The recruiting picture is becoming more clear.  It now seems like Virginia Tech will not have any scholarship issues next year.  This is due to a few things:

• According to Head Coach Greenberg in a recent Roanoke Times article, Terrance Vinson will not play for the Hokies as a redshirt-senior and will instead head off to grad school (not sure if that is at VT or somewhere else).  This means the Hokies have four scholarships available for next season (Vinson, the two departing seniors, and one they weren’t using this season).
• Also accoring to Greenberg, the four signees in the 2009 recruiting class have all qualified and so will be at VT next Fall.  That includes everyone but Momo Jones on the list above.
• Speaking of Jones, not only has he decommitted but it seems very unlikely he will sign with the Hokies.  It appears he is headed elsewhere.  Not sure why this all came about, if it was because of a lack of an available scholarship, or a change of heart by Jones.  This is a big blow to the Hokies in terms of signing a marquee player, even though he didn’t used to be one.  I’ll have some more insight on this after the next signing period opens up in mid-April.
• Finally, Seth Curry has picked the blue devils according to several sources.  There will be no second coming of the Curry’s at VT, unless Seth fails to qualify for duke.

One other note – I never updated this but Petersburg High lost in the Virginia State AAA Semi-Finals.  This was the only loss of the season for Petersburg and ended the high school career of Cadarian Raines.

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THE SEASON (19-15, 7-9 ACC — tied for seventh; ACC Quarterfinals; NIT Second Round)

Any way you look at it, this season was a disappointment.  Back in November you heard one thing from almost every college basketball expert: this Virginia Tech team was an NCAA Tournament team.  The players said that was their goal.  Greenberg expected it.  Everyone expected it after coming so close last year and having every significant player back other than Deron Washington.  Well it turned out Deron’s loss was a very big one, as Tech went from having the best Scoring Defense in the ACC last year (and by over three points) to just the eighth-best Scoring Defense in the ACC.

The result was no invitation to the Big Dance for the Hokies.  In fact Tech was further off the bubble this year than last.  Tech completely fell apart in the second half of the season, losing six of their final seven ACC games. 

One of the biggest frustrations this season was Tech’s inability to start and finish games.  The Hokies regularly trailed by 4-7 points at the first media timeout.  In fact, they were behind at the first break in their final seven ACC regular season games and nine of the last 10.  In the ACC Tournament, Tech jumped out to early leads and we saw the results — VT was much more in control. 

Just as frustrating was the final eight minutes of games.  Tech was within three points (one possession) in each of their final three regular season games, but could never take the lead in any of them.  In fact, the Hokies were within three points or less in the final eight minutes of 11 of their 15 losses, and led in the final 10 minutes of seven of those games.  Tech just ran out of gas at the end of games, possibly due to how many minutes Malcolm Delaney and A.D. Vassallo had to play.

Another frustration was the off-the-court and on-court antics.  A.D. Vassallo was benched at the start of two games for two separate incidents and Jeff Allen sat the second uva game for flipping off maryland fans.

Defense

Defense was an issue all year.  The Hokies could not get stops when they needed them at the end of games.  Tech’s low post defense was abysmal, allowing opponents’ big men to catch the ball way too close to the basket.  Part of this had to do with the skinnier Jeff Allen, but it also had to do with Hokie big men not working hard at times when the ball was on the perimeter and rooting the opponents out. 

VT also got dominated on the glass, giving up key offensive rebounds to bigger teams.  Tech just doesn’t have the size inside to really secure the glass.

In perimeter defense, Tech got torched in non-conference games.  In the two NIT games, VT allowed their opponents to hit 27 of 51 threes.  And that wasn’t even their worst effort.  wisconsin hit 12/18 (67%) in a key out-of-conference loss in December.  The Hokies’ guards did a very poor job of fighting through/over screens, and the help defender often released too early.

Tech will have to improve in all of these areas next season if they want to return to the upper half of the league, a place VT lived in three of their first four ACC seasons.  6’9″ Cadarian Raines should help inside and lessen the impact of losing Cheick Diakite, but Jeff Allen needs to put weight back on.  At maybe 6’7″, he needs that bulk to throw around against taller players.  But Tech will still not have a really big body inside that many of the other ACC schools have.

