David Teel of The Daily Press reports that DFS is transferring

Posted on08 May 2012.

According to a post earlier today on GobblerCountry.com, which cited a Daily Press online article by David Teel, Virginia Tech’s highest rated recruit in program history is transferring from Virginia Tech to Old Dominion.

Apparently, Doe Doe was recruited by former Virginia Tech assistant John Richardson, who left Tech last month, one day after Seth Greenberg was fired. Richardson was an assistant at ODU before coming to Tech and returned to the Monarchs. Doe Doe’s big brother played for ODU.

This post was written by:

- who has written 220 posts on Tech Hoops.

Gary is a Virginia Tech graduate and veteran sports journalist with a career spanning on-air work in television and radio, and as a writer, editor and columnist in newspapers. He has covered the Hokies since 1993.

Contact the author | Visit the author's website | Follow Cope on Twitter


  • HipHop_Hokie

    Unreal. But if he isn’t down with the direction that the program is headed in, then good riddance and worst of luck at ODU.

    Weak sauce.

  • HokieBrokie

    Oh well. I hope James Johnson is able to put some fire into our players now. IMO, DFS played pretty soft for someone with his talent.

  • Ryan W

    Agreed, obviously not up for big time ACC bball…just doesnt have it in him I guess.

  • King

    Totally disagree. DFS came on strong towards the end of the season and I had very high hopes for a nucleus of Green, Raines & DFS next season. This is a devastating loss. HUGE.

  • Ryan W

    Definitely a huge loss I agree with that, and now keeping harrell is a must or they will be in a lot of trouble next year

  • Chris

    Well, that’s not good. I always have a hard time “wishing well” an athlete who wishes to transfer (unless I feel it’s a real circumstance), but I won’t throw him under the bus. That said, I walked one eggshells all of last season when it came to DFS. Looked nothing like a 5 star prospect. Has good length and was a good rebounder, but was a poor defensive player and poor shooter.

    The most important matter becomes, are we even going to have enough to fill out a roster next season? We have only two guards (Rankin and Green), three wings (Brown, Eddie, Wood), and possibly only three big men (Raines, JVZ, Barksdale, maybe Harrell?). That leaves a nine man roster, best-case scenario.

    Gonna be another long season. Johnson certainly has his work cut out for him here. This program has taken some major steps back, IMO. Just think, this time a year ago we were thinking the DFS class would be the best in VT history. Now, we’re going to be hard-pressed to even fill out a roster.

  • jackapottomus

    This is a long shot, but if the reports of Byington joining our staff are true, I could honestly see big man Adjehi Baru make the move to Tech with him. It was between us and CofC to get him last year so it makes sense if he and Byington had a good relationship…Just a thought

    • http://www.heyhokie.com Goodraisin

      Also, the head coach who recruited Baru is gone. I completely agree… heard that he and the guy from the host family who he supposedly followed to C of C aren’t really friends or anything, so that wasn’t a major factor.

  • Les

    “He hasn’t been happy since the UVa game,” Finney told the Virginian-Pilot. “One of the things was he played out of position at [power forward], which is not the position they recruited him to play.”

    http://blogs.roanoke.com/courtside/2012/05/finney-smith-wants-to-leave/

    Basically what I suggested early on. Start Raines at center in order to move everyone to their natural position with Davila at power forward and Finney-Smith at the small forward. I suspect that undersized players, such as Coleman Collins and Victor Davila, have have been subjected to more stress injuries as a result and became less effective over time.

    • http://www.heyhokie.com Goodraisin

      Les, you know as well as I that this is total BS from Finney-Smith. He did play some power forward, but he predominantly played the 3. Eddie guarded the 4 on defense and VT played a “4 Out” last year where Doe Doe spent most of his time on the wing. It was Eddie who was running inside and out as the stretch 4. Doe Doe might think he’s fooling the average fan with this excuse, but not us.

      • Les

        The BS part is that he was recruited as a positional player. He was touted as a player who could play multiple positions at a high level including power forward. While he had great anticipation and hands to grab rebounds in traffic, he didn’t have the strength and size to make shots down low. I don’t think he has the frame or height to grow into a prototypical power forward in college.

        He’ll be heavily missed. The other small forward Eddie doesn’t have his ability to consistently use the dribble-drive or to get off his shot when he’s not wide open.

  • BJ

    Also, noticed Mark Berman of the Roanoke Times quoted his mom as saying he does not with to transfer to ODU. I won’t throw him under the bus. Sometimes kids just aren’t happy at certain schools, for whatever reason. I transferred myself while in college. Nonetheless, it’s very disappointing. He would have been a very nice player for us. Unfortunately, now we won’t get to see that.

  • chuck

    A little background:

    Ben Finney is his older brother….he had a schollie as a WR back in like 2005 all set up….football was his best sport.

    He decided to go to ODU to play hoops and possibly contribute to the start of ODU football in his spare time. He was a good player there for a very good coach, and lived 5 minutes from home.

    Obviously, this is a very close family, and from what i am hearing this decision was not arrived at in light of the Greenberg dismissal. That was more like the cherry on top of the sundae….as he had been contemplating this since the end of his first semester away from home. His shooting slump occurred soon after.

    I did not mince words earlier this year, when i told all of you that i did not like his body language. He likes to defer, is afraid to see what his talent truly holds. He’d prefer to facilitate and be a glue type player than be a go-to player. I stop just short of calling it a lack of heart….but others might.

    A nice player for us? Someone who’s already seen a lot of court time? Someone we could count on to be a good kid? Yes to all….but i never considered him as someone who looked like the 21st best FR in the country…whoever rated him that was just plain irresponsible, because he bowed under the weight of it all year.

