It’s been an eventful off-season for the Virginia Tech Hokies’ basketball team. First, their star player and the ACC’s leading scorer, Malcolm Delaney declared for the 2010 NBA draft, though he won’t hire an agent. Then Cadarian Raines reported on Twitter, which was confirmed by head coach Seth Greenberg’s Twitter account, that he had another surgery on his foot. That makes two surgeries in less than a year.
Yesterday, Hokie fans learned the Greenberg’s staff got a little smaller after assistant Ryan Odom reportedly accepted an assistant coaching job at unc charlotte. Odom had been with Tech since Greenberg came to Tech for the 2003-2004 season.
After five years of relative stability on the bench, Greenberg has lost two assistants in the last two seasons. Last year, Stacey Palmore left Blacksburg for an assistant coaching position with Georgia. However, neither Palmore, nor Odom, left Virginia Tech for any reasons other than to be closer to family.
Greenberg has not commented on Odom’s departure, but it’s probably only because the deal has not been finalized. You know Seth will wish him well, as do we, and is already looking for a replacement.
Virginia Tech junior guard Malcolm Delaney has declared for the NBA draft, but will not hire and agent according to a press release today. The ACC’s leading scorer and first team all-conference player, confirmed the news on his Twitter feed and that of Tech head coach Seth Greenberg.
We’ll have more on this development soon, but a tweet from Malcolm today announced:
“to all the hokie fans.. doesnt mean im gone… so dont panic. lol”
Niemo’s Notes:
First off, this isn’t an April Fool’s Day joke. I know we’ve done them before but I couldn’t think of a good one last night, and then this came in so I’ll just skip it this year.
I wouldn’t get too worked up about this yet. I think the best comparison here is Greivis “Greasy Face” Vasquez of maryland from last year. He declared for the draft, worked out, and realized he wasn’t going to be a high pick (wasn’t even being sniffed in the first round). He came back and had a great year. I’d say Malcolm’s game is similar to where Vasquez was a year ago – good but streaky shooter, decent ballhandler, good FT shooter, weak defending on the ball, while Malcolm is a better leader and Greivis was a better finisher on the drive. If Delaney follows Greivis’s lead, he’ll be back.
Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranks Delaney 73rd of all the prospects this year. That wouldn’t even put Malcolm in the 2nd round (there are only two rounds) and he’s actually dropping – he was in the mid-60s a few weeks back.
Other sites like NBADraft.net don’t have him getting picked, and another site ranked him as just the 15th best PG. Rivals.com didn’t even have Malcolm on their underclassmen draft tracker.
Of course, if a lot of the higher ranked guys decide to stay in school, that could change things in terms of rankings, especially if PGs and SGs stay in school.
Malcolm has until May 8th to take his name off the list, so we could have to sweat this out for a month.
Point is, Malcolm would have to have a strong showing in camps and workouts just to make it into the 2nd round. Is that good enough for him? I can’t answer that. But I can say with a straight face, and without my O&M colored glasses on, that he would benefit from another year. He needs to show he can be a consistent shooter, continue to demonstrate he can distribute the ball well as he did later in the year to improve his teammates, and he’s going to have to show more on defense (that is the toughest one) in terms of defending other elite guards on the ball. That said, I think he will make it into the NBA, he has a lot of great intangibles, I just think he needs another year to develop. But, I’m not making the decision, so stay tuned.
Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, fresh off agreeing to a revised contract that will keep him in Blacksburg through the 2015-2016 season, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that Gene Swindle’s basketball career is likely over because of a nagging knee problem.
Swindle redshirted as a freshman last season. He played 21 seconds in this season’s second game before undergoing knee surgery and missing the rest of the season.
This is not a significant loss at all in terms of points, rebounds, minutes, etc. While it’s unfortunate that a knee injury prevented Gene from realizing his potential at this level, his Swindle’s departure actually frees up a much-needed scholarship for next season. And Gene will keep his scholarship to attend Virginia Tech and earn his degree, however, he won’t be able to play basketball.