On the perimeter, Dorenzo Hudson became a solid man defender as the year went on.  But judging by the production of some of the guys he was guarding, like 46 by duquesne’s Jackson, ‘Zo needs help.  The guards need to really embrace the defensive end and work harder to fight through screens, and the help man cannot release until the guard is back in position on high screens.  Green, Boggs, and Atkins will add length on the perimeter and can help.

Offense

For Tech this season it was The Big 3 of Allen, Vassallo and Delaney.  Those guys produced almost 70% of Virginia Tech’s points, and against boston college at bc, they accounted for 61 of 66 points.  If two of the three were off on a given night, forget about it, VT was done for.  But when they were clicking, Tech was tough to beat.

Vassallo was Tech’s most complete offensive player.  He continued to drain threes, finishing his career with 267 made, a Virginia Tech record.  He also showed a deadly runner either down the paint, or along the baseline.  Every now and then he’d rock the rim with a dunk, and shot a career high 84% from the line.  A.D. was third-team All-ACC (he was 2nd team last year) and finished as Tech’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 1822 points.

Malcolm Delaney had an up and down season on offense.  He started out slow, getting most of his points from the line.  But when the Hokies won nine of 10 games in December and January, Delaney started taking over the VT offense.  He was named the ACC Player of the Week once in mid-January after torching wake for 21 and miami for 29.  Then he scored 37 against clemson, a VT ACC game record.  But as he got more banged up, he went into a shooting slump down the stretch, and to no surprise, VT struggled.  He completely lost his ability to hit runners in the lane, a shot he was deadly with mid-season.  Malcolm did set a VT single season record for free throws made with 225, crushing the old high of 200.

Jeff Allen also struggled down the stretch.  He lost weight in the offseason and this allowed bigger opponents to push him out of the way.  He did show a much improved three point shot, hitting 17/42 on the year, but inside his numbers went way down.  He has a patented spin to the baseline and up and under move that worked very well this season, but he needs to add muscle this offseason to battle inside next year.

With the rest of the offense you never knew what you were going to get, if anything.  J.T. Thompson showed an ability to convert second chance opportunities, and hit open mid-range jumpers, but that’s it.  Terrell Bell, Hank Thorns, and Dorenzo Hudson really struggled shooting-wise most of the season.   Thorns shot under 30%, Bell 33%, and Hudson 36%, though Hudson did improve as the season went on and as he took over the two-guard spot. 

Tech also severely lacked ballhandlers.  This will have to be addressed this offseason.  Hudson needs to work on that aspect of his game, and Green should help with this next year.  Momo Jones would have been a big help, but the Oak Hill point guard has reopened his recruiting and may not end up in Blacksburg.

AWARDS

Time to give out the Dundees!  I mean the Niemo’s.  Here we go…

• MVP: Malcolm Delaney — Hands down.  No one meant more to this team.  Vassallo was the better offensive player, but he didn’t play defense.  And Malcolm was one of only two ballhandlers VT had along with Thorns.  Plus, he was the team leader.  As Delaney struggled down the stretch, so did VT.  As he goes next year, so will Tech.  Hopefully he won’t have to carry as much of the load.
• Offensive MVP: A.D. Vassallo — Like I said above, he can do it all on offense.  He leaves Blacksburg as Tech’s fifth all-time leading scorer and best three-point shooter.  He had a good inside-outside game, and could score off the glass.  A.D. had his best season this year.
• Defensive MVP: No one — No one earned this.  Cheick didn’t block as many shots this year.  Allen didn’t get as many steals.  The Hokie guards couldn’t shut anyone down.  The low-post players couldn’t stop anyone.  The team just couldn’t get stops.  I will say that Thompson was the hardest working player on defense.  Despite being undersized, he really battled inside.
• Most Improved Player: Dorenzo Hudson — He really struggled with his shot early in the year, but found his touch at the end.  Hudson hit a three in each of VT’s last six games, and eight of nine games, nailing 7/16 threes in those final six games.  Dorenzo scored at least six points in five of those six games, and had a career-high 15 points against duquesne.  He hit 80% from the line on the season, and he became the shutdown defender for VT, drawing the opponent’s best guard in each game.  Big things will be expected from him next year and he’ll have to pick up many of Vassallo’s points.
• Best Win: VT 78, #1 wake 71 — What a great road win for VT.  This win put them at 3-1 in conference and gave Tech their third win over a #1 team all time.  Things were certainly looking up at this point.
• Toughest Loss: Wow, there is no shortage of games to pick from:  The xavier half court shot to beat VT in Puerto Rico…  The off-balance jumper by wisconsin to give them a two-point lead with less than a second…  The one point loss to georgia…  The tip-in with less than a second left at boston college… The three point loss to unc in the ACC Tournament…  But I’m going with clemson 86, VT 82.  Tech led by as many as 15 in the second half.  They could do no wrong.  Delaney had 22 at the break, including a 3/4-court shot.  But the wheels came off with 16 minutes to go and clemson went on an 18-0 run to take the lead.  Tech battled the rest of the way but came up short.  Had VT held on, they would have been 5-1 in conference with five very winnable games coming up and may have become ranked in the polls.  Instead, the wheels started to come off and VT went 3-8 the rest of the way in ACC play (including this loss).

