Virginia Tech men’s basketball associate head coach Chester Frazier and sophomore forward Tyler Johnson joined Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop on Thursday’s edition of Tech Talk Live.
The Hokies (10-2) have a home game vs. Elon (2 p.m. ET, ACCNX) before Christmas break. When they return, they’ll host Virginia on New Year’s Eve.
Chester Frazier
Coach, great to have you. Thanks for coming out.
Happy to be here.
How do you feel about the season overall? The Hokies are sitting at 10-2.
I always felt we had a good team going into it, still adjusting some things and some chemistry. Early on, thought we started to hit our stride. Obviously, the Battle 4 Atlantis, we lost two games. And I feel like, if we’re whole, two of those games are winnable as well. Without Tobi [Lawal], learning to adjust on the fly was pretty hard for this team without preparation or practice, and everybody had to move a position and play guys that hadn’t played. But coming out of it, we’re getting better. Guys are gaining some chemistry and some experience, position changes for several guys, but we’re adjusting well. I like where we’re at. Another level to get to here as we approach conference play, and just looking forward to finishing the non-conference out on a high note.
This is your second time around at Virginia Tech. You got here initially in 2019, you guys basically zero players.
We had Wabissa Bede, P.J. Horne, Jonathan Kabongo, Landers Nolley, [Isaiah] ‘Chico’ Wilkins and Tyrece Radford. We had that core. And then this is before the transfer portal. We had to go find some players. And we didn’t have any official visits. We probably had one or two official visits left. I think Buzz [Williams] had used all the visits before he left. So we were scrambling. I think we brought Hunter Cattoor, who was committed to Wofford, went and found Nahiem Alleyne. He was going to go to prep school. We had to convince him to reclassify. Jalen Cone was a part of that class. John Ojiako. We ended up taking Branden Johnson from Alabama State.
We put a roster together and all things considered, man. That team, we played, OK? We beat some people. We beat Michigan State in Maui, who was No. 3 in the country. We were young. That was the youngest group of players I’ve ever coached. I think we had six or seven freshmen or sophomores. Chico was a sophomore. Landers and Boots had never played a college game. Bede was our most experienced player. And P.J. Horne at 6-5, 6-6 was our center.
Nobody thought you guys had a chance to beat Michigan State.
Third in the country. I knew we were going to beat them. My time in the Big Ten, playing against Tom Izzo, not much changed. All the play calls were the same, everything was the same. The biggest thing, we were playing with house money. Nobody thought we were going to beat them. But just had those guys believe that they could win. As the game gets on and it’s close, it’s like, ‘Yo, we went up eight, 10 points,’ and it’s like, ‘We’re about to beat them.’ I think we ran out of gas after that. We ran into a really good Dayton team with Obi Toppin. Then we played against some guys who were married with kids at BYU. It’s our little 18-, 19-year-old guys. It was back down to earth after that.
How did you and Mike Young cross paths?
We share the same agent. After seven years at Kansas State, went to the Elite Eight, won two Big 12 championships, I was looking to get back to the East Coast, and this opportunity presented itself. I’m from Baltimore, Maryland and I wanted to get closer to home. I felt like I had done pretty much everything I could do at Kansas State besides win a national championship. We had won the conference, which is hard to do at a place like Kansas State, and we had gone to the Elite Eight. We had been to five NCAA Tournaments in seven years.
I was just looking for something different. I also wanted to be a head coach, I wanted to learn something different. I played for Coach [Bruce] Weber, coached under him, it’s all I knew. So I thought it was important that I branched out and learned something different. And the opportunity with Coach Young came about.
Talk about your playing career and what it was like playing for Coach Weber.
Coach Weber is a great dude. One of the few guys that’s never told me a lie, an honest guy. Blue collar, hard worker, some true values that I learned from Coach Weber. But we were a gritty team. We were a blue-collar team. Every year, we were there. We had one bad season when I was a player. Three years, 20 wins every year, went to the tournament, very competitive, finished second in the league a few times, but my career had these ups and downs. I played so hard that I was injured a lot, but I played through it. I enjoyed my college career. I enjoyed my time in college. I met my wife in college, so it was a lot of positive that came out of the University of Illinois.
You played in Germany for a couple of years, too.
Yep, I played two years in the top league in Germany, won a championship my first year out there. I take a lot of pride in winning. I enjoyed Germany. It was great. I was in a great college town and getting in Germany. My second year out, I was in Würzburg, which is Dirk Nowitzki’s hometown. I had a lot of fun enjoying the culture of Europe and Germany. Obviously, having a lot of fun with my teammates, met a lot of good people along the way and won a lot of games.
