On Thursday, Virginia Tech men's basketball forward Robbie Beran, head coach Mike Young and Devin Wilson, former guard and current director of student-athlete alumni engagement, joined Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop on Tech Talk Live. The Hokies are back in action on Saturday at Florida State at 4 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.
Robbie Beran
You joined the Hokies from Northwestern as a grad transfer. What went into your decision to come to Virginia Tech?
It kind of came down to a couple of different factors. Once I started checking off the boxes, it was a win-win, on the court, in the classroom, in the community. I just kind of went into the portal with no real expectations and then a lot of old and familiar faces began to call me. Some of which were Coach [J.D.] Byers, Coach Webby [Christian Webster], as well as Coach [Kevin] Giltner, who when I was in high school all recruited me from three different places. So it was kind of cool to see the continuity and those relationships kind of blossom again.
Was the transfer portal a little bit unnerving?
Most definitely. After a four-year career at Northwestern, it was hard to leave. It was hard to leave those relationships in that community that I built, but kind of knowing that I had one year to play with and kind of the benefits of the COVID year. Obviously, there were a lot of crazy times during COVID but looking on the bright side, it did give me this year to kind of go and play. So I kind of entered my name after talking to my support staff and the rest is history.
You're from Richmond, not far from here. Your sister goes to school here too. That had to be nice to reconnect and get closer to home.
Most definitely. I go from seeing my sister three times a year to I can go see her on a random Tuesday. Or she can help me take my dog to the vet because we’ve got a lift in the morning. So just kind of good to be around her. We were really close before she left to go to college and then I kind of did the same but to be in the same spot for what could be the last time, you never know, who knows where her professional path will take her, but I'm trying to focus and enjoy the moment. It's definitely been nice.
When you join a new team, is it hard at the beginning to kind of figure out where your place is, where you stand, what you say and different things like that?
It's an adjustment, to say the least. In a way, I'm learning, but I'm also teaching from the experience. I've seen a lot of college games and a lot of college action so kind of to bestow that knowledge onto some of the younger guys and it just kind of help them along, because I remember when I was a young guy and my head was spinning looking for something to grasp onto, but at the same time, learning a new system, learning a new terminology it just took some time, but I feel like coming into this new year, coming into conference play, things have been good.
You've played many conference games in the Big Ten and now the ACC. As you approach the back half of the schedule, does something usually start to click in the second half of the season?
Yes and no. Obviously, going in, approaching the season, you focus on one game at a time and you treat every game arguably the same in just the approach and you never want to waste the game and the moment. I've been fortunate enough to get an extra year and 30 games, plus whatever we can earn.
You've really been shooting the ball well as of late, but there was a time early in the season where those shots weren't falling. How difficult is that to keep that same mindset, to keep shooting and keep letting it fly?
I think a lot of the confidence was given from my teammates and kind of just telling me, ‘Next shot.’ I think when I was younger and kind of going through something similar, I could tend to kind of lose my way and lose my mind. But kind of being old and knowing that college basketball season is a long season, I'm not going to shoot 11 percent for the whole year, and just continue working day-to-day, trying to get better, getting out my shots and really not trying to cut corners and cheat anything. So yeah, it was a struggle and definitely tough, but I just kind of relied on my teammates and they kind of got me through that.
Are you superstitious at all with any of that stuff?
I wouldn't say I'm superstitious, but I'm a little stitious. And I quote The Office on that. In a way, but nothing like, ‘Oh I need these socks,’ because at the end of the day, it comes down to just falling back on the work that I've done getting me to this point, so if it got me to this point, there's no need to change or to falter.
What do you think it takes for a team to be able to close out games? What are some of the attributes that you see out of teams that you've been on that close out games?
I think in basketball, it's a game of runs. So teams that are able to stay the course and not get too high and not get too low, especially in a hostile atmosphere on the road. That's when team camaraderie is huge. And you lean in and kind of remember the dog days in the summer, running Cassell steps or running sprints and kind of just hope that you rely and you don't splinter. I've been on teams when I was younger where we would splinter and we would kind of fragment, so being kind of an older presence, how can you be that glue to avoid splintering and breaking off when it matters the most?