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The Hokies prized recruit for the 2009 class officially announced that he has withdrawn his verbal commitment to Virginia Tech and will reopen his recruiting. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, Jones is taking a visit to southern california in April. If he does indeed leave, that gives the Hokies four players in the ’09 class: Ben Boggs, Erick Green, Manny Atkins and Cadarian Raines. But Jones was the marquee point guard Seth Greenberg was counting on.

Read more in today’s Richmond Times Dispatch.

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Congrats to the writers and contributors of TechHoops.com for being included in the April 2009 edition of Washingtonian Magazine as one of the “All-Star Sports” sites. It has been great to see our little site grow over the years and we thank all of our readers for their support.

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Official Announcement

And the plot thickens! Let the speculation begin! Seriously though, Virginia Tech is already in the red in terms of scholarships for next season so I seriously doubt Curry will end up a Hokie unless he’s willing to pay his own way, which seems unlikely.

Or… could a scholarship be opening up?  One recruiting site has said that Momo Jones has reopened his recruitment.  This would be terrible news for the Hokies, who badly need back court help, and whom better to get than the point guard for the #1 high school team in the nation, Oak Hill?

Here’s how the scholarship situation breaks down:

• The Hokies have inked four players (Green, Boggs, Atkins and Raines) for next year’s class already
• Momo Jones would make five if he signs with VT after April 15
• Tech had two seniors this year
• VT was only using 12 of their 13 scholarships this season, meaning they have that one plus the other two seniors’ scholarships available

So even if Momo inks elsewhere, Tech is still one in the red in terms of grants in aid.  That means one, if not two, current players are on their way out if all signees show up next Fall.  I speculate a little in the comments below, but I’ll leave that for there.

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With the season now complete, we would like to thank you, our readers, and our sponsors, for all your support this season.  Each year we get more and more hits, and hopefully can make our site even better in the coming year.  Please feel free to send us any ideas to make this place truly the best place for Hokie hoops fans to come to.  And we know you want more videos, we are working on having that back up for next season.

That said, we aren’t going away.  We will keep adding more and more content during the offseason.  Coming soon look for:

• The Year in Review and Awards
• A Look Ahead to Next Season
• Recruiting Updates and Ratings
• Updated Player Profiles
• And much, much more

Thanks again from all of us here at TechHoops.com…

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This was one of the ugly ones, another agonizing cold start. The Hokies were thoroughly dominated at home, on national television, in the final game in a Hokie jersey for seniors Cheick Diakite and A.D. Vassallo. Twelve minutes into the game, the Hokies were down 22-5 on 1 of 17 shooting. The single made basket was a Jeff Allen dunk. At the 7:36 mark, Cheick Diakite finally broke this ridiculous shooting drought with a turnaround jumper in the lane. Malcolm Delaney followed with a three, and the Hokie offense was finally in the game — down by 15.