Did you want to start coaching instead of playing?
I always knew I was going to coach. I knew I wanted to coach. I was a coach as a player, almost as a point guard. I was a coach on the floor. And I knew, once I was done playing, that I was going to coach. I was in the middle of starting a family and preparing for marriage. I felt I had more to give as a coach than a player. At that time, I probably could have played four or five more years just knowing how hard I played. I broke my hand when I was overseas. I hurt my foot. I was like, ‘You know what? Coach Weber got the job at Kansas State. It’s a perfect opportunity for me to get into the coaching field.’
You’ve coached in three of the Power 4 leagues. What’s the difference you see between the leagues?
Physicality. Obviously, the Big 10 is bigger. The centers in the Big 10 are huge, seven-foot guys. It’s blocks and elbows. Guys are tough, physical, grind-it-out type of league. It’s become more talented as they’ve added teams to the conference, but it’s the same league. You got Tom Izzo up there. Physical, rebound, toughness. There’s a lot of talent that league.
The Big 12 was very athletic, physical, a lot of great defensive teams in that league. Iowa State, Houston. Every night’s a brawl, a bloodbath. We were one of those bloodbath teams at West Virginia. We guarded the heck out of people. But it was a lot quicker. It wasn’t as much post play as the Big 10.
The ACC is talented. Little more free-flowing. You can play freely in this league. So that’s why you see teams that obviously take pride in defense can win in this league. Clemson has been consistent, they guard you, they grind you out. Duke is obviously great on both ends of the floor. It’s all different, but some similarities in some ways as well.
What’s the biggest difference between now and the prime of ACC basketball?
I grew up watching ACC, obviously, with Maryland being in the ACC, as a Baltimore guy. I mean, Duke, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia. That was a big attraction for us in Baltimore. Watching those Maryland teams with Gary Williams and Juan Dixon and those guys. A lot of the guys from Baltimore went to Maryland during those times. So I have always been a big fan of the league. Wake Forest when Tim Duncan was down there, you had some legendary players during that time.
So you watched it. And then when you become a player, and now recruitment and things like that become real, you start to watch the leagues. You get more well-versed in style of play and coaches and things like that. As a kid, you’re just watching as a fan. As a coach, you start to really pay attention. These guys are getting this recruit, they play this way, they do this on defense, they do this on offense. So you’re really getting in tune with everything.
All basketball after finals week. That’s kind of nice, isn’t it?
I’m excited for that, actually, to be able to get in the gym with these guys a little bit more. We still have room to grow. Playing without Tobi, some guys are getting some valuable minutes, and it only adds to your depth as the season goes on.
Any updates on Tobi?
I wish I was a medical doctor. I’d heal him right now. But no, we’re just waiting to see how he heals and we’re looking forward to having him back.
The guys seem to have gotten used to playing without him.
Yeah, had no choice. We’ve been able to slide Amani [Hansberry] down to the fourth spot. He’s been great there. He’s such a good connector and a good passer, and we’ve been able to get bigger. We’ve been able to play a bigger guy with Antonio Dorn and [Christian] Gurdak out there at the five spot. So it keeps him away from those big seven-foot dudes for a little bit. When Tobi comes back, it’s going to be a little different, but it’s been good for him. It’s been a great adjustment for him. And it keeps Tyler [Johnson] away from the four spot as much too.
It’s a completely different scheme without Tobi. It seems like he’s so central to what you guys do.
Well, he’s our most athletic player by far. He cleans up a lot of mistakes because of his athleticism and versatility. Defensively, he can move, he can cover ground, he protects the rim. He’s the ultimate effort guy. Even offensively, he sparks our transition because of how fast he can run. So not having him, we have to adjust and play a different way. But we’re settling in. We’re getting there. But, boy, we were missing him. I’ll tell you that.
Let’s talk Neoklis Avdalas. You were the connection that got him here. Tell us how that came about and how you think he’s been here.
Really good player. Coming from Greece, he played in the Greek basketball league last year. His agent is a good friend of mine, who I met through my best friend, Rudy Gay, who he used to represent with Octagon. So when he said the kid may want to pursue NCAA basketball, he was in the NBA Draft. He was pursuing the NBA. He was one foot in, one foot out, having the opportunity to play college basketball and further improve his stock. He may have gone second round undrafted last year.
Now he can be seen a little bit more, get his eyes in front of more scouts and do it at a high level here at Virginia Tech. And it was a trust thing, really. Sending the kids somewhere where there was somebody that would look after him and that he can trust. But ultimately, the kid fell in love with Coach Young in Blacksburg. His family loved the small-town environment, loved that there would be no distractions. And ultimately, we had a great opportunity for him here, being able to play point guard at 6-9 and run our team and be able to make plays for us and have a pretty big role. That meant a great deal for that camp.
