Those of you that were at the VT/longwood game probably noticed Dorenzo Hudson was on crutches.  He recently had surgery to shave down the bone spurs in his right foot that had developed over the last year (he originally damaged his foot last season and it just never got better).  Prognosis is he should have a full recovery from this and hopefully be back to 100% next season.  Recovery time from this surgery is 2-3 months, so if all goes well, he’ll be more than ready for next season and off-season conditioning.

Deja vu anyone? Are we all suddenly cast in Groundhog Day and it is 2005-06 all over again (minus the tragedies)? It keeps going from bad to worse. The Hokies also announced that Cadarian Raines will be out for the rest of the season, an like Dorenzo, can apply for a Medical Hardship (not redshirt) and should receive one. Since he’s only played in 4 games, all of which were in the first half of the season, Cadarian should be fine assuming he can get the required medical documentation. Raines could have played in up to 9 games (30% of 30 games).

This obviously creates a huge whole down low. Tech has just two active low post players now – Allen and Davila. And VT is down to 8 scholarship players with JT Thompson, Chaney, Hudson, and Raines out for the year, and Boggs transferring.

Expect to see Terrell Bell move down low (like Deron used to) when Allen or Davila need a break. Eddie and Atkins can provide help at the 3, and may have to help inside, too, in a pinch. Tyrone Garland is the only other bench scholarship guy, and he’ll rest Green at the point. Marcus Davis – come on down!

For more on the impact of Hudson’s and Raines’s injuries on recruiting and next season, read the Hudson article (the last posted article).

The bad news: Well, you read it in the subject line. Dorenzo Hudson, who has battled a right foot injury since last season, will have surgery to repair the foot and will not return this season. Zo played through the foot injury much of last season (he missed the georgia tech game at the end of the regular season because of it), but the foot just never healed and continues to bother him. He was advised to have the surgery done and timing mandated the decision be made immediately.

Hudson has really battled injuries the last two years. In addition to the foot, he’s had issues with his knee and with his middle finger on his shooting hand. Hopefully with Zo shutting things down he will have time to fully heal, and be close to 100% for the 2011-12 season (yes, you read that right… see the good news below…). We’ll need him with such a young team. Hudson is Tech’s third leading scorer this year with 10.4 ppg. But this was a big drop-off from the 15.2 ppg he put up last year, where he looked like Tech’s best player down the stretch.

The good news: Dorenzo Hudson can apply to the NCAA for a Hardship Waiver and should receive it. I realize this isn’t great news, and puts a huge damper on this season that once looked so promising, but at least Hudson can have a shot at a healthy senior season.

Hudson qualifies for a Hardship Waiver because:

1. Dorenzo would not play after the halfway point of the season — Tech plays 29 regular season games, plus at least one ACC Tournament game. So game #15 is the cutoff point. That’s the unc game (a player could play in this game, just not after that point).
2. He did not play in more that 30% of VT’s games — Dorenzo has played in 9 games. Since VT will play at least 30 games, 30% is 9, so Zo is ok there.
3. You must show medical documentation. Since the plan is to have surgery and doctors were advising him not to play anyway, this shouldn’t be a problem.

It is interesting to note that Hudson only qualifies for a Hardship Waiver because of a change the NCAA made three years ago. Up until 2007, the rule (14.2.4-c) said you could not have played in more than 20% of the team’s games. Dorenzo would have failed that condition under almost any scenario unless VT went deep into March (NCAA games count, NIT do not).

Dorenzo will join his cousin, JT Thompson, as a fifth year senior next season. JT tore his ACL before the start of the season and is redshirting.

This season: So, what do we do now? As for the rest of this season, this is a huge blow, obviously. The Hokies are down to nine scholarship players, but that’s counting Raines who has been battling his own injuries. That would leave just eight if Raines has to be shut down, which is just plain scary. Tech, which has been offensively challenged most of the season, just lost one of their best scorers with his deadly midrange jumper, and one of their better defenders. Fortunately, Erick Green has played so well lately that there is hope. But that’s it – just hope at this time. It is far from a sure thing and leaves VT extremely thin on their bench. It is scary, but my preseason premonition that this season just felt like the 2005-06 one, when Tech had so much adversity, continues to ring true.

Expect to see Green become the full time starter at the point, Delaney at the 2-guard, with Bell, Davila, and Allen rounding out things. We’ll see more of Garland to rest Green. Atkins and Eddie will provide minutes to rest Bell, or Bell will move down low to give Allen or Davila a break.

And will we see Marcus Davis join the team after the Orange Bowl? Looks more and more like we need him to.

Recruiting: Once again, it looks like the Hokies are out of scholarships for next year. In the summer, Tech thought they would have five scholarships to give out next year. That changed to four once JT went down for the season. It went back up to five when Ben Boggs transferred after the first semester, but drops back down to four now. The Hokies have signed four players for next year, so the numbers work out (for now).

Next Year: Next season is certainly taking on a different look. Before the season, it looked like Tech would be extremely young. Now, if Chaney, Thompson, Raines, and Hudson can all get cleared and healthy (and that’s a big if), VT will have some quality depth and with experience.

Let’s daydream about possible lineups:
PG: Green/Garland/Rankin
SG: Hudson/Brown
Wing: Eddie/Finney-Smith
F: Thompson/Chaney
PF: Davila/Raines

Not too shabby. A good mix of youth and experience. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and focus on this season. It would be a shame if Delaney, Allen, and Bell never played in a NCAA Tournament game, which is a real possibility. So let’s support these guys like heck down the stretch.

Yes, we are aware that another blog is reporting that Dorenzo Hudson is out for the season with a foot injury. We’ll address the rumor when the time is appropriate.

Raines – to shirt or not to shirt? That is the question.

Tech needs to make a decision soon whether or not to shut down big man Cadarian Raines for the season. The decision must be made before January 15th, but it sounds like Raines and Tech will make a decision soon according to Head Coach Seth Greenberg and the article linked above.

The reason why I say January 15th is because of the NCAA’s Hardship Waiver rules (Note: if you play in even one second of a game, you cannot ‘redshirt’, you can only apply for a Hardship Waiver per Rule #14.2.4). The Hardship Waiver rules state:

1. You cannot play after the halfway point of the season — Tech plays 29 regular season games, plus at least one ACC Tournament game. So game #15 is the cutoff point. That’s the unc game on January 15th (a player could play in this game, just not after that point).
2. You cannot play in more than 30% of VT’s games — Raines has played in just four games to date. Since VT will play at least 30 games, Cadarian could play in 9 and still qualify (thanks for the math catch, Rick). So Raines technically could play in the next five games through the unc game and still qualify.
3. You must show medical documentation. Probably not an issue with all the issues Cadarian has had.

The flip side though and the pro to not giving up on this year is Tech’s lack of depth inside. As it is, VT only has two true low post players other than Raines. If Raines gets shut down, that means whenever Davila or Allen need a rest, or get in foul trouble (and we all know how much that happens, especially with Allen), Tech would have to go small – moving Bell down low and/or bringing in Eddie or Atkins. That’s going to put Tech in a big hole in ACC play, especially against teams that have quality bigs. We saw what Mike Scott of uva did to VT down low. Luckily, not many teams have players like him.