The Hokies struggled through the rest of the half, sprinkling a few baskets in with ugly turnovers and shaky defense, and Tech went into halftime losing badly, 41-21. At the break, baylor was shooting 67% (16/24) from the field while the Hokies were at 24% (7/29).  Even more telling, the bears were 12/14 in the first half on two-point shots.  The Hokies could not stop the bears from getting easy buckets.  Senior big man Josh Lomers came in averaging less than three points per game, but scored 12 in the first half on 5/6 shooting.  Most of his points were layups where baylor lobbed the ball over a Hokie big man, who was fronting Lomers, or a feed into the low post where Lomers would catch the ball less than five feet from the hoop and go to his right for a short hook.    A.D. Vassallo, Tech’s fifth all time leading scorer, was scoreless at the half.  Tech had no answer for the baylor zone — unable to shoot over it (2/11 on threes) and taking bad shots inside.

In the second half, the deficit quickly extended to 26, and baylor just wouldn’t stop scoring and defending. With nine minutes left, baylor led 62-34 — Malcolm Delaney was shooting 1 for 11, and Vassallo was 2 of 12.

The end of the game saw the Hokies pull back admirably with a nice 18-3 run spurred by a full court trapping press, and there was a little excitement when a baylor player clobbered Delaney while boxing out on a free throw. But that’s as far as it went — the Hokies recovered a little less embarrassment in the final box score, but in the end, baylor took the easy victory, 84-66.

The shooting stats tell the story of this game: baylor shot 62% overall and 48% from deep. VT went for 33% and 23%. Aside from his arctic-shooting start, Malcolm Delaney posted a nice stat sheet with 14 points, 10 assists, and 6 rebounds, leading the Hokies in all three categories. Dorenzo Hudson had another encouraging game, shooting 3 of 6 for 10 points and two steals that led to dunks. A.D. scored 12, Jeff Allen 9, and J.T. Thompson scored 8.

This concludes the Hokies’ 2008-2009 season with a 19-15 record, and A.D. Vassallo finishes his career in 5th place on the all-time scoring list for Virginia Tech. baylor moves on to play auburn for a trip to the NIT final four at Madison Square Garden.

Niemo’s Notes:

• Wow, was the crowd loud in the final eight minutes — if only we had a reason to cheer in the first 32 minutes.  Cassell was about 75% full at best.
• Props to the guy in the first row on the opposite side of us that participated in Shirtless Halftime!  We need more like you.
• Lomers’ 12 first half points for baylor almost tied his season high for a whole game of 14.  Tech was AWFUL at low post defense all season.  They need more bigs inside.  This is exposed more than ever when VT plays out of conferences teams that are more physical like georgia, baylor, mississippi, and wisconsin.
• VT’s two NIT opponents were 27/51 on threes (53%).  Tech did not fight over screens and were not doing a good job of running out on open perimeter players.  Throw in wisconsin’s 12/18 three point performance in December and you see a real issue at defending the three in out of conference play.  Tech must improve this in the offseason.
• To finish with a positive — Dorenzo Hudson has really stepped up the last few weeks.  He looks like he could become a legitimate scorer, and a decent shutdown defender for the Hokies.  But judging by Aaron Jackson’s 46 for duquesne and what baylor did today, I guess the jury is still out on that.  But he did have two great steals from behind on help D.  Many people have been waiting for him to show the promise he displayed as a scorer in AAU play, and we are starting to get a glimpse, much like how Delaney stepped up late last season.

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THE SETUP

The Hokies will take on the baylor bears on Saturday morning at 11 AM in the second round of the NIT.  It is Breakfast in Blacksburg!  The early start time should be a good thing for VT since baylor is from the Central Time Zone.  This is a 10 AM tip-off on their body clocks, and after having to travel all the way from Waco.  baylor, the #3 seed in their bracket region, defeated #6 seed georgetown by a 74-72 score at baylor.  The bears overcame a 10 point halftime deficit.  The Hokies won 116-108 (2 OT) in one of the greatest games in Cassell Coliseum history in the first round.

