Like Brent Pry in football, Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Mike Young is facing a rather big offseason during his Blacksburg tenure. Coming off a disappointing 2024-25 season that a lot of changes last offseason led to a depleted roster and a 13-19 finish following a first-round exit from the ACC Tournament against California.
The veteran coach vowed that the Hokies were not going to go through another season that they endured this past season. He has added some transfer portal additions and has some promising incoming freshmen in the Class of 2025. Just how the pieces all fit remains to be seen, but it can’t be any worse than this past season, can it?
The problem for the Hokies is that the ACC, which was down by all standards last season, has gotten better with the addition of new coaches at North Carolina State, Virginia, and Miami. All of those new bench bosses have upgraded their rosters for next season and will be more obstacles for Young and Virginia Tech to deal with. However, they caught one break when one of those schools lost out on a key transfer portal recruit.
Virginia Tech catches a break when Memphis transfer shuns NC State for Kansas State
Guard PJ Haggerty, one of the best remaining portal players, committed to Kansas State rather than joining Will Wade and NC State. This is a big move as Haggerty was the third leading scorer in the nation last season, which means the Wolfpack misses out on a major impact player.
NC State will still be a factor in the ACC next season and could even get back into the NCAA Tournament if things fall into place for them, but missing out on Haggerty is big news for the rest of the conference. Duke and Louisville are going to be good again, as are Clemson and North Carolina, but everyone, Virginia Tech included, catches a break with Haggerty heading to the Big 12 instead of the ACC.