I’m afraid to walk outside today for fear the sky will hit me in the head.  First ESPN mega-star/analyst Dick Vitale ranked the Hokies in his preseason top 25 (Vitale has VT at #24), and now he has senior Malcom Delaney on his preseason All-American First Team! 

Vitale’s Preseason All-Americans

That’s a lot of quality pub for a program that has never received much from “The Man” in the college basketball media.  It also shows how much attention Virginia Tech is getting for this season.  I believe that is a result of all the publicity the Hokies have gotten for two NCAA Tournament snubs in the last three years, including from Vitale who firmly felt VT belonged in the Big Dance this past year.

Note that on Vitale’s First Team, the Hokies play three of the other four guys (Singler of duke and Hummel and Johnson of purdue).  The Hokies played Trey Thompkins, who is on the Second Team, each of the past two years.

While all this preseason ink is nice, let’s hope it equates to a great season or else it was all for not. 

[Thanks to Hokie Guru for finding Vitale's list while I was on vacation]

Other News:

We knew from Greenberg’s update a few weeks ago that Allan Chaney would be out indefinitely, but this Richmond Times Dispatch Article, adds some more details to the story.  Because of the lack of details (at the family’s request) we can only speculate on what it is and whether or not it involves his heart or something else related to his collapse a few months back.  All we know is we hope it gets cleared up sooner than later for Allan’s sake and the team.  The article implies it will clear up eventually.

Apparently Paul Debnam will be back next year according to that same Times-Dispatch article.  This is huge news for the Hokies.  While Paul doesn’t contribute a lot on the court, he is the heartbeat of that team and keeps everyone else involved.  Debnam is the ultimate cheerleader on the bench.

Cadarian Raines has been cleared medically according to the article and Jarell Eddie had surgery on a knee.  I believe he has been cleared though assuming he falls under the “all of Tech’s other players are medically cleared, Greenberg said,” statement.  Eddie will be a freshman this season.

Recruiting News:

Rivals.com is reporting Robert Brown’s stock is going up according to a recent article: Article (You must be a Rivals subscriber to read it)  Brown is a verbal commit for the Class of 2011, which is shaping up to be the best VT basketball class ever and may even be better than the VT ’11 football class, though don’t get me started on that.

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The NCAA has released details of the new 68 team NCAA Tournament which will go into effect this season.  The Hokies almost certainly would have made the field in 2008 and 2010 had this been in effect then.  Article

The final four automatic qualifiers will play each other with the two winners advancing to the “Second Round” to play two of the four #1 seeds.  The final four at-large qualifiers will play each other for the right to advance to the Second Round and play against a #5, 6, or 7 seed depending on where the final four at-large teams are rated.  For example, most years the final at-large teams are #12 seeds, so two teams that were on the bubble would play and the winner would go to the Second Round as a #12 and play a #5.  The other game might be for a #11 seed against a #6.  It all depends on how many automatic qualifiers there are that would not have otherwise made the Big Dance.

Four games, four winners, four teams advancing to the Round of 64, now known as the Second Round.

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Update: Thanks, Guru, for pointing this one out… Dowdell in the NBA Summer League

I noticed this Slam Article linked on a Rivals.com message board.  It is a month old but has a short conversation with Zabe.  It briefly talks about his time at VT, going into the NBA Draft, and playing in Spain now.

Here’s hoping he makes the NBA someday.  As he says, Dowdell can play with anyone and I think he’s an NBA’er.

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Mark Berman of the Roanoke Times had a few nuggets in his latest column…

1. 2010 signee Tyrone Garland has been cleared academically by the NCAA (we already knew that).
2. Allan Chaney still has not been cleared to play by the medical staff and Head Coach Greenberg even hinted it may be a while before he is cleared (he’s hoping Allan plays this season – that doesn’t sound good).  Chaney collapsed in April during a workout and is still undergoing tests.  Here’s hoping they get this diagnosed soon and Chaney can get a clean bill of health.
3. VT will play mississippi state in the Bahamas, the second year in a row the Hokies have left the mainland for a game.  This game had been rumored for a while but Berman is claiming it is official.

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A few months ago I interviewed Ace Custis.  Now the Roanoke Times caught up with him in this article and has some nice updates: he had his third son, Evan, and apparently Ace is going to play one more season abroad before he hopefully starts on a college coaching career.   

