When it was announced that Virginia Tech men's basketball forward Tyler Johnson was going to miss the Hokies' ACC opener on New Year's Eve against Virginia, little did anyone know what was about to come.
Johnson has missed every conference game, and Virginia Tech has missed his presence in the lineup, going 5-5. Truth be told, if they could have closed out a few games, they could be sitting at 7-3 after losing, 72-58, at home to Duke on Saturday afternoon. After losing to the Blue Devils, head coach Mike Young didn't beat around the bush about his sophomore's potential return.
Mike Young doesn't beat around the bush about Tyler Johnson's return
Young made it sound like Johnson is going to return to the lineup next Saturday when the Hokies visit North Carolina State for an important ACC game. As long as things go well, it's going to a big bye week for Virginia Tech this week. They need the reset.
"Missed Tyler Johnson for an extended period since before the new year,'' said Young. "He'll be back in the lineup on Saturday next week. We need a break. I think us and Clemson [are] the last two teams to have their bye week. We needed to get healthy and improve some things Monday, Tuesday, turn our attention to NC State on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and head down to Raleigh. But it'll be good to have the guy back in uniform."
To say that they have missed Johnson would be a major understatement. They have missed his ability to produce at both ends of the floor and hit the boards. At one point, Young was missing Tobi Lawal and Antonio Dorn, along with Johnson. The Hokies' NCAA Tournament hopes are hanging in the balance currently and getting Johnson back can help big time for a team that needs it right now.