The Team

• Returning Starters (4): Malcolm Delaney, A.D. Vassallo, Lewis Witcher, Jeff Allen
• Starters Lost (1): Deron Washington
• Key Reserves Returning: Hank Thorns, Dorenzo Hudson, Terrell Bell, J.T. Thompson, Cheick Diakite
• Key Reserves Lost: None
• New Freshmen: Victor Davila (6’8″ F, will play), Gene Swindle (6’11″ C, will likely redshirt)

Outlook

This time last year almost everyone, including this web site, picked the Hokies to finish in the bottom third of the league. This year, almost everyone (Dick Vitale, Athlon Sports, Lindy’s, the Super-Terrific-ACC-Predictornator) is picking Tech to make the Big Dance and challenge for their fourth ACC Tournament First Round bye in five seasons in the league. Anything less than a NCAA Tournament appearance (regardless of the seed), will be a disappointment. Wow, think about that. Tech has come quite a long way since the ricky stokes era, which ended just five years ago.

Tech may still be a year or two away from really making some noise on the national scene, but they have plenty of talent to challenge for anywhere from 2nd to 6th place in the ACC (no one is touching unc this season). Tech lost just one significant player, Deron Washington, off last year’s squad. A.D. Vassallo (pictured) returns after a 2nd-Team All ACC junior year, and Jeff Allen and Malcolm Delaney should challenge for All ACC honors, too.

It will be interesting to see how the Hokies, who traditionally have finished near the bottom in the ACC in three pointers made (8th last season) and percentage (11th), do with the three point line moving back a foot this year. Will Tech continue to struggle? Or will everyone else’s percentage come back more towards where the Hokies are? VT shot the three very well at the end of the season, finally, with Vassallo and Delaney both shooting lights out. Will that carry over? Time will tell.

The Hokies really focused on conditioning this off-season and everyone appears to be in amazing shape going into the start of official practices. Tech, which has often recruited great athletes in recent years, is now looking at using that athleticism more on offense. Expect VT to push the ball more this year in transition and really go at teams.

Dump the Sophomore Slump

Remember, the Hokies are still very young. Instead of the “Baby Hokies”, they are now in adolescence. They only have two seniors (A.D. Vassallo and Cheick Diakite) and one junior (Lewis Withcher) that see significant minutes. The good news is they have five sophomores that played 12 minutes per game or more and another sophomore, Terrell Bell, who saw plenty of game action. The Sophomore Six-Pack must lead the way on this team and play like upperclassmen. They have to provide leadership (Vassallo is more of a leader-by-example guy). Bell needs to contribute to help fill the void left by Deron Washington. With that, the Hokies will meet expectations.

Recent History

• 2007-08: 21-14 (9-7 – 4th); Made ACC Semi-Finals; Made NIT Quarterfinals
• 2006-07: 22-12 (10-6 – 3rd); Made ACC Semi-Finals; Made NCAA 2nd Round
• 2005-06: 14-16 (4-12 – 10th); Lost in ACC First Round
• 2004-05: 15-13 (8-8 – 4th); Lost in ACC Quarterfinals; Made NIT 2nd Round

Click ‘Read more‘ below to see the Hokies’ frontcourt and backcourt broken down in detail, as well as some final thoughts on the season.

Breaking Down the Backcourt

Players – Key Stats (Team Rank Last Season):

• PG/SG – So – Malcolm Delaney – 24 starts | 9.6 ppg (4) | 3.1 apg (2) | 40% 3-Pt (1) | 79% FT (1)
• PG – So – Hank Thorns – 12 starts | 4.6 ppg (6) | 3.2 apg (1) | 40 steals (2) | 67% FT (4)
• SG – So – Dorenzo Hudson – 26 games | 12.3 mpg | 3.5 ppg (7) | 36% FG | 21% 3-Pt
• SG/SF – Sr – A.D. Vassallo – 2nd Team All ACC | 35 starts | 16.9 ppg (1) | 40% 3-Pt (2) | 76% FT (2) | 4.6 rpg (3)
• SG/SF – So – Terrell Bell – 33 games | 7.1 mpg | 1.8 ppg | 44% FG | 67% FT
• SF – So – J.T. Thompson – 34 games | 18.4 mpg | 5.6 ppg (5) | 55% FG (1) | 4.1 rpg (4)

Tech’s biggest question marks are in the backcourt. The Hokies did not add any guards in this recruiting class, and they were thin there to begin with.