THE SERIES

• All-Time: 1-1 (VT won in 1960, bu in ’68) 
• Both were at neutral sites as part of tournaments

SIX PACK OF FUN FACTS

1. Virginia Tech has won their first game in the last ten tournaments they’ve played in dating back to 2006.  But they are just 3-6 in the second game of tournaments over that span.
2. In addition to Vassallo (see #5), two other Hokies set career highs on Wednesday — J.T. Thompson with 21 and Dorenzo Hudson with 15.
3. With a win in this game, the Hokies will have won 20 games or more in three straight seasons.  VT has not done that since the mid-80s when they won 20+ five years in a row from ’82-’86.
4. Aaron Jackson set a Cassell Coliseum record for points scored by an opponent with 46 in the game Wednesday.  Allan Bristow of VT, whom Vassallo just past on the scoring list (see #5), had 52 against gwu in 1973, the overall record.
5. A.D. Vassallo moved into fifth place on the all time VT scoring list with his career high 33 points on Wednesday.  He also had a career high 12 rebounds.
6. Tech’s 116 points against duquesne marked their highest scoring output since scoring 141 against southern miss in 1988.

THE LINEUPS

baylor

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Boxscore  |  Highlights

The Hokies just plain survived.  They did their best to give this game away, but managed to pull a victory out of the jaws of defeat after 50 minutes.  This is a game that will go down in the history of Cassell Coliseum as one of the great games ever played there, and VT found a way to win it. 

After 20 minutes, you would have thought this would have been an average game.  Tech led 34-26 at the break.  But duquesne outscored the Hokies 52-44 in the second half.  Tech had a 13 point lead with 6:40 left to go in the game, but the dukes promptly went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to two with 5:10 left in regulation (yes, it only took 90 seconds to cut the lead from 13 to two).  duquesne led 77-74 with 46 seconds left, but two A.D. Vassallo free throws and a second chance runner tied the score.  The Hokies stopped the dukes attempt to win the game at the end of the second half.

In the first overtime, once again, the Hokies built up a lead.  Tech led 92-86 with just 48 seconds left, but two three-pointers from the dukes and two crucial missed free throws by Malcolm Delaney tied the score.  Delaney set Virginia Tech’s record for free throws made in a season this year, but that’s how this game went.  J.T. Thompson scored on a putback of a Vassallo miss with 10 seconds left, reversing the end of regulation, but duquesne’s Aaron Jackson hit a layup with 1.7 seconds left to send the game to double overtime. 

Jackson scored 46 points in this game, and 40 of those points were scored after halftime.  He set a record for most threes made against VT with eight, surpassing the seven made by miami’s Darius Rice in 2001. Jackson’s 46 points were just five short of the all time high against Tech, scored by Elgin Hayes of houston in 1968.

For the Hokies, A.D. Vassallo scored a career high 33 points and moved into fifth on the all time VT scoring list with 1810 points.  He hit several clutch threes in the second half and overtime and nailed all 10 of his free throws.  He also added a career high 12 rebounds, giving him his seventh double-double of his career.

Jeff Allen broke out of his slump and also added a double-double.  He had 10 big first half points and finished the game with 23 points and 10 rebounds.  This marked his ninth double-double of the season and 19th of his young career.

The third part of the Big 3 had a big second half.  Malcolm Delaney, who had just two points at the half, finished with 20 points and 12/14 from the line (but the two crucial misses at the end of the first OT).

The Hokies shot nearly 60% from the field (59.4%) thanks to many easy buckets in the paint against the small, thin duquesne lineup, while the dukes shot 51% thanks mainly to red hot three point shooting.  The story of the night was duquesne’s three point shooting.  They hit 17/30 for the game (57%) and that includes missing 4/5 in the second overtime.  Yes, they were 16/25 (64%) after 45 minutes.  They could not miss.  Whereas the Hokies dominated the game in the paint. 

J.T. Thompson (21 points) and Dorenzo Hudson (15 points) also set career highs, meaning Tech saw three players set career highs in this game.  Jackson’s 46 was his career high for duquesne as the senior fouled out late to finish his career.  All five of Tech’s starters (Thompson started over Cheick Diakite) scored at least 15 points, while the Hokies got just four bench points.  Every VT starter played at least 41 minutes.  duquesne saw four guys reach double digits.

The 116 points by the Hokies mark the first time Tech has reached triple digits since 11/23/04 against md-eastern shore (102 points) and the 108 mark the first time VT has given up 100 since 1/30/05 – duke 100.  Both point totals are highs in the Greenberg era.  The 108 points against are the most by an opponent since fsu scored 117 on 3/1/89 and this is the highest Hokie point total since VT beat southern miss 141-133 in double OT on 2/6/88.

