Virginia Tech basketball offseason certainly trending in the right direction

To say that the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team has gone through an offseason of change would be an understatement. After they were eliminated in the second round of the NIT at Ohio State in late March, head coach Mike Young saw a mass exodus out of Blacksburg in the transfer portal.

Leaving the Hokies were Sean Pedulla (Mississippi), Tyler Nickel and MJ Collins (Vanderbilt), and Lynn Kidd (Miami), while Mylyjael Poteat entered the portal, but withdrew and is returning for the 2024-25 season for Young. All of those departures left a big hole in the roster, but Young has been rebuilding it and doing it by building a team that on paper, will be a lot of fun to watch next winter.

Mike Young building an exciting 2024-25 roster

Young has one roster spot to fill, which opened up when Jordan Ivy-Curry de-committed from Virginia Tech a couple of weeks ago and the UTSA transfer committed to Central Florida. Young has brought in an athletic group with some ballhandlers and shooters.

Ben Burnham from the College of Charleston is someone who can stretch the floor, while Hysier Miller from Temple is a speedy ballhandler, Tobi Lawal from VCU is very athletic and can crash the boards and Rodney Brown Jr, from California is another guard who is a good defender. Virginia Tech also got a commitment from high school four-star guard Ben Hammond after he was released from his commitment to Rhode Island. Then Saturday night, the Hokies got a commitment from Duke transfer, Jaden Schutt who can shoot the ball really well from the outside and will fit right into the system.

Kidd had a good, but sometimes inconsistent 2023-24 season where he was a big factor in a lot of games, but disappeared in others. Pedulla was stuck with a majority of the ball-handling duties after Rodney Rice left the program right before the season started and struggled at times. He did make a big impact on the offensive end in the second half of the season getting to the basket and shooting from the outside. 

Things looked tough just a month ago, but Young and his staff have been putting together a roster for next season that will be different from the one he had this past season and it should be a fun one to watch as the 2024-25 campaign unfolds in Blacksburg.