How often are you guys initially dealing with agents in recruiting?
I’d say 75-80 percent nowadays, even closer to 90 percent in some capacity. Amani was a different relationship. I’ve been recruiting Amani since his junior, sophomore year of high school, and his family are people I consider family. So that was a little different. But everybody else now, everybody has an agent. My son may have an agent, I don’t know, but they all are represented by agents. And that’s the nature of the game. Now they’re all free agents every year, so they’re using agents to find different spots and obviously negotiate NIL and things like that.
Did Amani want to follow you right away?
Nope, it wasn’t that simple. In the end, it became kind of that simple. But he was very hesitant this time around. West Virginia, that was more understood, like, ‘Hey, I’m going to West Virginia.’ We were in a good spot. He had visited Virginia Tech out of high school so he was very hesitant. Obviously, we didn’t have the best season last year at Virginia Tech, so he was very hesitant because the kid is a winner. He wants to, he wanted to win. I had to assure him that we were going to win. He’s like, ‘I don’t want to go there and lose.’ And I’m telling him, ‘We’re going to build a team, we’re going to be pretty good.’ But I’m so happy he’s here. He’s fantastic. He’s the best guy in the locker room, a leader and a really talented player. And he connects everything. You have two processing units out there with him and Neo at all times that can really play make, pass and connect on offense. They’re unicorns because of their size and their passing and their skill.Amani had back-to-back games with six assists. People don’t realize how good of a passer he is.
Yes, and he rarely turns the ball over. That’s even more important. You have guys that have high usage rates offensively. I think we’re No. 1 or 2 in the country in turnovers. Last year, I think it was pretty bad. So we’ve been able to flip that, and that just comes with coaching and good players, and these guys have really executed what we asked them to do.Have you ever coached a point guard with a height like Neo?
No, I have not coached it. Well, I take that back. When I was at Illinois, we had a 6-6 point guard, Marcus Domask. Not quite 6-9. I don’t think I’ve ever any that tall. I’ve had some really good point guards but none with the unique height and passing ability of this guy.What’s going through your mind watching him put up 33 against Providence?
He was special. I think he was in the zone. I think he was just playing basketball. He didn’t overthink it. This guy’s a very critical thinker, he’s very analytical. He can overthink at times. He just let loose that game. He carried us offensively in a lot of ways and did it efficiently. I think he was 13-for-23, he still had five, six assists, five rebounds. I thought he played great.You’ve really embraced the NIL era. Is that just your mindset?
I think so. When you look at it, it’s here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. NIL is real. You have to have to have a certain level of resources, but there’s still a certain level of recruiting that’s an evaluation that needs to be done. For example, when I was at West Virginia, we had kid named Braydon Hawthorne committed and he was a virtual unknown. He was going to use his Hope Scholarship since he’s a West Virginia native. He was going to be like the 13th roster spot guy. Well, it turns out, by the end of it, he was a five-star. And he’s from Beckley, West Virginia. Sometimes you get lucky, you evaluate well and for the most part, like I said, all these guys have agents. NIL is real.You were at West Virginia and Darian DeVries got the Indiana job. All of a sudden, you get up and your wife yells that someone’s here. Tell us that story.
So Darian accepts the Indiana job. I’m still in Morgantown. He called me up, ‘Yo, I got the job.’ I asked, ‘What job?’ He ends up getting Indiana. And anybody who knows me knows I bleed orange and blue. I’m an Illini for life and the thought of putting that crimson on it made my skin itch. But no disrespect to Indiana’s great program, Darian’s a great coach, he’s going get that thing rolling over there, but I just couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see myself going to Indiana. But Coach Young drove all the way to Morgantown. I’m interviewing for the West Virginia job. I’m trying to get this job and he’s in my living room.I’m showering, I’m getting dressed, I’m going through my mock interview in my shower, going through what I’m going to say to the athletic director to convince them to give me this job, and Coach Young is sitting down there in Coach Young fashion. My wife says, ‘You’re not going to believe who’s in our living room.’ I’m like, ‘Who?’ And I start naming all of these names. She tells me, ‘No, Coach Young.’ I said, ‘Coach Young?!’ I walk down the steps, sure enough, Coach Young’s down there. He says, ‘Frazier, I need you back.’ I said, ‘Hey, Coach, you got my word, man. If I don’t get this one, I’ll come back and I’ll help you win some games.’ And I kept my word and here I am.