Tech won their ninth straight NIT opener and 10th straight tournament opener in this game.  The Hokies will look for their third consecutive 20 win season on Saturday morning at 11 AM in the Cassell against baylor, who overcame a 10 point halftime deficit to defeat georgetown on Wednesday night.  It marked baylor’s first postseason win since 1950 (59 years).

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THE SETUP

Note: Please remember to Support Shirtlessness tonight by taking your shirt off at halftime, whether you are at the game, at home watching, in the bathroom at work (yes, someone really did this last week during the miami day game), or at Bailey’s.  Shirtless Halftime is quickly becoming one of the great VT traditions.  So once that clock hits triple-zero at the end of the first 20 minutes, show the world you are tired of being oppressed by shirts.  We want a 51% Shirtless Halftime participation level for our cause by 2012.

Spread: VT by 8

Good Omen: Speaking of eight – the Hokies have won their NIT opener in the last eight NITs they have played in.  The only time they lost a NIT opener was in 1966, Tech’s first ever postseason appearance.  Add to that the fact VT has won their last nine tournament openers, and you have some good mojo for tonight.

Ah, yes, what every kid fears when shooting on their local black top growing up: to play on ESPNU in March.  That means just one thing: your invite to the Big Dance didn’t come and you are stuck heading to the Junior Prom, the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) with that hefty red head with braces, otherwise known as duquesne.  It could be worse, we could be sitting at home all alone with nothing to do but play Dungeons and Dragons online with other nerds like some other school I know.  And even worse, their dad just skipped town.

That said, motivation could be an issue in this game for players and fans.  Last year the Baby Hokies were fired up after getting snubbed by the NCAA Tournament Committee and ready to show the world they deserved a bid.  They bear-fighted morgan state by 32 and then uab by 26 before succumbing to mississippi and that real partyboy, Andy Kennedy.

This year, the Hokies came into the season with the expectation of being in the Big Dance.  Most college basketball analysts had Tech firmly in the field of 65.  But the game isn’t played on paper, it is played in big gigantic domes and such.  And things didn’t go the Hokies way much of the season. 

Now, the Hokies have to forget about the NCAAs.  Will the team be fired up for this?  Will seniors A.D. Vassallo and Cheick Diakite be disappointed at missing out on one more shot at the NCAAs?  We shall see.  Will the fans come out in droves like they did last year and turn the Cassell into the rowdy atmosphere it was last NIT?  We shall see.  All I know is the students were amazing last year.  Probably close to half the fans at the games were students.  3000 free student tickets have been offered up for this one, but we need the rest of you students to pony up the $5 to get in.  And alumni/fans, please show your support with $15 for the Hokies.  If you are fired up and loud, it will give the team a big lift.

THE SERIES

• All-Time: 7-5
• In Blacksburg: 5-0
• As Members of the A-10: 7-3

SIX PACK OF FUN FACTS

1. Virginia Tech has won their first game in the last nine tournaments they’ve played in dating back to 2006.
2. Tech has won the NIT twice – 1973 and 1995.
3. This marks the first time the Hokies have made a postseason tournament three years in a row since 1982-86 when the Hokies went five years in a row.
4. Malcolm Delaney made 16/26 shots, 9/15 three pointers, and scored 44 points in the three NIT games last season.
5. Cheick Diakite sits in fifth place on the VT all time blocked shot list.
6. With nine points in this game, A.D. Vassallo will move ahead of former teammate Zabian Dowdell into sixth place on the all time VT scoring list.  With 28, he moves into fifth.

THE LINEUPS

duquesne

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ESPN.com is reporting that dave leitao is “resigning” as uva’s basketball coach after their 10-18 season and four years in hell.  While many Hokies are disappointed in not making the Big Dance this season, it could be worse — we could be wahoos. 

How bad is uva basketball right now?  This past weekend marked the 14th straight year uva has failed to reach the semi-finals of the ACC Tournament.  Keep in mind most of those seasons they only had to win one game to reach the semis, especially back when the league was only nine teams.  They are 0-10 in quarterfinal action and 3-4 in first round games since 1995.  Even two years ago when uva was the #2 seed in the ACC Tournament and tied for the regular season champs, they lost in the quarterfinals to nc state. 