How difficult is it when you get behind early like you guys did vs. Wake Forest and you try climbing the hill in the second half?
It's very important how we start. If we start slow, that kind of allows the opportunity to fall on the 8-ball, and when you do that, especially on the road, it's tough to dig yourself out of that hole.
Are there any road environments you're looking forward to getting to see in the ACC?
Obviously, there's no place like home. So there's nothing that I circled on the schedule. I'm just excited to play ball.
What are you studying?
I'm studying to get my master's in animal wellness and behavior. And it's been a really cool way to view and approach animals. I've grown up and been fortunate to have dogs and cats in my household. But to learn and be intentional to hopefully help my relationship with my pets at home, but also to use that as a platform after I'm done playing and kind of see what I can align my interests with.
What have you seen so far out of this Florida State team so far this year?
They are a really long, lanky group. Well-coached, obviously, what Coach [Leonard] Hamilton's done there time and time again. Really just kind of approaching it, learning, playing off two has been something that we've stressed, and kind of just make a play for your brother to your left.
Mike Young
What were your thoughts as you looked at the Wake Forest tape and rewatched that game?
Well, we have a hard and fast rule around here. You can't turn the ball over, and we kicked it 12 times in the first half, which as you know, we don't do that. We were a step behind defensively and they had a couple actions that we simply didn't handle very well and the [Efton] Reid kid in the post helps them, he's big, he's got presence. Just not good enough from our boys, but we bounced right back on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and practiced well. We're gonna be ready to go in Tallahassee, look forward to getting down there tomorrow.
You’ve said a couple times that this team is a really good practice team. What makes a good practice team like you say?
High character guys where it's important to them, not the least of which is a young man that you had on before I got here. You have great faith and trust in good people, good basketball players that have been through it and know what the response you've got to have coming off a game like Wake Forest, and there's no time to hang your head, you’ve got Florida State coming up and then you're really into it. Clemson, Miami on the road, UVa, NC State, the hits keep on coming. So you dust yourself off and you go again and prepare and get better and do everything possible to play better on Saturday down there.
I know there's no such thing as moral victories. In the second half, the Hokies played right there with Wake Forest. Were you pleased with the way that the guys played in the second half even after getting down early?
I don't think a whole lot about that. You get your rear end whipped in the first half. You’ve gotta fight to the final horn. I'd be a lot more impressed if that's a one-possession, two-possession game in the first half and it comes down to the stretch and we've got a shot to win. So I understand your point, but I don't take a whole lot of consolation, never have.
The Hokies went 0-of-5 from three in the first half. It seemed difficult to get open shots, but really even to get opportunities. Did you think the same?
They were on us. I've played Coach [Steve] Forbes many times, dating back to our time together in the Southern Conference. We beat him twice his first year, he's beat me the last couple. He's a really good coach. They were onto our actions. Our ball handling did not help us. We said going into the game, we'll say the same thing on Saturday, ‘Our offense has to help our defense.’ Well, you're not helping your defense if you're not getting a crack at it, two cracks at it every time down. You turn it over 12 times and you put yourself behind the 8-ball, and we did that. Not something that we've seen out of this team and I hope we don't see it again anytime soon.
Were some of those turnovers too forced due to some of the pressure that they were presenting?
Yeah, they got up under our chin and not the first time we've seen that. We've got to handle it better, play with better poise, explore different parts of the floor. And to get right down to it, you’ve got to pass better and you’ve got to catch better. You've got to play athletic and go back to your first basketball camp, catch it, chin it, triple threat, ready to play the game, playing off to feed, shot fake and drive it, the things that we do every day in practice that didn't carry over like we needed on Saturday.
Brandon Rechsteiner has really stepped up as of late. What have you thought of your freshman point guard?