Roanoke Times Article

For those of you that missed our interview a few months ago, the audio to the TechHoops.com interview, as well as the transcript, is linked below.

TechHoops.com Ace Interview Part 1

TechHoops.com Ace Interview Part 2

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Summer hasn’t even officially started yet but we’ve already got a Top 40 Poll from Dick Vitale!  Why not?!  And the one-eyed wonder has the Hokies at #24.  Dick Vitale Poll on ESPN.com

Perhaps that foul ball that hit him at that Tampa Rays game knocked some sense into the man.  Here’s what he says about the Hokies: “24. Virginia Tech: Seth Greenberg was disappointed when his team was left out of the Big Dance last season. With Malcolm Delaney coming back, the Hokies won’t have that problem in 2010.”

Vitale has VT third in the ACC with duke #1 and unc #10.  The next ACC team isn’t until fsu at #34, with maryland at #38 and miami at #40 (I’m telling you, don’t sleep on the c-a-n-e-s canes).

FYI: Here’s the footage of Vitale getting drilled by a foul ball…

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Another “worst kept secret ever” has become official, Virginia Tech has officially hired former boston university Head Coach Dennis Wolff as the Director of Men’s Basketball Operations.  This is a huge addition to the staff.  Seth gains a man with 17 years of head coaching experience, including 15 at bu from 1994-2009.  He is bu’s all time wins leader. 

Because Dennis is not an assistant, he cannot travel on recruiting trips, but he can help out on campus.  He also should be a great help to Seth in terms of X’s and O’s based on his experience.  VT has two inexperienced college assistants in Adrian Autry and John Richardson, so Wolff’s presence is a big lift.  He can be a great mentor to those guys.

Hokiesports.com Article

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In another “poorly kept secret”, the Hokies announcing the hiring of John Richardson today as an assistant coach: Official Article

Richardson was an at odu the last five years, serving as the Director of Basketball Operations and then as an assistant coach.   Before that he won two state championships as the Head Coach at Woodside HS in the 757.  He also has ties to NOVA, having coached at TC Williams in Alexandria, VA.  John was a part of the powerful Boo Williams AAU program, too.

Thanks to Richardson’s great ties all over the state, Tech is hoping he will be a big time recruiter for the program.  There are rumors that he may used to help VT land some beach-area stars, such as Dorian Finney-Smith from Portsmouth, but VT has not offered Dorian to date that I’ve seen.

This concludes Tech’s coaching staff, though there are rumors that VT may bring in a former D1 Head Coach as their Head of Basketball Operations (see the Roanoke Times article linked in the last post).

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Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times presented his latest on the open Virginia Tech assistant coaching position, as well as the opening for the Director of Basketball Operations, which came free when Audrian Autry switched from that spot to become an assistant coach. Sounds very promising for the Hokies based on Doughty’s opinion…

Article

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The Hokies will travel to Manhattan, KS this coming season to face the kansas state wildcats according to this Roanoke Times article.

Every early top 25 poll for next year has the wildcats in the top 10.  They finished just one victory away from the Final Four this past season, losing to runner-up butler in the Elite Eight.  They return their leading scorer, Jacob Pullen, who averaged 19.3 ppg and hit 40% of his 278 three-pointers.  kansas state fellow backcourt player Denis Clemente, who averaged 16.6 ppg. 

In the frontcourt, kansas state returns their third, fourth, and fifth leadings scorers: 6’8″ Curtis Kelly (11.5 ppg), 6’7″ Jamar Samuels (11.0), and 6’5″ wing player Dominique Sutton (7.2).  So they do return a lot of talent and their 6’10″ space-eater, Luis Colon, is also back.

This means the Hokies will play at least three teams that will be in the preseason top 10 next year: kansas state, purdue (at VT), and National Champion duke (at VT).  unc is also on the cusp in some polls (for some reason).  FYI: The Wear twins are transferring to ucla.

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From Telemachus:

According to Roth (http://www.hokiesports.com/rothreport/recaps/20100511aaa.html), here are our ACC matchups for next season:

Home ACC games: Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Maryland, Duke, Florida State and Miami.

Road ACC games: Virginia, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Maryland, North Carolina, Clemson and N.C. State.