Now two of the three big offseason questions have been answered:
Will Greenberg stay? (Yes)
Who is the odd man out? Tech is bringing in two scholarship signees next year, yet only lost one scholarship senior. So someone either had to leave for pro ball, transfer, stop playing, or a signee had to prep. (It appears Swindle will be the guy taken off the scholarship count to free up room for both signees – but Gene can still stay on scholarship at VT, just can’t play ball)
Will Delaney stay? (TBD but likely yes, which would give the Hokies a hat trick here)
Not trying to toot my own horn (especially because I wasn’t that accurate – I picked unc to finish 2nd), but before the season I predicted unc and georgia tech wouldn’t live up to their lofty expectations. Why? They were too dependent on freshmen, many of which don’t really contribute until their second or third years, if ever (e.g. Woods and Walker of wake).
The teams that are at top all have experience galore. Take a look at the ACC standings:
duke – returned 4 of their top 5 scorers from last season, all of which are juniors or seniors.
VT – also returned 4 of their top 5 scorers, all of which are juniors. VT’s top 5 scorers this year are juniors.
maryland – I was big on them in the preseason because they had their top 4 scorers back (all starters), both guards, and 7 of their top 8. They responded, sitting tied for 2nd in the ACC.
wake – while they lost their top 2 scorers to the NBA, their next 4 returned. They have 3 senior starters to go with their stud soph (Aminu) and freshman (Harris).
fsu – they are sort of the exception here, but they are also just in 5th place. The noles lost Toney Douglas, by far their leading scorer by 13 points, and their #3 scorer in Echefu. Their top 3 scorers this year are sophomores or freshman, so they are the youngest team in the upper half of the league. Their stud recruit, Snaer, has been solid with 8.8 ppg.
clemson – They did lose their #2, 3, and 5 scorers from last season. Thus, they are sitting in 6th and not higher. But Booker is back for his senior year as their star player, Stitt at PG is a junior and their #2 scorer. Their #5 and 6 scorers are a senior and junior respectively. FYI: their stud freshman, Jennings, hasn’t panned out yet (3.2 ppg).
Notice who is not in the top half? You’ve got it – georgia tech and unc, two teams that were extremely dependent on inexperienced players this year. georgia tech still has a good shot at finishing in the upper half since they are 6-6, but their freshmen have faded. Favors is still the odds on bet to win Rookie of the Year, but his production has dropped off. He’s reached double digits in just 2 of his last 6 games. Freshman guard Udofia, who was averaging 10+ going into ACC play, has scored just 19 points in his last 10 games. So much for a 2-14 team from a year ago storming to the top of the standings.
Then there is unc, who sits at 3-8. Injuries haven’t helped their cause with Zeller and Davis out (both sophomores). But guys like Ginyard and Graves were mostly bench players before. So even though they are upperclassmen now, they aren’t that “experienced”. And freshmen like Henson, Strickland, the Wears, and McDonald just aren’t that good yet. Neither is sophomore Larry Drew.
Experience, especially in the backcourt, is the name of the game and it shows in the standings.
Other news:
Pretty fair article by ESPN’s Andy Katz about Virginia Tech’s schedule with some insight from Head Coach Seth Greenberg: Article
He messed up some of the data, like Tech’s nonconference and overall schedule ratings, but otherwise has some good info.
Also, I read today where CBS’s Jerry “Hairy” Palm still has Virginia Tech OUT of the tournament, even with their win against wake. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had them in even before that game.
This goes to show how much star power, especially at guard, the ACC lost after last season. If you look at three-point shots made by ACC players from last year, the top seven are all gone (Scheyer was #8, Delaney #9). Sharp shooters like McClinton, Oglesby, Douglas, and Ellington have all moved on. I was surprised to not see Greivis “Greasy Face-quez” Vasquez on the list.
