Welcome to my team preview series for 2024-25. Each day between now and the start of the college basketball season, I will preview one team or conference, both on Instagram (@collegehoopsoutlet) and through an article here. The preview will go in-depth on the roster build of the team, my expectations for their upcoming season, and the state of the program under their current head coach.
Virginia Tech (Projected: 18th in ACC)
After an up-and-down 2023-24 campaign, Mike Young’s Virginia Tech Hokies lose eight players, including seven of their top eight scorers. 2024-25 is set to be a rebuilding year for the Hokies, and Young’s off-season pickups didn’t do much to change that. Mike Young’s talent as a coach is undeniable, but it’s beginning to become a question mark as to whether it’s possible to win at VT in the new age of the transfer portal and NIL.
Just four players return to VT for 2024-25, headlined by senior forward Mylyjael Poteat (6 ppg, 4 rpg), the only returner that played real minutes within the rotation. With four frontcourt players that played similar or more minutes than Poteat now gone, Poteat should see a huge rise in minutes and production in 2024-25. Poteat showed signs of being a dominant physical force last season in the ACC, and if he can improve his quickness a bit over the offseason, he will be a capable starter in the ACC. The other three returners for the Hokies are all sophomores, guards Jaydon Young (2 ppg) and Brandon Rechsteiner (2 ppg), and center Patrick Wessler (1 ppg, 2 rpg).
Eight players left the VT program following 2023-24, headlined by their three double-digit scorers. Junior guard Sean Pedulla (16 ppg, 5 apg) left for Ole Miss, senior center Lynn Kidd (13 ppg, 7 rpg) transferred to Miami, and senior guard Hunter Cattoor (14 ppg, 3 rpg) graduated. All three of Pedulla, Kidd, and Cattoor are massive losses, and both the production and leadership that they leave with cannot be understated. The depth took a hit as well, with Tyler Nickel (9 ppg) and MJ Collins (7 ppg, 3 apg) headed to Vanderbilt. Forwards Robbie Beran (6 ppg, 4 rpg), Mekhi Long (4 ppg, 5 rpg), and John Camden (2 ppg) also all left the program.
Coach Young brought in five players via the transfer portal to replace the output the Hokies lose, but the outgoing production vs the incoming production just doesn’t seem to match up. Hysier Miller (16 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg at Temple) was the big get, a scoring guard from Temple that can shoot from anywhere on the floor. Miller is an exciting player to watch, but Temple wasn’t exactly a winning team last season, so I’m not sure Miller turns this VT roster into winners either. There is an incoming transfer in the backcourt I’m very intrigued about what he could become though, and that’s Duke transfer Jaden Schutt (2 ppg at Duke in 2023), who redshirted last year after playing his freshman season in 2022-23. Schutt could be a bit of a wildcard to start the year, but as the season progresses I think he will start to come into form. Hey may be a piece for the future rather than right away, but there’s no question he’ll be forced into a big role this season.
Two of the other three transfers will help the Hokies out in the frontcourt, Ben Burnham (12 ppg, 5 rpg at Charleston) of Charleston, and Tobi Lawal (8 ppg, 6 rpg at VCU) of VCU. Both transferred up from the mid-major ranks, and stayed local to their original school with their move to VT. Both should join Poteat in the starting frontcourt roles this season, as I expect Young to go with a bigger lineup to get as much talent out on the floor as possible. The final transfer coming into the program is Rodney Brown Jr. (4 ppg at Cal), a will-be sophomore transferring cross-coast after a year at Cal. Brown Jr. should add to the backcourt depth and could start if Young opts for a three guard lineup.
The high school recruiting trail was also used by Young, picking up three commits in the class of 2024. The big get was four-star forward Ryan Jones (4*, NAT 81). The backcourt also gets a boost, with guards Tyler Johnson (3*, NAT 181) and Ben Hammond (3*, NAT 216) added to the roster.
With the sheer amount of production the Hokies lost this offseason, I’m truly worried about how this season will go for Mike Young. The talent level across the roster just simply isn’t ACC standard and I think it will show across a 20-game conference schedule. There’s a couple of exciting transfers coming in, but no real depth behind them to make an intriguing lineup.
Hysier Miller will be the leader in the backcourt, but he’ll need to be more efficient (35.4 FG%, 29.7 3P% in 23-24) while making a jump up to the power conference level which doesn’t exactly excite me for a main ball handler and scorer. If this team wants to simply be competitive, the X-factors for me are Mylyjael Poteat and Jaden Schutt. Poteat will be the lone guy from last year’s main rotation coming back, and needs to show a leap in production and be a leader for this team. He’ll have some help in the frontcourt with Lawal and Burnham, but he’s the guy I’m looking for to step up as a returner. Schutt is another X-factor for me because we really don’t know what he’ll be as a starter in the ACC. The spot in the backcourt is open, but he needs to show the talent he has and adapt to the physicality quickly. I hope the redshirt year helped him, and that he can make an instant impact in the backcourt, otherwise the Hokies could be in trouble.
There’s too many question marks surrounding this Hokies team and way too many players left the program this offseason for me to be confident in what Mike Young has this season. I’ve got the Hokies slotted dead last out of 18 teams in the ACC for 2024-25 and I’m worried about what the future may hold for this program with seemingly limited NIL.