What do we take away from that? Of the teams we play twice next year, Maryland is the only one projected to finish in the top half of the ACC. Sigh. Does the ACC do this to us on purpose, or do we just have the worst luck ever?

Niemo:

I’m really not sure there is an “upper half” of the league next year at this point.   duke and VT should be strong, but after that, who knows?  

• I would expect maryland to struggle some next year.  They lost Vasquez (whom I saw at a Nats game last week) and Hayes, plus Milbourne.  With two starting guards gone, they’ll struggle.
• Some people say nc state will take a step forward with their stud recruiting class (three top 50 guys) and Smith back, but other than that, teams were hit hard by departures.  But I’ll believe it when I see it – Sidney Lowe has proven time and again he’s the worst coach in the league – he hasn’t won more than 6 conference games in a year in his 4 years in the ACC.
• Beyond that, fsu lost Alabi (but kept Singleton).  They could be in the top half.
• wake lost Aminu and Smith and McFarland.
• unc lost Davis and the Wear twins (transfer).
• georgia tech lost Lawal AND Favors and they were under .500 in the league anyway (Hewitt is the 2nd worst coach in the league).
• uva lost Landesberg and stunk anyway.
• bc just plain stunk and lost their coach and Rakim Sanders.
• clemson lost Booker to graduation.
• And that leaves miami – they lost Collins but played better without him at the end of the season.  They could be a riser next year.

So that leaves me with my May 13th ACC Predictions for next year before we see who fails out and which recruits don’t make it:

1. duke – Getting Singler and Smith back means you have to have them #1.  Scheyer will be missed, but not enough to bump them from #1.
2. VT – Loaded!  Key here is Raines and Chaney get healthy.
3. miami – Yep, I said it!  They lost Dews and Collins, but looked better without Collins.  Scott looks like an absolute stud, and they have good talent coming in.
4. fsu – Couldn’t score this year and lost their eraser inside in 7′ Alabi.  They have some decent recruits coming in, and they have athleticism with Snaer and Singleton.  They’ve proven they can overachieve the last two years so I’ll give them a chance again next year.
5. unc – They lost Davis and the Wears so I cannot put them in the top 4 (getting byes in the ACC Tourney).  Yet they are bringing in one of the top 2 recruits in the country who seems more ready to contribute than Henson was this past year.  Plus they add a 5-star SG and 4-star PG I’ve seen play who is a great slasher.  Some of these guys have to pan out, right?
6. maryland – They lost their top three scorers and 2/3 of their backcourt.  Not good having inexperience at the point.  But Williams is a budding star inside and Mosley is pretty good.  Honestly, if Sidney Lowe wasn’t the coach at state, I’d have them ahead of maryland.  The terps recruiting class isn’t that great.
7. nc state – Much like unc was this year, nc state will just be too young to challenge for the title.  They have two 5-star and one 4-star recruits coming in, but the ACC is a tough place to learn on the job.  And when state had Hickson they still stunk so why should these freshmen matter?  And they only had one quality player this past year – Tracy Smith – who is back.  But they aren’t that good. 
8. georgia tech – they lost their two best low post players (and stars) and only have a SG coming in next year.  Schumpert is good, but not that good.
9. clemson – Recruiting class is very weak, they lost their star in Booker, and they were built around a system that may not work for their new coach.  This will be a rebuilding year.  But they do have decent guards.
10. wake forest – They lost their star PG in Smith, their big man in McFarland, their star in Aminu, and their best defender in Williams.  Not good.  Plus, they fired their coach so only one recruit has signed at this point to my knowledge. 
11. uva – I think Bennett is a better coach in the ACC than bc’s new coach for now, so I’ll give uva the nod.
12. bc – losing Sanders was a major blow to a team that didn’t have any talent anyway.  And they only signed one 3-star recruit.

Note: I started with #1 and #2, then worked from the bottom up because the top of the league is a crap-shoot.  Seriously, miami from worst to #3?  I don’t really believe it either, but who else can make noise?  This looks more like football predictions.  Yeesh, we’ll revise this closer to the season.

So Telemachus, to your point, who knows who will be in the top half?  So it is way too early to say if Tech has a weak or challenging ACC schedule.  In my mind, they are all weak because they don’t play duke twice, and VT doesn’t have to play VT.  That’s why the OOC schedule is so important next year.

