At the beginning of the season, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team lost transfer point guard Hysier Miller when he was dismissed from the team in October. That left coach Mike Young with returner Brandon Rechsteiner and incoming freshman Ben Hammond.
Rechsteiner, who backed up Sean Pedulla who transferred to Ole Miss last spring, started the season at the point, but as time went along, Hammond gradually took over the starting role. As time went along, Hammond showed a lot of poise and played in some big minutes and late in games. Rechsteiner was pushed to a backup role and fit the bill fine.
On Tuesday afternoon at the ACC Tournament in the first round against California, the Hokies had multiple chances to close out the game at the end of regulation and the first overtime, but both times turned the ball over, allowing the Golden Bears to tie the game before winning in double overtime. Following the game, you could tell that the turnovers were frustrating for both Young and Rechsteiner.
Virginia Tech PG Brandon Rechsteiner hints at future with Hokies
Young had some things to say about the turnovers not only in this game, but also the entire season. Turnovers were a huge part of the Hokies' year and one of the many reasons as to why they finished at 13-19 overall. Rechsteiner met with the media after the game, discussed the turnovers, as well as dropping a hint on his future with the program.
“[The turnovers were] unforced, honestly,” said Rechsteiner. “We were careless sometimes. Especially as a point guard, I’ve got to do better. That’s my main thing going into the offseason.”
He’s not wrong. Unforced turnovers have been a huge part of the season. However, it sounds like he’s planning on returning next season for another season under Young with that comment.
Against Cal, he led the Hokies with 19 points and hit all 3-pointers they made, including one at the end of regulation and in the first overtime. For the game, the Hokies went 3-for-25 from behind the arc.
The big story, however, was the number of turnovers they had, 18, in the game. It’s been a season-long storyline from the opening tip in November. Young has pledged changes and it sounds like Rechsteiner is going to focus on things this off-season as well. However, with the current state and the transfer portal becoming the NBA’s version of free agency, anything can change at any time.