The 2024-25 Virginia Tech men’s basketball season ended with the Hokies dropping an, 82-73, decision to California in the first round of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament last Tuesday. Before the tournament, head coach Mike Young said he couldn’t wait to get back to Blacksburg and begin building his roster for next season in an attempt to get the program back where the fans expect it.
Now that the season is in the books and before we transition ahead to the 2025-26 season, let’s take a look back with a report card for this past season.
Virginia Tech 2024-25 men’s basketball report card
After watching the first couple of months of the season, how many people had the Hokies as the 10th seed in the ACC Tournament? Not many. Who had them making the ACC Tournament? Young and his staff did a tremendous job winning eight ACC games with nearly a brand-new roster they had to put together on the fly. This is a big off-season for Young with a reported bigger NIL package both in terms of retaining key players and getting the right players in the portal.
Poteat joined the line of players who entered the portal last season, but withdrew a few days later and returned to the Hokies. He was a nice inside presence for Virginia Tech and had some big baskets, including a three-point play in the final seconds to beat Miami in January. Finding his replacement either with incoming freshman Christan Gurdak or the portal is a must.
I’m not sure many people had Lawal leading Virginia Tech in scoring this year at 12.4 points a game, but he was an exciting player to watch. He shot the 3-point shot better than some expected and rebounded the ball, but his defense and free-throw shooting need to improve. He also had an all-time quote after the loss to the Golden Bears in the ACC Tournament.
It felt like College of Charleston transfer Ben Burnham never got into a rhythm this year. Mostly coming off the bench, he had his moments of knocking down some big shots, but his 3-point shooting was inconsistent and he had a bad turnover in the final seconds of regulation against Cal in the ACC Tournament. It feels like Virginia Tech could have got a little more from him this season.
Before the season started and for the second year in a row, the Hokies lost a point guard when Hysier Miller was dismissed from the team. That left the ball-handling duties to Rechsteiner and like the rest of his teammates, he struggled. He was eventually regulated to a backup position, but he did shoot well at times and knocked down some huge 3-pointers. He said after the loss to Cal, where he was the only reason they were in the game with his 19 points, that he wants to work on limiting his turnovers next season.
After missing a good amount of time at Duke, Schutt had his moments this season with the Hokies, but an illness in February took its toll on him down the stretch. A full year of college basketball is under his belt and next season we should see a different Schutt in terms of shooting the ball more consistently. Improving his defense is also a must.
Coming off the bench, Jaydon Young made some big shots at times and when he was locked in on defense, he was able to be a difference-maker on that end of the floor. He went off against Miami in February to the tune of a career-high 27 points to complete a season sweep of the Hurricanes. He averaged 8.1 a game and was a big contributor late in the season, but he is entering the transfer portal after two seasons with the Hokies.
Count me as someone who liked the way that Wessler played this season. He’s not going to make things look pretty at times, but he was able to finish around the basket and rebound while playing some big minutes in games. He was the third Hokie to enter the transfer portal on Monday.
Brown had his moments off the bench this season for the Hokies as he was a streaky scorer, but his defense was good when he was locked in. He was hampered by injuries late in the season and he was someone who Mike Young missed just for his defense. Like Jaydon Young, he is entering the transfer portal.
Probably the two biggest surprises this season where a pair of freshmen. Hammond began the season as the backup to Rechsteiner, but once he went into the starting lineup this year, he was impressive. He finished averaging just 5.6 points 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals, but it was his court vision, defense, and passing that stuck out. He improved his shooting from behind the arc as the season went along and finished 50% from there. He scored a season-high 21 points in an overtime win over Syracuse late in the season.
As impressive as Hammond was, Johnson was just as impressive. He averaged 25.5 minutes a game in the starting lineup, while scoring an average of 6.7 points and 4.8 rebounds and shot 82% from the free throw line. He was active around the basket on both ends and played with poise. Like Hammond, he needs to be a priority in retaining this off-season.
Incomplete: Connor Severn, Rodney Jones, Jr.,Connor Venable, and Peter Carr.