In what is a generally quiet month of May around college basketball, it was anything but for Virginia Tech and head coach Mike Young. With that said, let's take a look back at the last 31 days in Blacksburg for the men's basketball team.
Tobi Lawal returns for senior season
When Tobi Lawal announced he was entering the NBA Draft process, he did so with the option to return to Virginia Tech if he was going to withdraw. After going through the process, it wasn't surprising to see him announce that he withdrawing and returning to Blacksburg.
His return is another key piece to return to the Hokies after Ben Hammond, Jaden Schutt, and Tyler Johnson are returning. Lawal got feedback from scouts, and returning to Tech for one more season to raise his draft stock was the right decision for him to make.
Mike Young excited about upcoming season
Before Lawal announced he was coming back, Young was still excited about what his team could be next season with the retention he got and portal additions. Let's not overstate just what Lawal's return means for the Hokies in the big picture.
Hammond and Johnson got some valuable time as freshmen this past season, and Schutt played a full season for the first time in a long time after coming over from Duke with an injury history. The bar was not set very high for this group, with trying to top just 13 wins in 2024-25, but there is reason for optimism, even more with Lawal coming back.
ACC release matchups with difficult road schedule for Hokies
May also gave us a look at the opponents in the ACC portion of the schedule for each team, which will only be an 18-game conference slate next season, rather than 20 games. The move was made to give each team more opportunities to play non-conference games to improve the chances of the ACC getting more NCAA Tournament teams.
The road slate for the Hokies is very difficult, with trips to some of the conference's better teams, along with a home-and-home with Wake Forest, along with their two games with Virginia. The conference did Mike Young and his team no favors in terms of road games next winter.