At the point position, Delaney (pictured) will likely still have to quarterback the offense the majority of the time. He is a budding star in the ACC and finished last season on fire. He scored 15 points in both of VT’s ACC Tournament games on 10/15 shooting. Malcolm followed that up by averaging 14.9 ppg in Tech’s three NIT games on 16/26 shooting. He was 7/11 from the behind the arc in those five games. Malcolm is also Tech’s most clutch free throw shooter, leading the Hokies in free throw percentage as a freshman. You want the ball in his hands at the end of games.

Thorns has not proven he is an ACC caliber guard yet. He shot just 34% from the field and 29% behind the arc. And that was before the three point line moved back a foot. Teams do not have to respect his shot from the outside, allowing them to fall back. When he penetrates, teams can either block his shot or fall off and take away the pass. He is a better defender (quicker) than Delaney, but his short stature is an issue as taller guards can shoot over him.

Either Thorns or Delaney must be in the game at all times. They are the only guys who can run the point.

At shooting guard, expect to see a very fluid rotation here. Delaney will play some here when Thorns is in, but expect Hudson and Bell to battle for minutes. Dorenzo came to VT as a shooter and burst on the scene with 13 points at wake in just his third game. But he fell off after that and shot just 21% on threes for the season. He also struggles from the line (55%). Hudson does not have great rotation on his shots. He is a physical guard, though, and needs to create mismatches on defense. He also is good inside and can finish. If he can hit threes, that will set up his driving ability.

Bell looks to have improved his outside shooting. He is a lanky player who may be VT’s best defender not named Jeff Allen. He also might be Tech’s best athlete. But he saw the least playing time last year of the Six-Pack. Look for him to spot up in the corner and shoot kick out threes in transition.

At the wing position, Tech must fill some of the 33 minutes per game left behind by departed senior Deron Washington. Expect A.D. Vassallo to move almost full time to this spot, perhaps occasionally playing the 2-guard spot when J.T. Thompson is in. A.D. is not quick enough to guard other teams shooting guards, but he’s a great rebounder, so the bigger wing spot makes more sense for him.

J.T. Thompson (pictured) has slimmed down some and is working in the backcourt after playing mostly 4 last season. He has a ton of athletic ability and really crashes the boards. He also led Tech in field goal percentage. J.T. will likely play some 3 and 4, maybe even 2. If he was a baseball player, he’d be a utility infielder. You want his athletic ability, and hustle, on the court. He only attempted one three pointer last year, but was a decent outside shooter in high school. He needs to be able to hit mid-range jumpers to force defenders out if he is on the wing and allow him to penetrate and throw down some of his nasty dunks.

Summary: To have six players in your rotation for three spots is a lot. Someone is going to be pinched in terms of minutes. Last year, that was Terrell Bell. Guys are really going to have to battle from Day 1 to show they deserve extra time. The problem is Tech only has two ballhandlers, so don’t expect to see Thorns’s minutes drop that much. Bell or Hudson seem to be the two who need to prove the most.

Breaking Down the Frontcourt

Players – Key Stats (Team Rank Last Season):

• Jeff Allen – PF – So – 1st Team ACC All Freshman; Honorable Mention ACC All Defense | 32 starts | 11.8 ppg (3) | 7.6 rpg (1) | 69 steals (1) | 41 blocks (1t) | 49% FG
• Lewis Witcher – PF – Jr – 13 starts | 2.7 ppg | 65% FT | 2.2 rpg
• Cheick Diakite – C – Sr – 16 starts | 1.9 ppg | 41 blocks (1t) | 2.7 rpg
• Victor Davila – F – Fr

Jeff Allen (pictured) may be the best post player Virginia Tech has had since… maybe Dale Solomon or even Allan Bristow. He can do it all. Jeff has amazing hands, whether it be catching the ball in the low post, using touch on short shots, stealing the ball on defense, or rejecting opponents’ shots. The Big Donut is the Franchise.