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Get your whiskey shot and beer ready, the boilermakers are coming to Blacksburg!  The worst kept secret in the college sports world (well, maybe second behind Big(14/16)10 expansion), is now official – the purdue boilermakers will visit the Virginia Tech Hokies as part of the ACC/Big(11)Ten Challenge on Wednesday, December 1st.  This will be one of the marquee match-ups of the challenge, which the Big(11)Ten won for the first time last year.  Tech is 2-3 in the challenge with both wins coming against iowa.  VT is 1-1 at the Cassell in the challenge.

Already this is a bigger out of conference game than VT played all of last year, with more likely to come, so don’t expect strength of schedule to be a factor next year for the Hokies and the NCAA Tournament.  purdue is a sure fire top five team next year (Pat Forde of ESPN.com has purdue #1).  They finished 29-6 this past season and lost to the eventual champion, duke, in the Sweet 16.  Three of their losses came in the final month of the season when they didn’t have Robbie Hummel (6’8″ F), their second leading scorer and rebounder.  But purdue returns their top three scorers next season, all of whom average more than 15 ppg and combine to score over 47 ppg (67% of their points) in the offensively challenged Big(11)Ten.  E’Twaun Moore, a 6’4″ guard, led purdue with 16.4 ppg, Hummel averaged 15.7 before his knee injury, and 6’10″ center JaJuan Johnson averaged 15.5.  In other words, they are loaded with three superstars.  They did lose two quality contributors at guard though.

The key now for the Hokies is making sure they lock up other big (maybe not this big, but semi-big) out of conference games for next year.  You cannot have your OOC schedule boil down to just one game.

Delaney: I’m glad I was wrong on Malcolm leaving for the NBA.  Not only selfishly because I want him playing for us next year, but also because I think it is best for him.  He had too many question marks in the NBA’s eyes right now.  Hopefully he can answer those next year and move up in the Draft (or into the Draft).  And with the improved cast of characters around him, Malcolm won’t have to shoulder the load as much.  Plus he will get to play with his buddy Allan Chaney. 

Recruiting News: The Hokies continue to be in the picture for some major prospects in the 2011 Class.  Dai-Jon Parker, a 5-star Rivals.com and 4-star Scout.com prospect at shooting guard, recently visited VT.  The Hokies appear to be very much in the picture for him.  Tech already has two 4-star recruits and a solid 3-star recruit in the 2011 class but have at least five scholarships to give out.

Other News: If you look at the article above, Pat Forde lists Tech as a top 25 contender for the title next year…

“Virginia Tech: The Hokies actually might avoid putting coach Seth Greenberg through bubble misery next March. I’m not sure what we’ll do in the media without another season of “Watch Seth Sweat Out Selection Sunday,” but he should appreciate the reprieve. If this experienced team performs to its capabilities, the Hokies will lock up a bid with weeks to spare.”

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The Hokies have officially announced that Adrian Autry, an All-Big East performer in the early 1990s, has been promoted from the Director of Men’s Basketball Operations post to an Assistant Coach position.  Hokiesports.com Story

In other news, if you haven’t checked your calendar lately, ocho de mayo is approaching at a muy rapido pace.  If you don’t understand the significance of that, May 8th is the date by which NCAA underclassmen have to remove their names from the NBA Draft list.  Malcolm Delaney has not removed his name to date.   If you aren’t worried, you might want to be.  I’ve heard credible rumors (I realize that’s an oxymoron) on both sides of the fence.  If I had to guess right now, I’d actually guess Malcolm doesn’t return, but I hope I’m wrong.  Losing Malcolm would leave Tech with just one true point guard, and with the rumors that Tyrone Garland may not be qualified, that would really leave the Hokies thin in the backcourt.  But we’ll see how it all plays out.  Next Monday/Tuesday will go a long way towards determining how next season will go for the Hokies.

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UPDATES:

• According to the Washington Post, Allan Chaney collapsed during a workout and was taken to the hospital.  Seth Greenberg, who was away, returned to campus.  The article says it is not serious, but having just watched the ESPN 30 for 30 special on Paul Westhead (and the tragedy of Hank Gathers), you always are concerned.  Hopefully it is nothing heart related, and just was dehydration.
• Bill Courtney will be named cornell’s Head Coach on Friday at 3 PM (RTD Article).  Courtney was at VT for just one year and is now the second VT assistant to leave Tech in the last 10 days along with Ryan Odom. 
• The other assistant, James Johnson, did not get the gardner-webb Head Coaching position, so he will be back next year as of now.