Virginia Tech, on the other hand, had made the semi-finals the last two seasons until this year’s tournament when they came up just short in the quarters against #1 unc.

[Editor's note:]
Funny quote on Leitao’s downward spiral from an article on espn.com: “…apathy was more apparent during Leitao’s weekly hourlong radio show, which more than once attracted no callers.”

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For those of you not fortunate enough to get to make the trek to this year’s ACC Tournament, the Weekend Warrior gives you an all-access pass to the tourney in Atlanta.  And we mean ALL ACCESS. 

Click ‘Read more’ to see his running journal… 

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The Virginia Tech Hokies are a No. 2 seed in the 2009 NIT tournament and will host a home game Wednesday, March 18, at 7 p.m. Tech will play duquesne in the first round.  duquense and VT do have some fairly recent history — the two were Atlantic 10 rivals from 1996-2000 and played 10 times over that span, with the Hokies winning seven of those 10 games.  Tech leads the all time series 7-5 and are 5-0 against the dukes in the Cassell.

If the Hokies win, they will play the winner of #6 georgetown at #3 baylor on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Monday.  It won’t be Thursday, so likely will either be Friday night, very early Saturday, or Monday night.  That game should also be at the Cassell.

The #1 seed in Tech’s quadrant of the bracket is auburn.  florida, creighton (barrel), and san diego state are the other #1 seeds.

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Box Score | Highlights

The Hokies had their hearts broken once again in the final seconds as the tar heels got some help from the officials and a very late questionable call to hold off the Hokies 79-76. The controversial call with 5.2 seconds left gave unc a held ball and possession with a 77-76 lead.

Virginia Tech had the ball, trailing by 1 point, with no shot clock and the chance to win the game with a basket. J.T. Thompson intercepted a pass back out to the perimeter and attempted to back in the lane where he was met by a pair of heels, Ed Davis and Tyler Hansbrough, who mugged Thompson, but the refs let it go and then called a held ball with the possession arrow in unc’s favor. That effectively ended the game and sent Seth Greenberg into a coat-flinging rampage.

Tech fouled immediately and Hansbrough hit both shots to give the heels a 79-76 lead. Not surprisingly, unc had only been called for three fouls until the final 30 seconds of the game, when they started fouling the Hokies to disrupt their game plan and force them to inbound the ball. Tech got the ball to A.D. Vassallo for a game-tying shot attempt, but it wasn’t a good look and hit mostly air as the clock hit all zeros.

The Hokies continued their stellar play from the Miami game and fought tooth and nail in this game, giving the heels all they could handle. Even with Allen and Vassallo in foul trouble pretty much the entire game, Tech kept the game close, and in fact led for the majority of the game. But as well as they played, unc is unc, and when they need a big shot they get it. And when they need a foul called against their opponent, or a no-call against them, they get it. It’s tough to beat that combination.

Vassallo, despite foul trouble, was tough for unc to defend. He led the Hokies with his second double-double of the season — 26 points and 10 rebounds. And he was 4/7 from 3-point range. Malcolm Delaney also recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 assists, his first career double-double, and a career-high in assists.

Despite all the close losses, and despite having clearly displayed the ability to play with the best teams in the country, it is unlikely that Tech will get an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. It appears that they’ll probably earn a No. 1 or 2 seed in the NIT tournament. We’ll know for sure on Sunday. The Hokies will likely host a first-round NIT game next Tuesday or Wednesday, March 17-18. We’ll keep everyone posted.

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Box Score | Highlights

Virginia Tech took one small step toward playing its way back into the Big Dance with a dominating 65-47 win over No. 9 seed miami in the first round of the 2009 ACC Tournament. The Hokies held the canes to just 47 points — the lowest point total Tech has allowed all season. It was also the fewest points Tech has allowed in an ACC tournament game and fewest points scored by a miami team in four seasons. Tech has now won nine straight tournament-opening games.

This win was chock-full of milestones. The Hokie defense played perhaps its best game of the season, locking miami down. Not a single player for the canes scored in double-figures. Jack McClinton, miami’s shoot-it-from-anywhere All ACC guard was held to just 9 points, tying a season low for him.

