jfrance41

talent in my opinion, was ranked 19th I think and top 15 in the efficiency metrics before injuries and ultimately poor roster depth construction (too many forwards, two redshirts) did them in. Pedulla/Basile/Hunter/Mutts/Maddox/Rice if healthy is an incredible offensive core. I think this team has solid potential especially defensively, need Hansberry to take an Aluma-like leap offensively I think, he has the talent to do so. If he can from 42FG%/30%3P to somewhere like 50%/35% respectively that would be massive

from 200-500k range to anywhere from 600-1M. If you’re an all conference caliber player you’re making more than that

level player in general, and he has the luxury of being one of the top shooters on the market

who is now an Assistant with him (Kendall Dillard) had no issue with alienating her, not having her jersey out etc. Really weird way to run a team

body language, but who’s to say Kenny’s terrible culture didn’t cultivate that. I always compare that situation to how Rose handled her banishment to Siberia. She never stopped being a good teammate, put in the work during warmups even when she knew she wasn’t going to play, and stayed ready for when she ultimately had to fill in for Liz.

this “family” persona. The Rowe story was the one that got the most attention, but I think the way he ghosts his own players during the season is honestly worse, and it’s not a one time instance

was one of the better players in the portal. I like VT finally having a GM to help Mike with roster allocation and the NIL aspect of it. Should be a welcomed addition

percentile catch and shoot guy this year, which is an important trait for a player in this offense. Believe a fair amount of his misses came from off the dribble, and he’s able to mitigate that by being elite at getting to the rim.

VT this weekend. It’s a surprising get because VT wasn’t on his final 5 before his surprise visit here. Loved watching him (and John Camden) in that CAA final. Really skilled player

Recruited by schools like UNC Wilmington/UNC Charlotte I think

Think Chris has been spot on with his comments about this, VT just doesn’t have a well organized department for this, and the guys in charge of raising/allocating these funds don’t have much experience in that regard

be the last time he will, whether it’s HS girls or portal. Certain VT players had started to see through it (hence why most stayed), and now the Kentucky girls are starting to as well. The elite players will always feel the love (and get the 1on1 workouts) but if you’re not a top 4-5 player on the team you might as well not exist in his eyes

against VT on the recruiting trail

With the portal you see a lot of departures that don’t make much sense for either side, but I think in this case both sides got what they needed from this. She gets to be closer to home with more stock as a player, and VT can look to add an impact guard/wing in the portal while promoting someone like Mackie to the starting lineup. Lani was instrumental in establishing the culture in year one, wishing her the best.

from the big sky to the SEC. Not calling him Knecht, he’s nowhere close (I used to love watching Northern Colo with Radebaugh, then Kountz and Knecht). I do think if Camden were to get the redshirt and enter the portal he could have a Knecht-lite recruitment, someone would throw money for 6’8 and >40 3P%

court here all of a sudden in one year put up 35 30 27 and 9 against the four non conference tournament teams he faced (SJU/Yale/Bryant/RMU). Tech had arguably 1 maybe 2 acc caliber starters last year. Not saying we should’ve kept him there was almost no way to foresee that production but was just fascinating to watch him play at UD as season progressed.

think this would happen but it would be funny

away from getting to the dance in a crazy CAA run. He was one of the better shooters in the mid majors, and he scored like 37 against St Johns which was like the second best defense in the country. I’m assuming he can get another year of eligibility with a med redshirt, it would be fascinating to see where he ends up if he portals. Seeing Tennessee turn him into the next Knecht/Chaz Lanier for them would be wild considering how sparingly he played here

5 stars making up the 9-10th spots in the rotation. Houston Mallette was one of the better shooters in mid majors and was going to redshirt for them just because they were too loaded. The luxury of being in the SEC

Abraham, Darren Harris from Duke. I’ll pass on Harris Smith from UMD.