Hokie fan-favorite and all-time human highlight film legend Deron Washington was waived yesterday by the Detroit Pistons. Deron is guaranteed a cool $250,000, which should ease the pain, but that falls well short of the millions that Deron is achingly close to if he can pick up a more permanent spot on an NBA roster somewhere.
What’s especially curious about this move is that Detroit apparently has a 15th roster spot available, which they have chosen to leave open, even though they’re paying Deron whether he’s on their roster or not — he was essentially available to them into January for nothing more than travel costs and meal per-diem. With flu tearing teams and organizations everywhere wide open, an extra young player seems worthwhile to have around.
Hopefully Deron will be able to pick up with someone, or perhaps more likely, find a nice spot overseas and continue to develop his game. Since he was waived, Detroit has no ongoing rights or ownership — Detroit will have to pay, but Deron is free and clear to go anywhere.
According to Virginia Tech men’s head basketball coach Seth Greenberg’s Twitter feed, 6’9″ freshman forward Cadarian Raines will miss the first eight weeks of the season after breaking his foot today. I’m not sure how much the Hokies were planning to rely on Raines and his size this season, but at the very least, he’s out eight weeks of valuable practice and conditioning.
No, A.D. Vassallo did not sign with uva, but he did sign a one-year contract to play for paris-levallois in France, which is basically charlottesville. Vassallo was not selected in the NBA draft and tried out for the Chicago Bulls. After failing to make the summer roster, Vassallo accepted the one-year deal for $230,000.
The team posted a news release mentioning Vassallo on its Web site, but it is entirely written in French and I don’t know about you, but I don’t speak wahoo – I had to use Google’s translator tool. I’ll save you the trouble:
From 26 August to 6 September Levallois Paris will have a representative in the Americas qualifying tournament for the championship of the world. In fact the new recruits came from Virginia Tech, Daniel Angel Vassalo, is part of the host team, the Puerto Rico. Currently in preparation, he and his team fell in Group A with Canada, Uruguay, Mexico and the Virgin Islands. Solid but it is perfectly playable for AD Vassalo and his teammates. At home, the goal is of course to qualify for Turkey. They can rely on values as the leader NBAer Arroyo and the solid backbone stamped Euroleague Santiago. During the preparation matches, Puerto Rico has not shone, bowing including twice against the Republic led by Francisco Dominincaine Martin (Sacramento), Villanueva (Detroit), Al Horford (Atlanta), but by the Greer brothers (Nancy ).
Daniel Angel Vassalo? C’mon Frenchies! You just signed the guy that you plan to put into your starting five immediately and you can’t even get his name right? Keep that up and you might end up working for the Washington Nationals or even the Washington Redskins.
Congratulations to A.D. on his first professional gig – can’t wait to see him light up the the Ligue Nationale de Basket (said with a Inspector Clouseau-like French accent). Wait … did I read that right? The National Basket League? No wonder Vince Carter can teabag their seven-footers, they’re not even playing the right sport.
I know I’ve been a bit snarky today, but I have just one more question: When Vassallo goes baseline for a dunk, will the french (I’ve made the exeuctive decision to lowercase the french from now on) simply surrender and let him through?
Oh, and Seth Greenberg’s favorite Roanoke Times reporter – Mark Berman – had a little writeup about A.D.’s signing. Remember their little feud? Refresh your memory with round 1, round 2, round 3 and round 4.
The Weekend Warrior has been whining about getting some pictures of the new Virginia Tech basketball practice facility, so while I was on campus this afternoon I snapped a few pics. For the most part it is complete, at least on the exterior. Check out our Facebook page for more pictures and while you’re there, become a fan! We only need three more people to become fans so that we can reach 100!
MaxPreps.com is reporting that Tyrone Garland, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound point guard from Bartram High in Philadelphia, will announce his decision to attend Virginia Tech at a press conference later today at 5pm. Read more about Garland at maxpreps.com. (Thanks for the tip, @hokieguru)
Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg posted on his Twitter account that former Hokie standout Deron Washington has signed a guaranteed contract with the Detroit Pistons, who selected him 59th overall (second round) of the 2008 NBA Draft. Washington played in Israel last season.