I thought when Sean Pedulla was down after the Louisville game, Vermont was in there American was in there, I thought those minutes and those opportunities on the floor were very beneficial to him. He had a couple of bad plays. His positives outweighed his negatives. He played a good ball game, he's passing the ball very well. Assist/turnover rate is most impressive for an 18-year-old freshman. He is playing good basketball for our team.
You mentioned Wake Forest’s Efton Reid. He was a couple of rebounds away from a double-double. He's going to give a lot of teams in the ACC a problem inside.
He's got good hands. When things are going downhill on you and he throws up three in the air at the bottom of shot clock and makes that, he was 0-for-5 coming in. I couldn't believe that he continued to shoot him. He had to shoot that one, he had to make that one. Those are things that happen when things aren't going very well. But he is a good basketball player. He gets up and down. Steve does a nice job of putting him in good spots and he ducks in and he carves out a lot of space away from the rim and catches it and he's a load.
There has certainly been a lot of talk about Wake Forest and how strong of a team it is this year. Is that a team that you see competing at the top-half of the ACC?
They certainly could. How could you not be a fan of Hunter Sallis and Kevin Miller and Cameron Hildreth? I think he's one of the better guards in our league. Andrew Carr at the four spot is long, can make a shot coming off the bench with pretty good quality. They have a few guys that they can go to off the bench and continue to move it along. Steve's got an impressive outfit there. They certainly could go on and have a very nice year.
Florida State is 7-6, 1-1 in ACC play. What have you seen out of the Seminoles?
Same story, different year. The jerseys and the faces change, but the personnel and the physical attributes stay the same. They may play Baba Miller at the three spot, number 11, who's 6-11. He looks like a giraffe running around out there. I say that with great admiration and respect. They're not as long, they typically have a 7-2, 7-3 five man, but they don't have that guy. They've got a good player in the [De’Ante] Green kid, number five, at that spot this year. The four could be Baba Miller, could be number 10 [Taylor Bol Bowen]. His name escapes me. VCU transfer, number two [Jamir Watkins], is playing well for them. Jalen Warley will start at the point at 6-4, 6-5. He's a good-sized point guard. That's how Coach [Leonard] Hamilton decided to go about it a long time ago and who can fault him. It's been good to him for a long, long time. And he's a talented coach and a really good man.
It's always been a Coach Hamilton's special, how deep he goes and how many guys he plays in that. They run pretty deep, don't they?
They played 11, maybe 12 against Georgia Tech last night. And that's as good as I've seen Florida State play. They were good last night. I think he played 12 in the first half. I think he played 12 again in the second half. That's something that's always been important to him. Sure. The charge is you play as hard as you can for as long as you can. And you’ve got somebody else coming in behind you that is going to continue to play that way. Last time we went down there, it was a good afternoon for us in the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. We look forward to getting back to Tallahassee tomorrow.
When you look at the change in the ACC landscape with Coach Jim Boeheim and Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Leonard Hamilton now is the dean of ACC coaches. It’s changed in the last few years.
It has. I mean quick. I came in here and Mike Brey was at Notre Dame and Coach Roy Williams at North Carolina and obviously Mike Krzyzewski at Duke. We're losing great coaches, but Leonard Hamilton is certainly among our industry's leaders in a number of areas. It's been enjoyable competing against his teams. I do have great admiration for him and now what he's done there. I saw graphic last night during the Georgia Tech game, 15 NCAA Tournament appearances, two or three ACC coach of the year awards, and I'll tell you what, some people fail to recognize, COVID was so unfortunate for all of us for everyone and how it disrupted lives and on a much lesser scale, athletic programs and seasons. And they had a team that year that could have won it all. They could have run the table and been a national champion. And I think it was Florida State preparing to play Clemson in the ACC Tournament and that's when the commissioner at that time stepped in and shut it down. And it was over shortly after that. The NCAA Tournament was canceled for the year. That was a special Florida State team. Again, Coach Hamilton is one fine coach.