NIL disputes I guess, and then suffered an achilles injury this year from what I can gather. I like the scoring ability, but I don't think the team wants another smaller guard to pair with Hammond

Say he played against Duke Freshman 5 Star Isaiah Evans in a HS playoff game absolutely held his own. I think he has a higher ceiling in football so I would prefer he focuses most of his time there.

don’t think we have the same ties with Amani anymore. Yeah I’m not banking on Power being anything but if you can get him on a discount as your 8th man in a Mike Young offense maybe he can find something, just spitballing ideas for filling the bench. If Harris enters portal (which he probably will) I could definitely see us having a leg there, familiar with us and he would be reunited with his PG when they were on one of the best HS teams in the country.

Schutt will play 20+ mins. It’s really just finding two starting caliber players, and bench pieces that can complement their skillsets. Not as dire as last year but still lots of work to do but it’s the new norm

Starting Center: Obvious, ideally someone who can stretch the floor a little and has good hands/passing ability for position. Need someone with a more diversified game than say a Kidd/Poteat Combo Guard: Essentially a more consistent Jaydon Young here, someone 6-3 to 6-5 that can shoot, be a tertiary playmaker, and solid defender. Naheim Alleyne type role. Veteran PG: Don’t need a 15ppg stud here, just an experienced guard who can share the mins with Hammond as he continues to develop, ideally someone with a good AST/TO ratio. Versatile 4/5 defender: Haven’t had someone with this skillset since Nguessan (The combo of Long/Beran could’ve been in theory) and I think it’s partly why our rim protection has been so poor last 3 seasons. Someone with length that can rebound well and give 10-15 solid mins to spell Lawal/the 5. 1-2 Reclamation projects: that’s just the nature of where we are, we don’t have the luxury of Louisville where they have 8-10M to spend in the portal. We’re gonna have to find 1-2 guys coming off poor/weird seasons that CMY thinks he can get more out of. TJ Power and Darren Harris would be interesting lotto tickets here, TJ coming off a bad year at UVA, almost got him in portal last year. Darren is buried on the Duke bench, similar situation to Schutt. Has familiarity with Hammond, believe we recruited him in HS before his stock went up That would be 5-6 guys to replace the 5 that we lost, with the 2 HS guys replacing the 2 graduating seniors (unsure if Severn counts or not). Too early to discuss names, but those are the archetypes that successful CMY teams have IMO.

able to have home court advantage for first two games is such an advantage and keeps those double digit seeds from going on a run

Just think the location is a big factor

surprise me, and understandable given she’s from CA and it’s gotta be tough going from there to Blacksburg. If that happens that’s what the portal is there for though, she was able to go somewhere where she could play and develop, and now she can return closer to home (with more value in the portal).

a mid major school to develop and get playing time. Kitchen was the one who reclassified and redshirted there.

rebounder. No Soule, but when you can shoot like that at that size and position she will be one of the best 4s in the ACC next year

style of play. Not surprised she didn’t hit the ground running in the SEC, needs a couple offseasons to get acclimated

athletic. Kayl will slide over to the 4 as well (assuming she stays), her more natural position.

Rolling with this core four as the players to build around, and has a better idea of how they can supplement that group. Miles ahead of last year where the staff had to build an entire new starting 5 and bench essentially. I like how the guys that are left each bring a unique attribute that should ideally raise the sum of its parts. Still lots of time to go but the staff should be in a better spot to retain Johnson/Lawal from any tampering

for minutes would be 5-12, and even then it’s TBD if he would be providing ACC caliber mins. If we’re power ranking the remaining dudes on the roster I’m putting the other four as the main priorities

next years roster. Would rather go into the portal knowing our core is Lawal/Hammond/Johnson/Schutt (unless Lawal gets a crazy 2M+ offer from someone which at that point it wouldn’t make sense to come close to). Could easily be wrong but I don’t see it with him, an undersized 5 that doesn’t move well, with the lingering health concerns