    • http://www.heyhokie.com Goodraisin

      I have to say I’m a +1 on this. There are a lot of things to like about Dorian Finney-Smith and I think eventually he will be the type of stat sheet filler who helps a team win. However, I don’t see him becoming a dominant scorer. He has a quirky shot from the outside, will have a hard time putting on weight with his body type, and he missed a ton of chip shots last year. He also doesn’t have a mid-range game. I think he’ll rebound the ball well as a small forward and eventually turn into a better defender, but I don’t see him becoming a scorer or a team leader. After last season, I was way more excited about Robert Brown and Jarell Eddie. Those guys both felt like they were one quality offseason away from being really good, and it’s definitely a plus that we can move Eddie back to his natural position on the wing. As for Brown, he is just oozing with potential. He’s already got an array of shots and should only get better as he refines them. I also think he’ll be one of the premier defenders in the ACC next season. An offseason in the weight room will do wonders for his ability to fight through screens and to finish after contact. So will I miss DFS? Yes… he’s a good kid and every team needs a stat stuffer. But I don’t ever see him achieving the potential that some scouting orgs saw in him.

  • Les

    WDBJ is reporting that the three assistant coaches have been hired.

    http://articles.wdbj7.com/2012-05-08/basketball-staff_31630605

    • http://www.heyhokie.com Goodraisin

      If this turns out to be true, I’m a happy camper. I really wanted Byington to come to VT and I really wanted a former head coach on the staff, so Kanaskie is a good find. Williams is getting a lot of the credit for Ohio U’s solid guard play, so I’m hoping he can keep improving Green, Brown, and Rankin.

      • Danram

        Agreed. If true, this sounds like a very solid staff.

    • BJ

      Les, thanks for sharing. I too am stoked if this turns out to be true. As a Roanoke Valley native I’m familiar with both Byington and Williams. I think the players will be as pleased as us fans.

      • Les

        I wonder if Elijah Wilson will follow Byington to Virginia Tech now that he’s uncommitted.

  • Danram

    I think some of you guys are being way too hard on the kid. It sounds to me like a simple case of a kid being homesick. When Coach Richardson left to go back to Tidewater, his only link to his hometown left. I can’t hate him for wanting to be closer to his family and hometown.

    I wish he had stayed. I think he was the best rebounder that we had and he had a very good court sense. But he isn’t irreeplacable.

  • BJ
  • HipHop_Hokie

    Dorian should be forced to sit out a year. Transferring a few hours across the state just to be “closer to family” should not qualify for any waiver to play right away.

    I sincerely hope that is the case with this transfer.

  • Ryan W

    Apparently he doesnt want to go to ODU, looks like he may go to Florida. If thats the case its not cause he is homesick

  • jackapottomus

    And bye bye Montrezl…dang. We need Baru to follow Byington now more than ever. Van Zegeren really needs to step it up now

  • Max

    Wow. 7 man roster. How do we expect to compete??

  • Les

    8 man roster

    Raines, Barksdale, Eddie, Green, Rankin
    subs: Van Zegeren, Wood, Brown


Join the Wild Hokie Club!

Who wants their name to appear in front of the next Hokie Breakdown? Just imagine it:

 

The Ron Mexico Breakdown | VT 130, duke 21

 

Jon King, Ben Floyd and Dan Rickenbach all got in on the action and we encourage all TechHoops heads to do the same.

 

Any donation amount earns you a spot in our Wild Hokie Club. We'll even give you a shout out on Twitter and Facebook. We may even let you get armcurled by Niemo.

 

No promises, but we may also try to organize an annual Wild Hokie Club gathering where you can meet and mingle with the guys that run the site.

 

So join the TechHoops.com Wild Hokie Club today!


Choose your level of support!




Get TechHoops Updates via Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

2012-13 Schedule

November
11/10 Hokies 80, etsu 62
11/12 Hokies 69, rhode island 50
11/15 Hokies 95, vmi 80
11/19 Hokies 96, unc-g 87
11/23 Hokies 87, appalachian state 76
**ACC/BIG Ten Challenge**
11/27 Hokies 95, iowa 79
December
12/1 Hokies 81, #15 oklahoma state 71
12/8 wvu 68, Hokies 67
**Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic**
12/10 Hokies 70, mvsu 49
12/15 Georgia Southern 78, Hokies 73
12/22 Hokies 66, bradley 65, OT
12/23 colorado state 88, Hokies 52
**Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic**
12/29 byu 97, Hokies 71
January
1/5 maryland 94, Hokies 71
1/9 boston college 86, Hokies 75
1/12 Hokies 70, georgia tech 65
1/19 Hokies 66, wake forest 65
1/24 virginia 74, Hokies 58
1/27 clemson 77, Hokies 70
1/30 miami 73, Hokies 64
February
2/2 unc 72, Hokies 60, OT
2/7 maryland 60, Hokies 55
2/9 Georgia Tech 64, hokies 54
2/12 virginia 73, Hokies 55
2/16 nc state 90, Hokies 86
2/21 duke 88, Hokies 56
2/24 Hokies 80, fsu 70
2/27 miami 76, Hokies 58
March
3/2 Hokies 69, clemson 61
3/5 duke 85, Hokies 57
3/10 wake 90, Hokies 79
**ACC Tournament in Greensboro**
3/14 vs. nc state, 2:30 p.m.
3/15 Quarterfinals
3/16 Semifinals
3/17 Finals

Photos on flickr

Polls

Is Erick Green one of the 10 greatest Hokies hipsters of all time?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...