Allen is also in the best shape of his life after a rigorous conditioning program this off-season (I think he cut down from four pizzas to two pizzas a day). Expect more energy and more athleticism from him, and that’s bad news for the ACC.

Jeff will be in the games as much as he can, which sometimes is an issue due to foul trouble. Greenberg likes to sit players after they pick up their second foul in the first half, and often that happened to Jeff before the first or second media timeout. You want Allen to be aggressive on defense since he creates so many turnovers, but he must be smarter about when he goes after steals.

For the third year in a row, junior Lewis Witcher will be given a chance to start and play significant minutes. His first two seasons, he has seen his minutes, and starts, tail off as the season went on. Lewis can look great at times, like his 11 point, 5 rebound performance against unc-ashville, or his 10 point, 4 rebound game against uva. And he can look lost at times – he did not even score in 12 games last season. Witcher showed promise towards the end of the regular season, averaging 7 points and 4 rebounds over a three game stretch. The key for him is intensity. He must hit the boards hard and get rebounds and second chance points. Otherwise…

Cheick Diakite will get more minutes if Witcher struggles. Cheick, one of only two seniors on the squad (Vassallo), has found his niche for the Hokies. If someone drives the lane, block it. If someone pulls up, block it. If you’re in class with him and you try to throw a piece of paper in the waste basket, he’s going to try and block it. And he does it very well, tying for the team lead with 41 blocks with Jeff Allen. Cheick blocked 11% of the shots taken last year while he was in the game. That’s one out of every nine shots taken, regardless of the location of the shot! Amazing. By comparison, Allen’s block percentage is 5%.

Diakite brings a lot of energy and is a great role player. Fouls are not an important factor. He must be aggressive on defense, and get the occasional stick-back dunk on offense. But any shot he takes beyond 10 feet is a bad one.

Victor Davila (pictured) joins the Hokies this season along with Gene Swindle. While the 6’11″ Swindle is expected to redshirt while he conditions his body, Davila is ACC-ready from a physical standpoint. He is 6’8″ and 245 pounds, but his stock fell in recruiting circles last season. Tech is counting on Victor to be in their low post rotation and spell post players that are tired or in foul trouble. He is an athletic player who attacks the rim hard.

Davila’s development is important to Tech’s rotation. If Victor can give the Hokies quality minutes, Seth can keep J.T. Thompson on the perimeter as a wing. But if Davila struggles, expect the undersized (height-wise) Thompson to be forced to play some at the four spot. This would make Tech smaller inside, though J.T. showed he can hold his own last season.

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Projected Starters

• PG – Malcolm Delaney
• SG – Dorenzo Hudson (or Terrell Bell)
• SF – A.D. Vassallo
• F – Jeff Allen
• F – Lewis Witcher

Projected Bench Rotation

• PG – Hank Thorns
• G/F – J.T. Thompson
• C – Cheick Diakite
• G/F – Terrell Bell (or Dorenzo Hudson)
• F – Victor Davila

Final Thoughts

Optimism is sky high for the Hokies and their 2008-09 campaign, but is that a good thing? Things were also bright for Tech basketball in 2005-06 when everything that could go wrong, on and off the court, did go wrong and VT limped their way to a 14-16 record (4-12 in the ACC). That still marks the only time the Hokies did not earn a First Round bye in the ACC Tournament in their four years in the league. The question this year will be how this program does with lofty expectations, instead of being the underdog.

When it is all said and done, Tech should be able to finish in the top half of the league and earn a NCAA bid. They won’t lose the weak games they lost last year (richmond, odu, penn state) that cost them a place at the table. A run at the Puerto Rico Shootout in late November and a win over wisconsin on December 1st would give Tech some nice out of conference resume builders. Add to that the fact that several ACC teams are down this year (uva, bc, nc state, md). So that’s it, get your dancing shoes ready! See you in the Big Dance in March!

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