20+ and 30+ point games. Then his role in the offense could increase as the season progresses. I think his offensive success will depend greatly on how much our opponents respect our other scoring options
Wasn't trying to speed up or slow down, was just curious. Outside of Lawal, who I hope can take a step forward this year and play with a bit more control, I have no idea what to expect. Good analysis - leg for you.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNEmYqZx_Pi/
Got the dog in 'em!
Let's! Go!
Love the work on offense! But watching that gives me pause about our Defense...
Halfway into the video before I saw anyone i recognized 😅
247 rates Avdalas *****
100% serious question. Has he been cleared to play by the NCAA clearinghouse? don't shoot me