That was a crazy time thinking back when teams were on the court, some leagues stopped, some stopped in the middle of games. It was such a crazy time.
I wasn't oblivious. So we were all aware of it. We all knew that something very serious was taking hold. I can remember playing North Carolina that year. That was my first year and it was very awkward. North Carolina's coaches came out of the tunnel and they're walking by our bench and typically you exchange pleasantries and you shake hands. And Coach Williams is the first person I ever saw extend his elbow to our staff as he got closer to us. I've known coach for 40 years, and he got to me and he said, ‘I'll shake your hand. I've known you forever. But Michael, I'm really scared.’ That was five minutes before the ball went in the air to start the game. And then it all went downhill over the next 24 hours. And here we go into quarantine.
Another opportunity for Hunter Cattoor to go back to the Sunshine State, his home state. He’s 49 percent in the state of Florida, 48 percent from three, averaging more than 15 points. What is it about him playing in Florida?
He loves the Sunshine State. His mom and dad are there and his dad's doing a lot better. I was chuckling with him today. I said, ‘Our last trip to Tallahassee was pretty good for you and for our team. You made seven threes in that.’ He said, ‘No, I made nine.’ He was spectacular, that was the same year that he had the great game in the ACC Tournament final against Duke where everything he threw in the air went in the basket. You know how Florida State plays defensively. They're disruptive, but we think we can get some looks for him down there on Saturday. We need to get more shots for him. But yeah, my boy enjoys heading back down south and getting that Florida sunshine.
Do you have to talk to your team at all about going on the road in hostile environments or is it just something they pick up?
You know, I don't say a whole lot about it. I did say something today, watching the Georgia Tech game and there was no one there, which is very different. Obviously, Florida State typically is well attended, students aren't back. I asked a young person in our building today when our students will come back and they don't come back until January 16. So without that involvement, the bands and so on. But going on the road, it's OK with me. I don't have to go to Florida State with their student section or a pep band sitting right next to you. So no wonder I can't hear anything, that band will drive you out of the building.
It's almost like an NBA arena at Wake Forest where they have four fans sitting right there in between the benches. Is that ever weird?
I've been down there three times now and the same folks sit in those seats and I always say before the game that you know our rule, if I get in your way if I'm standing here, one of you ladies just tap me on the leg and I'll move over and I don't have any problem with you doing it. They've never done it, but they're nice people, and in the NBA, they're sitting right next to your staff. That would be unnerving to me. And I've heard some things from NBA coaches. Sometimes those people will say something to you, but it's a pretty high dollar tickets so they're not going to discontinue that trend anytime soon.
Florida State does have one of the top 3-point shooters in the country in Darin Green Jr. He's made 332 three pointers in his career. What's it going to take to stop him and slow him down?
Well, Hunter will play him primarily. Green gets the ball in the air in a hurry and he's a two-level scorer. He's not much of a get to the rim guy, but he's got a beautiful 15-foot jump shot. Get to the foul line, step back out of his left hand and make that shot and he is absolutely deadly, and Jalen Warley, the point guard, does a great job in finding him in transition, putting the ball on the money and he's a really talented shooter. He's over 330, Cattoors made a bunch around here and I think Hunter's 280, 285. What Green's done in Florida State is most impressive. I think he started his career in Central Florida and has been at Florida State now for three years. He's a good basketball player.
Devin Wilson
Let's start at the very beginning. What originally made you want to come here to Virginia Tech from Pennsylvania?
I was recruited by Kurt Kanaskie, who was an assistant coach at the time under James Johnson. He had actually recruited my brother when he was coming out of high school. He was more on the football side of it, but he played basketball. So he recruited him a little bit and he kind of knew my family. So that's what kind of brought me up here to Blacksburg. I took a visit, came here on an official visit and they offered me when I was actually on my official visit and then I actually committed and pretty much signed about two days before signing day. So I picked the college and committed and everything in a very short amount of time, but coming here from Pittsburgh, just seeing the campus, seeing the community around here were the two of the biggest things that kind of drove me towards Virginia Tech.
