Coming off a 19-13 season that saw a lot of breaks go against them, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team is looking to flip the script and have the breaks go in their favor in 2026-27.
After the season came to an abrupt end following an overtime loss to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament, the Hokies went through some offseason changes with the Transfer Portal, and Terrance Oglesby of The Field of 68 explained why he's a little higher than most on Mike Young's team ahead of next week's season opener.
"It comes down to this for Virginia Tech,'' Oglesby said. "Can they rebound, and can they score enough? Those two guards they have, Ben Hammond and Jaylen Curry, can get it as well. I'm a little higher on this Virginia Tech team than a lot of people at first glance. Mike Young's a terrific coach; he's got the bodies and physicality to have success in the ACC. Now it's about putting it together and taking care of the glass in crunch time. I think the Hokies will do just that.''
Virginia Tech men's basketball looking for turnaround 2026-27 campaign
Last season's roster maybe wasn't constructed the right way. The intention was good, but the construction didn't appear to be the right fit. Freshman Neoklis Avdalas left in the portal to North Carolina following an underwhelming season in Blacksburg, and Jaden Schutt, who mostly came off the bench, also left through the portal and ended up at Kansas State.
However, Young was able to retain the three most important players, guard Ben Hammond and forwards Tyler Johnson and Amani Hansberry. However, Young did some good work through the portal to bring some veteran players to surround his returning core.
Oklahoma State transfer Jaylen Curry is going to give Young more backcourt scoring, while Florida Atlantic transfer Isaiah Elohim is a dynamic guard who can play some solid defense. Some underrated additions from the portal in Oklahoma transfer Kuol Atak, Musa Sagnia of North Carolina State, and Miles Heide of San Diego State in the front court to add depth and rebounding.
It remains to be seen if those are going to be enough to get the Hokies over the NCAA Tournament hump and into the new expanded 76-team field in March. Some things would have to go their way, but there is no doubt that Virginia Tech has the pieces to make it work against a difficult non-conference and ACC slate.
Of course, fewer injuries would help after what they went through last season, but one key to making the tournament at the end of the season would be finishing games better than they did in ACC play. They lost three games at the buzzer and, truth be told, the entire season would have ended differently if they had won those games. The losses to SMU and Stanford were very difficult to swallow after blowing big leads late. Turn those around in 2026-27, and then the Hokies have something.
Add us as a preferred source on Google