You want to be a head coach one day?
I would love to love to, man. I would love to run a program at some point. Obviously, I want to get this thing stable. When we first got the job, we had built something really cool, and that was from the ground up. And to see them win that ACC championship, that was a lot of the brick and mortar that we had laid. Obviously, things happen, and NIL happened, and you’ve got to be able to compete NIL-wise. And we’re in a good spot. I think we’re in a good spot. We’re laying a great foundation. Again, [Mike Young is] an excellent ball coach. If he has players, he’s going to be hard to beat. That dude’s a wizard. He works at it. He’s watching film like an assistant. He’s game-planning like an assistant. He still loves it, and that’s when I knew we would win. His energy is still pushing forward and ready to go.
What stands out to you about Elon?
They’re unique, man. They are very versatile. They play a different style of basketball. They play motion offense, so more read and react. Lots of screening off the ball, not a ton of ball screens. They shoot the ball well. They have one of the better scorers in the country at the forward spot [in Chandler Cuthrell]. Now, he’s not like a super-skilled, high-octane offensive player, but he’s rough. He’s rugged. He’s got a high motor at 6-8, 230. He’s actually from Baltimore. I watched him grow up. He’s just a physical, hard-working dude that can hurt you by getting to the free-throw line.
They’ve got a couple of really good guards that can shoot it. They’re very versatile. They’re going to be moving us around. They’re going to find ways to generate 3-point looks. We’ve got to take care of that 3-point line. We’ve got to rebound the basketball well and we can’t get stagnant. They’re going to come in and play some zone where they can basically make you throw the ball around the perimeter and get you stagnant. But we should be fine. Come out and have a good last non-conference game.
They’re an experienced team with lots of seniors and graduates.
Yeah. Where it gets you is the familiarity. Billy Taylor worked at Iowa when I was at Illinois, so most of the things he’s doing are like Iowa, like Fran McCaffrey. Their motion and their free-flowing offense, their pace. So when he turned the film on, it’s staggers, pin downs, the tight curls, the flares. It’s hard to guard. It’s hard to guard because not a lot of people play that way anymore. It’s mostly ball screens and isolations in college basketball now. More five-out now, they’re moving you around, screening you, driving you. It’s like speaking a foreign language to some of these young guys to try and teach them motion in a couple of days, but they’re grasping it well, we’ve had a couple of really good prep days.
Do you feel confident with what you got out of the non-conference?
Absolutely. Two overtime games, you can’t, can’t beat that. Obviously, the Battle 4 Atlanta is three hard games in three days. So we’re battle-tested. We’ve been on the road. We played at a neutral site. Now it’s just putting it all together. What do we need to do better? What do we have to improve? What fits? What doesn’t fit? What works and what doesn’t? Now the margin for error becomes smaller in conference play and your attention to detail has to go to a much higher level. When you play a team like Virginia to start off with, you better be on your toes and ready to go.
Recruiting obviously never ends when you think about Neo. Where’s your next Neo?
Well, I don’t think we can approach it that way. There may never be another Neo. But, again, we just want good players that fit us, that fit our brand and are tough and obviously talented and just winners. And that’s what we’re trying to do. Neo’s a really big piece to the puzzle, but we have a lot of really good players. And not taking anything away from our other guys, they’re playing good ball as well. It all fits and they love each other, and that’s, that’s the greatness of it.
You get a Neo and you get guys that aren’t on the same page, it becomes a disaster. And we’ve seen that. We’ve seen a lot of talented teams not be able to win, and it just becomes about those guys and it doesn’t work. You see Rutgers last year with Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, two lottery picks that couldn’t win. So it’s really Neo, but it’s these other guys that are really playing good basketball, playing well within the system and helping him look good as well.
What do Christmas plans look like for you and the family?
I’m going to have the Virginia scout, so hopefully I could take a couple of days here, 21st, 22nd after the game and try and spend some time with the kids. This is a business that’s not family-friendly at times. You spend a lot of working hours in the gym and at home watching film. So I love to be able to spend a few days with my wife and kids and family members, and then get back to the grind.
Are your kids excited about Christmas?
Oh, man, every time I come home, I spend a little time and play ball with them. They wear me out. But they’re a joy, man. They’re so excited and impressionable and young, my baby boy is like my Siamese twin. Once I’m home, I’m his. And try to spread the attention three ways. It’s hard, but those are my guys. Having some free time with them will be very, very great for me and my family. The coaching business is not family-friendly, like I said. When they become a part of it, it becomes easier. So my son watches, he watches film with me. My kids enjoy being at the Hokies games. You have to make them a part of that world.