Senior A.D. Vassallo set a new Virginia Tech record for most 3-pointers made in a career with a pair of treys, moving ahead of Walley Lancaster (257) and into first place with 258. With at least two more games left in his season, Vassallo will likely add to his new record.

Sophomore Malcolm Delaney played a stellar defensive game, but Tech’s second-leading scorer struggled from the field, hitting just 1 of 10 shots. However, he did have 8 assists and 14/15 made free throws. His 14 free throws gives him 205 for the season, which breaks Bimbo Coles’ VT record of 200 set during the 1988-89 season. Coles played 29 games that season, while Delaney needed 31 to set the new record.

Delaney, despite just one made field goal, led the Hokies with 17 points. Vassallo added 14, and J.T. Thompson gave the Hokies a huge game with 12 points and 8 rebounds. Dorenzo Hudson also played perhaps his best game of the season, helping the Hokies get a good start with a 3-pointer to open the game, giving Tech the early lead, which they never gave up. Hudson started and helped Delaney lock down McClinton, preventing him from getting very many open looks.

The Hokies built a 14-point lead in the first half, but miami used a 16-6 run to end the half and cut Tech’s lead to four, 28-24.

The Hokies led the entire game, and used a 14-0 run in the second half to pull away for the win. Tech, the No. 8 seed, will face top seed unc tomorrow at noon in the ACC quarterfinals.

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The 2008-09 ACC basketball regular season has come and gone. Don’t forget tickets are still available for the 56th annual ACC Tournament at the Georgia Dome in Hotlanta (assuming you have 20/10 vision and a very nice pair of binoculars). Anyway, it’s time once again for the Balla’s postseason awards. And the winners are………

All ACC First Team (in order)

Ty Lawson unc
Toney Douglas fsu
Jeff Teague wake
Tyler Hansbrough unc
Gerald Henderson duke

Reserves / 2nd Team

Tyrese Rice bc
Jack McClinton miami
Trevor Booker clemson
K.C. Rivers clemson
A.D. Vassallo Virginia Tech

Water boys / 3rd Team

Greivis Vasquez maryland
Jon Scheyer duke
Malcolm Delaney Virginia Tech
Kyle Singler duke
Gani Lawal ga tech

PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Lawson. The unc point guard edges out fsu’s Douglas and last year’s winner, Hansbrough. Even though Douglas scored 75 more points than the next closest player (McClinton), Lawson’s numbers are better across the board. He emerged as the leader of the top ranked heels. Always lightning quick, his ability to drive to the hoop and distribute the ball was the difference in several unc wins. Any time a guard shoots better than 50% from the field, that’s a helluva year.

COACH OF THE YEAR – Al Skinner, boston college. By a nose over fsu’s Leonard Hamilton. Skinner did more with less in my opinion. The lightly regarded eagles beat both unc and duke, and were the only team to win in the Dean Dome this season.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Sylvan Landesberg, uva. One of the few bright spots in an otherwise long season for the wahoos. If the name of this award was changed to “Newcomer of the Year” the award would have gone to bc’s Joe Trapani, the vermont transfer.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Douglas. I’m going with Douglas over freshman teammate Solomon Alabi. With all the great guards in the conference this season, it was Douglas who usually had to shut down a high scoring opponent, leading the ACC’s top defensive team along the way. Plus, he didn’t have the benefit of Alabi’s condor-like wing span.

Looking for a job? Facing foreclosure? Need some quick cash? Here’s how this year’s tourney will play out:

Round 1: miami over VT, clemson over ga tech, nc state over maryland, bc over uva

Quarters: unc over miami, fsu over clemson, wake over nc state, duke over bc

Semis: fsu over unc, wake over duke

Finals: wake over fsu

You heard it here first. Hell, what do I have to lose? Before the season I predicted the Hokies would be a sweet sixteen team this year.

Let’s just hope the only tornado that comes near the Georgia Dome this year is an improbable run by Delaney, Vassallo, and company. Remember, in last year’s SEC tournament which started at the Georgia Dome and ended at Alexander Coliseum, the georgia bulldogs pulled off an even bigger shocker to make the NCAA’s.

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