According to articles on Roanoke.com, Virginia Tech place kicker Cody Journell and two other Blacksburg men were arrested and charged with breaking and entering a residence Wednesday night.
The Roanoke Times reports that the three men entered the residence of Virginia Tech basketball player Dorenzo Hudson and his roommate, Sean Allen. The three men arrested were apparently looking for Allen, but when they didn’t find him, they left.
Police say that Zo and Allen then went after the three and an altercation ensued. The weapon turned out to be an Airsoft gun, not a real handgun.
Athletics director Jim Weaver issued a statement saying that Journell had been suspended from the football team immediately and indefinitely per the Athletics Department’s policy.
News had already been leaked that Virginia Tech would once again be playing in the NIT next year, although this time it would be the Preseason NIT. We now know from more leaks in the VT Athletic Department (according to the Washington Post and other sources), that george mason will be one of the teams in the Blacksburg bracket and likely will be the Hokies’ first round opponent. 16 teams compete in the Preseason NIT, with four teams hosting a bracket (VT will be one of those hosts). Each bracket winner then advances to New York and gets to play in the self-proclaimed Most Famous Arena in the World, Madison Square Garden.
It stands to reason that george mason will be Tech’s opponent in the first game of that bracket since sources are claiming the two schools will play. Both teams are guaranteed at least two games — the winners of the first two games play the next day while the losers also do battle. That’s why I believe mason and VT will be first round opponents since otherwise there would be no guarantee they’d play.
VT will be in the Preseason NIT (a rumor that’s been swirling for a while) with two games at home. What the NIT does in the preseason is they have four four team regions (16 teams total). Tech will apparently be a ‘host’. There will be two games one day, and two the next. The winners from the first day play the next day and the winner advances to MSG for the semi-finals, where you are guaranteed two more games. If you lose in the regionals, you don’t play on after those first two days. Supposedly there is a quality team in Tech’s region.
Tech is back in the BB&T for the third time, I believe, in Washington, DC and will play temple (who has owned the Hokies since VT joined the A-10 in 1995).
The Hokies get kansas state, st. bonnie, [directional] michigan, and the citadel at home.
Their ACC/Big(12)10 Challenge game will likely be on the road.
INJURIES:
It was stated Cadarian Raines is ‘totally pain-free’. That’s great news and let’s hope it holds up.
Still sounds like Allan Chaney is in limbo and may need surgery to have a defibrillator installed in May. Looking more and more likely as if we will never see him suit up.
Progress on Hudson sounds good (and confirms what I’ve heard).
No real update on JT Thompson.
Jarell Eddie might not be eligible to play in the fall. I stress ‘might’. Seems to just be a rumor at this point. And even if true, that would only impact the first handfull of games. You become eligible once the first semester is over, i.e., the day after the last day of exams at VT.
Former Virginia Tech standout Zabian Dowdell was signed for the remainder of the 2010-11 NBA season by the Phoenix Suns
Former Virginia Tech Hokies standout Zabian Dowdell finally made it to the NBA. As the end of his second 10-day contract neared an end, the Phoenix Suns called him into the film room following Friday night’s loss to Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City and told the 26-year-old rookie that they were signing him for the remainder of the season.
Dowdell was originally signed to be a practice player to rest veteran Steve Nash during practices. But after an injury to Goran Dragic (cut his heel on broken glass) Dowdell actually got some significant playing time in the NBA and he played well. The Hokie from Pahokee (Fla.) scored 12 points, registered six assists, committed six turnovers and came up with three steals in 37 minutes over three games last week.
TechHoops.com recently published a three-part audio interview with Zabian. In case you missed them, go here.
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)
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