There have been many moving parts so far this off-season for Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Mike Young. From adding and subtracting from his coaching staff to the transfer portal, seeing some players leave Blacksburg, and some come in. One player whom the Hokies hosted on a recruiting visit was West Virginia de-commit Braydon Hawthorne.
Hawthorne committed to the Mountaineers before Darren DeVries left to take the job at Indiana, and when that happened, he reopened his recruitment. After Young added Chester Frazier as associate head coach, he brought back a very good coach and even better recruiter. Hawthorne took a visit to Virginia Tech, but now a second blueblood has entered the mix and will host the wing this upcoming weekend.
Duke enters the mix for four-star Braydon Hawthorne
The Frazier connection to Virginia Tech has the Hokies in the running for Hawthorne, and what an addition in the Class of 2025 he would be; however, an ACC blueblood is entering the mix and will host the Huntington, West Virginia native this upcoming weekend.
Hawthorne will visit Duke and Jon Scheyer as the Blue Devils coach is looking to land him. Duke isn’t the only powerhouse program in the mix, as Hawthorne also visited Mark Pope and Kentucky. The 6-foot-8 wing has plus athletic ability and can make a difference on both ends of the floor.
So far in the Class of 2025, Virginia Tech has commitments from Sin’Cere Jones and Christian Gurdak, while also adding some portal commitments, but Hawthorne is a player that the Hokies would benefit from getting. The problem is, they are going up against a pair of blueblood programs in Duke and Kentucky. This is a recruiting battle where you hope Frazier has a big influence when he makes his decision.