Despite low expectations coming into this season, fans of Virginia Tech are optimistic about the future of Hokies basketball. After surprising everyone and landing Buzz Williams from Marquette, a lot of turnover took place on the roster. While the Hokies lost some major contributors, they are not too broken up after a 9-22 season and have a chance to restart. Some talented newcomers will join up with several returning starters, but there is a long way to go to consider postseason play.
Backcourt
The guards and wings should easily be the strength of Williams’ first team in Blacksburg. It all starts with sophomore point guard Devin Wilson, who had a promising freshman season. The 6’4” guard averaged 9.2 points on 37.3% shooting and 4.8 assists, with all of those numbers expected to see a jump. Junior Adam Smith missed more than half of the season after transferring in from UNC Wilmington, but was an effective perimeter threat in his 14 games with 11 points on 35.8% shooting from beyond the arc. These two will likely lead the team in scoring, but freshmen wings Justin Bibbs, Ahmed Hill, Jalen Hudson, and Malik Mueller will contribute on that end. Mueller redshirted for academic reasons, while Bibbs and Hudson come from power programs in the high school circuit. Hill followed Williams from Marquette after being let out of his Letter of Intent at Williams’ former school. Former walk-on Will Johnston is a senior who has contributed heavily in the past and can play either guard spot.
Frontcourt
The Hokies lose almost their entire frontcourt to both transfers and graduation, but do return their promising junior center Joey Van Zegeren. Van Zegeren took a leap in his game with 6.4 points and 5 rebounds per game in 22 minutes. He will be expected to play closer to 30 minutes each night and approach double digits in both categories. He will need help from freshman center Satchel Pierce and junior college transfer Shane Henry. Pierce is physically ready to compete at 6’10” 260 lbs, but Henry is in the opposite situation at 6’8” 180 lbs. One will need to start and provide 25 or more minutes to help Van Zegeren down low. 6’7” senior Christian Beyer will likely see a repeat of his 9 minutes per game last season in a variety of positions.
| Projected Starters |
|---|
| Devin Wilson |
| Adam Smith |
| Ahmed Hill |
| Shane Henry |
| Joey van Zegeren |
Schedule
Virginia Tech’s schedule sets up for them to improve upon last season’s record. Their toughest nonconference matchups are against Northern Iowa in the Cancun Challenge, at Penn State in the ACC/B1G Challenge, and a trip to West Virginia before ACC play. Within the conference, the Hokies have home-and-home matchups with Florida State, Miami, Syracuse, and Virginia.
Prediction
While there is some talent in Blacksburg this year, it is too young and unproven to project Virginia Tech to play past the ACC Tournament. Wilson, Smith, and Van Zegeren provide a nice starting point, but none are quite the caliber needed to carry the team. Williams will have one of the scrappier teams in the league if his past is any indication, and one or several of the freshman wings will emerge as legitimate scoring options. The Hokies will be towards the bottom of the conference, but will finish ahead of Boston College and perhaps one of Georgia Tech or Wake Forest.
by Matt Purdy @UMWolfpack87
Fantasy Player to Watch
Devin Wilson is returning after a nice freshman season that saw him average close to 9 points and 5 assists per game. With such an inexperienced roster, Wilson will not only need to score more but find ways to make his teammates better.
Projected Statistics (Returning Players Only)
Explanation of Statistic Projections
| Name | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | % Correct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devin Wilson | 11.9 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 3.0 | 88 |
| Joey van Zegeren | 8.1 | 0.7 | 5.8 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 83 |
| Adam Smith | 6.0 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 92 |
| Christian Beyer | 4.4 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 88 |
| Will Johnston | 4.0 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 89 |
| Malik Mueller | 3.9 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 100 |
| Greg Donlon | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 99 |
Last Year's Player Statistics
| Virginia Tech | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | GP | Mins | Pts | Asts | Rbds | Stls | Blks | TOs | FG% | 3P% | FT% | |
| Jarell Eddie | 31 | 32.6 | 13.3 | 1.2 | 5.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 35.5 | 37.6 | 77.8 | |
| Devin Wilson | 31 | 34.9 | 9.2 | 4.8 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 37.3 | 31.1 | 65.9 | |
| Ben Emelogu | 22 | 27.2 | 10.5 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 39.6 | 37.0 | 68.1 | |
| Joey van Zegeren | 31 | 22.0 | 6.4 | 0.3 | 5.0 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 36.0 | |
| CJ Barksdale | 21 | 19.9 | 8.1 | 0.6 | 4.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 51.2 | 35.5 | 81.1 | |
| Trevor Thompson | 30 | 16.2 | 5.0 | 0.2 | 4.7 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 41.0 | 0.0 | 65.3 | |
| Adam Smith | 14 | 25.8 | 11.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 38.4 | 35.8 | 81.8 | |
| Will Johnston | 30 | 19.9 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 35.4 | 36.0 | 64.7 | |
| Marshall Wood | 26 | 15.7 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 35.8 | 34.7 | 79.2 | |
| Cadarian Raines | 22 | 15.9 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 47.8 | 0.0 | 65.0 | |
| Christian Beyer | 28 | 9.6 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 52.0 | 28.6 | 33.3 | |
| Greg Donlon | 11 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | |
| Seth Allen | 2 | 31.0 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 42.1 | 41.7 | 100.0 | |
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