Here’s some recent news I’ve come across of late of interest to Hokie basketball fans:

• NCAA Tourney to go to 68 Teams: It looks like the NCAA Tournament will go from 65 to 68 teams starting next season.  Would Tech have made the NCAA Tournament this year if it had been 68?  I’m 90% sure it would have, but who knows.  And there’s no point crying over spilled milk at this point.  This should help the Hokies chances though going forward.  If VT doesn’t make the Big Dance next year with what they (should) have coming back, then something seriously went wrong.  Tech should not even be close to the bubble next season.
• Tech already lost one assistant coach, Ryan Odom, to unc-charlotte (Article) and could lose two more.  James Johnson interviewed to be gardner-webb’s Head Coach and Bill Courtney interviewed for cornell’s vacancy.  Both are waiting to hear back: Richmond Times Dispatch Article. 
• Doug Doughty of the Roanoke Times thinks Adrian Autry will be named one assistant (he’s already the Director of Basketball Operations).  If that name rings a bell, Autry was an absolute stud for syracuse in the early-90s.  He averaged double digits his final three years at the ‘cuse and finished with over 1500 points.  He was Third Team All-Big East his junior year and First Team his senior season.  Adrian didn’t get drafted or play in the NBA, but did play in Europe for several years.
• Doughty also mentioned he’s heard that the Hokies aren’t sure 2010 signee Tyrone Garland will meet NCAA eligibility guidelines.  That would stink to lose out on Tyrone, who is a scoring machine at combo guard.  He’s cut from the same mold as Malcolm Delaney, in my opinion.  Apparently Greenberg was scouting a point guard in Slovenia as a backup plan, though the Hokies already have a commitment from Marquis Rankin, a stud PG in the ’11 class.

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It is hard to believe it has been three years.  It is hard to believe so much time has passed since one of the worst days of our lives.  Yet, the memory of it is still vivid.  I still cannot walk by the Hokiestones in front of Burruss without getting emotional, sad for the 32 people that had their life taken away from them three years ago for doing nothing more than going to class or being in their dorm.

The media has forgotten, I couldn’t find a single mention of this tragic anniversary today on the various networks.  But I remember.  I know you remember.  And today we reflect on this sadness that still stings so sharply.  Hopefully it inspires me, inspires you, to do something more this year.  To be thankful for the life you still have and to do something with it.  But today is about those that didn’t make it, and our prayers and thoughts are with them and their family.  We remember.  We are Virginia Tech.

VT Site

Our Reflection

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The Hokies picked up a huge, and I mean a gigantic size commitment this week.  Marquis Rankin, a 5’11″, 165 lb. point guard in the Class of 2011 from Charlotte, NC, committed to the Hokies over offers from two other ACC schools and two SEC schools among others. 

Rankin is ranking very highly in most recruiting services.  Scout.com rates him as the #23 overall player in the Class of 2011 and #4 PG (4-stars).  He is the 2nd highest rated 4-star recruit in Scout (the top 21 are 5-stars).  Rivals.com has him as the #26 player overall in the Class of 2011 and the #9 PG.  He is the top rated 4-star player in that Rivals class (the top 25 guys are all 5-stars). 

Rankin fills a huge need for the Hokies.  Tech had not yet signed a true point guard (in my opinion) in the next two classes.  Tyrone Garland (’10) is more of a shooting guard that can run the point (similar to how Delaney was when he came to VT) and Robert Brown (’11) is a shooting guard.  With Delaney leaving after next season at the latest, that means Erick Green will be the only true point guard in the program, and he will be a junior by the time Rankin arrives.

Rankin joins PF C.J. Barksdale (#28 overall by Scout and #78 by Rivals) and SG Robert Brown (#104 in Rivals) as part of the 2011 Class.  This class is already shaping up to be the greatest in Virginia Tech history if the Hokies can keep these three on-board and they can still add two more players in this class.  Seth plans to add a full lineup in this class, so expect VT to target at least one more big man, if not two (perhaps a PF/C and a wing player).

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