Greenberg, @HeadHokie on Twitter, posted 6:41 p.m. (eastern):
“congrats to Deron Washington for signing a guaranteed contract with the Pistons Great to have a Hokie in the league!”
I have yet to see this confirmed in any news reports, but I’ll take Greenberg’s word for it. Way to go, Deron!
Those who remember former Hokie basketball player Coleman Collins remember him as one of the great ambassadors in the history of Virginia Tech’s basketball program. The guy may be the smartest player to ever come through the athletic department at VT. He enrolled at Tech when he was 16 and graduated with honors in three years. Oh, he also got a master’s degree before he could legally drink.
Well, old Coleman is up to his usual well-spoken ways again with a very thoughtful commentary on the events happening in Iran following last week’s disputed election. Read Collins’ feature Democracy Matters at ESPN.com
“Considered one of the NBA Development League’s standout athletes and most civic-minded contributors, Coleman Collins, a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia, is a 6’9″ center for the NBA D-League’s Fort Wayne (Indiana) Mad
Ants. The former Chamblee High School athlete and academic standout enrolled in Virginia Tech at the remarkable age of 16. He graduated with honors in just three years — by the age of 19 — staying an additional year to play basketball and complete a Master’s degree program in Public Health. A fixture in Virginia Tech’s starting line-up, Collins led the Hokies to a 20-win season in 2007 and into the NCAA Tournament. After college, Collins played for the German club EnBW L’burg during the 2006-07 season and, last summer, participated in the Toronto Raptors’ Summer League and in the Phoenix Suns’ training camp.”
Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Seth Greenberg hired former virginia assistant Bill Courtney last week to fill the vacancy left by Stacey Palmore, who left to be an assistant with georgia. Courtney was an assistant at virginia for the past three seasons, but left after Dave Leito was fired. He took an assistant job with virginia commonwealth and had been there two months before Greenberg came calling.
Courtney is apparently a top notch recruiter, responsible for signing the core of the george mason Final Four team in 2006. He also recruited uva’s Sylven Landesberg, who was named the 2008-2009 ACC rookie of the year. He has strong ties to the Baltimore – D.C. corridor where a ton of talented players are recruited every year. Perhaps that will pay off soon. One thing is clear, Courtney is by far the best recruiter Greenberg has hired in his six year at Tech.
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.
October
10/15 Late Night with the Hokies, 9p November
11/12 vs. campbell, 7:30p
11/16 @ kansas state 4p, ESPN
11/21 @unc-greensboro 1p, CSN 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif.
11/25 vs. cal state northridge 2p, ESPNU
11/26 vs. depaul/oklahoma state 2:30p, ESPN2/U
11/28 76 Classic TBD December
12/01 vs. purdue 7:30p, ESPN
12/05 vs. uva 6p, FSN
12/12 vs. penn state, 1p, CSN
12/18 vs. mississippi state (Bahamas) TBD
12/23 vs. st. bonaventure (Rochester, NY) 7p
12/30 vs. usc upstate 2p January
01/02 vs. mount st. mary's 2p
01/08 vs. florida state 3p, ESPN2
01/13 @ unc 9p, ESPN/ESPN2
01/15 vs. wake forest 8p, Raycom
01/20 @ maryland 9p, ESPN/ESPN2
01/22 vs. longwood 7p
01/30 vs. miami 5:30p, FSN February
02/02 @ nc state 7p, ESPN/ESPN2
02/05 @ boston college 1p
02/13 vs. georgia tech 1p, Raycom
02/15 vs. maryland 8p, Raycom
02/19 @ uva 1p, Raycom
02/22 @ wake forest 7p, ESPN2
02/26 vs. duke 9p, ESPN College Gameday March
03/01 vs. boston college 9p, ESPNU
03/05 @ clemson noon, ESPN/ESPN2
03/10-13 ACC Tournament, Greensboro, NC
Loading ...