The Buzz Around Virginia Tech Hokies Basketball

When the Virginia Tech Hokies hired Whit Babcock as the new athletic director, there was excitement as Babcock was a proven athletic director who brought fresh energy to the Virginia Tech athletics department. Within weeks, Babcock had a big decision ahead of him and he made the decision of firing men’s basketball head coach James Johnson.

Then, Babcock made a big time splash that has brought some buzz to a program that had just finished last in the ACC in back-to-back seasons.

The hiring of Buzz Williams from Marquette was a major surprise but one that was received with major praise from everybody as the best hire of the offseason. No one expected that the Hokies could get someone like Williams to come to Blacksburg and take over a Virginia Tech program that had been struggling in the very tough ACC.

The season is only a few weeks away and there are a lot more people looking forward to see what Williams can do in year one to start turning around the program.

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Williams knows that there is work to do to build Virginia Tech from a bottom of the pack team to one of the best in the ACC but his recruiting shows that he knows what it will take to get the Hokies to be an ACC contender. Williams put together a strong recruiting class led by four-star guards Justin Bibbs, Ahmed Hill, and Jalen Hudson along with 3-star center Satchel Pierce and JCUO power forward Shane Henry.

Despite losing Trevor Thompson and Ben Emelogu among others this offseason, Williams also gained some big time transfers that can have a big impact on the program beginning next season including former Maryland point guard Seth Allen and former South Florida power forward Zach LeDay.

The Hokies also still have some talent returning on the roster in Devin Wilson who was on the All-ACC Freshman team last season and big man Joey Van Zegeren who has proven to be a tough defensive player and decent offensive player.

However, the biggest amount of buzz is clearly due to head coach Buzz Williams and the proven track record he brings with him. Virginia Tech might not do great in the ACC this year but the future is very bright for Virginia Tech basketball.