When the Virginia Tech men's basketball team was bounced from the ACC Tournament in overtime by Wake Forest, and then it was announced three days later that they were not going to take part in any postseason tournaments, it surprised some fans.
However, stepping back and looking at the situation as a whole, you knew that changers were coming once again for veteran coach Mike Young. That ended up being the case once again with a Transfer Portal exodus out of Blacksburg.
When the dust settled, there was some roster turnover, but there was also some key retention. Tristan Freeman of FanSided's Busting Brackets graded all ACC teams' best and worst offseason moves, and his for the Hokies might be surprising to some fans, but it offers some hope.
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young gets surprising grade for roster building work this offseason
A quick recap of the players who left in the Transfer Portal: guards Neoklis Avdalas (North Carolina), Christian Gurdak (Rutgers), Antonio Dorn (Wake Forest), and Jaden Schutt (Kansas State). Jailen Bedford (looking for another season through the NCAA) and Tobi Lawal (NBA Draft) are just about out of options.
It wasn't surprising to see Avdalas leave. The writing was on the wall. The fit wasn't what both Avdalas and Young were hoping for. After getting off to a good start in non-conference games, the team got more video of him, and once ACC play began, he was defended differently, and the results spoke for themselves. Landing at UNC with Michael Malone could be better for him.
On the flip side, the Hokies got some key retention with forwards Tyler Johnson and Hansberry returning, along with guard Ben Hammond. It was clear that after the season ended, there were some players that Young and his staff were going to target to get some retention, and he retained who he needed to.
Young picked up some key portal additions. Jaylen Curry (Oklahoma State), Ned Hull (Elon), Isaiah Elohim (Florida Atlantic), Ethan Copeland (Stetson), Mile Heide (San Diego State), Kuol Atak (Oklahoma), and Musa Sabina (North Carolina State).
Just how those players end up fitting into the system and rotation for Virginia Tech remains to be seen, but Freeman certainly liked the moves and roster overhaul and gave Young a B+. He also noted the ceiling might not have changed with the 2026-27 Hokies, but certainly an expanded NCAA Tournament field is going to do nothing but help their odds of getting into the 76-team field. It should be interesting, to say the least.
Add us as a preferred source on Google