Erick Green recently suffered an Achilles injury and may miss the opening game of the 2011-12 season against east tennessee state this Saturday (2 PM at the Cassell) according to this report:  Richmond Times Dispatch Article

The injury occurred during a shooting drill on Friday in practice and has been spotted in a walking boot on campus (thanks Rick).

Both Erick and Head Coach Seth Greenberg are optimistic he’ll be back, but the original prognosis was he’d miss this game.  And considering the Hokies play just two days later, and the day after that, in the NIT Preseason Tournament, there’s a strong chance he could miss the first three games.  That would be devastating to a young Hokie team that is learning to play together, and Erick has shown to me that he is the team’s best player right now.  east tennessee state will present challenges with their press and had a solid team last year, though they lost their top three scorers.  monmouth will present no problem on Monday in the NIT opener, with or without Green.  Assuming VT and george mason win on Monday, the two teams would play Tuesday for a berth in the semifinals in NYC/MSG and the Hokies would certainly want Green back for the patriots, a NCAA Tournament team a year ago that advanced to the Second Round.

Tech is already without freshman point guard Marquis Rankin, who had knee surgery a month ago and could be back in a couple of weeks.  Sophomore Tyrone Garland and senior Dorenzo Hudson would likely swap duties at the point.  Garland is a point guard, but did not display the ballhandling skills last year to run the point effectively.  He picks up his dribble too far from the basket, not advancing VT into their offense (read: first pass is a waste).  Zo played point two years ago against seton hall and scored 41 points in relief of Delaney, but he is a shooting guard and also could struggle against the intense press etsu is expected to display.  Freshman Robert Brown, who looked great in the scrimmage, could fill in for Hudson at SG if Zo moves to the point.  Brown was expected to play anyway.

JT Thompson, a redshirt senior forward, is also out for the second straight year with an ACL injury.