You had a great career here on the hardwood for the Hokies. You also played football during that 2016 season. What went into you joining the football team?
It was actually a pretty interesting way it came about. We were actually playing BYU in the NIT that year, my junior year. And while we were in Utah, Bruce Garnes — everyone knows Bruce around here, he's a Hokie legend. He actually was telling me that the football coaches who had just gotten hired, which was the Justin Fuente staff, were looking to add some receivers to their core. And they knew I played receiver in high school. They knew I was recruited and had a chance to also play D-I football, so they pretty much locked their eyes on me. So he was telling me while we were in Utah, like ‘Hey, they're gonna ask you to play football.’ And I was like, ‘No way. Like, I'm a junior. I haven't touched a football in three years. What's the point?’
Lo and behold, we lost in the NIT the next day and literally the day after that, Coach Fuente called me and pretty much recruited me like I was in high school all over again. I got called into his office. They had my highlight tape up on the screen. They had things set out for me like I was a high school recruit again. So it was fun to be loved and to be kind of attracted to again, so it was really fun. And then I was literally in full pads on the Lane Stadium field for a night practice two days later. The basketball season ended on a Thursday and I was in full pads on a Monday.
How difficult was it to keep track of the schedules playing two sports?
I think just having time management skills throughout my entire career. I was always on top of things, never missed class, was never late for a practice or meeting. So I think that kind of transitioned into being able to kind of be a grown up when I got that opportunity to kind of handle two different things at once. And then also, I don't know if many people know this, but when you play football or basketball, you go to the scholarship sport that has the most people on it. I was actually moved from basketball scholarship over to football scholarship. So most of the things that I did were all football related. I would show up to basketball practice, but football came first for everything else. So it kind of made it easier when deciding because I didn't have to choose my time between one or the other. It was always football, and then if I had time, I'd go over to basketball and do some things over there.
You're back at Tech as the director of student-athlete alumni engagement. Walk us through your day-to-day and what your role is like.
The day-to-day of my role now is pretty much running our Virginia Tech Monogram Club, which is our former letter winner organization. What we do is we hold events like reunions. We just held the Hall of Fame ceremony this year. We're looking to do some anniversaries here in the future for some great teams the Hokies had. Just really trying to figure out ways to keep our former alumni connected to our current alumni so we can just keep that bridge going as we filter in these new set of athletes and just making sure that they know who the former alumni are and being able to create different connections and being able to connect them into the new world whenever they graduate. We're trying to be that bridge between your graduating year as a senior and going into your future as an alumni.
A lot changes over time. Both of your coaches from when you were playing here are no longer here. If you want to come back to be around the program, who do you contact? Who do you go to? This is kind of a way to streamline that, right?
Yes. That's exactly the best way to put it. Honestly, I would love to be that individual who kind of is that concrete marker to anyone who wants to be able to come back and enjoy basketball games, football games, whether it's to come back and have alumni reunions, whether it's for your sport or whether it's for your graduating class as a Hokie. Because at the end of the day, we are student-athletes, we're not just athletes. We were students here as well. So being able to connect with the people who went to school with just as much as the people you played your sport with is important.
Talk a little bit more about the Monogram Club and all it does because I feel like not many people know about it.
Yes, 100 percent. I was one of those people when I came on my interview and they asked me, ‘How much do you know about the Monogram Club?’ I flat out told them, ‘I don't know anything.’ We haven't done a great job of promoting that group that you're able to be a part of after you're done playing here, which a lot of people feel that disconnect once they leave, they are like, ‘What are they doing for me? I'm not a student-athlete anymore.’ And so it comes with some grace because the current student-athletes who are coming in deserve their 100 percent full attention. Why? Because we want to have great teams, great programs. So I understand that we have to put our 100 percent attention on them. And I think having the Monogram Club putting myself in position now is a great way to put 100 percent of our efforts into the former student-athletes to be able to make them feel connected not only to the programs, but to the school as well.
4 Comments