After enjoying their first bye of the season, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team will hit the road on Saturday afternoon to visit North Carolina State in what is a rather big matchup. After a 14-point loss at home to Duke last Saturday, the Hokies are on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
They could use a road win over the Wolfpack in Raleigh, but Will Wade has his team rolling right now and hanging around the top of the standings with Duke and Virginia. If there has been one issue this season, it has been health for Virginia Tech. Since ACC play began on New Year's Eve against Virginia, Young has not had the entire roster for one conference game. After losing to the Blue Devils, it sounded like forward Tyler Johnson was going to return to the lineup against NC State, but that doesn't appear to be the case.
Virginia Tech coach Mike Young gives bad injury update on Tyler Johnson ahead of NC State trip
Young was a guest on Tech Talk Live on Thursday, per transcripts from Josh Poslusny, and gave an update on Johnson's status before the Hokies left for Raleigh, and once again, the sophomore will be out of the lineup against the Wolfpack.
''He’s doing very well,'' said Young. "He had a great day (Thursday). He will not play on Saturday. He’s just not ready. When you consider wearing that boot as long as he did, he’s making progress, but he’s not ready yet. I don’t know if it’ll be Clemson, Florida State, or Miami. I’m not real sure, and that’s as honest as I can be.''
It is becoming frustrating that Johnson has been out this long. He is a vital piece to the Hokies, and he was having a really good second season in Blacksburg after a good freshman season. Virginia Tech has a tough schedule coming up, and the sooner Johnson can come back, the better.