Caught me at the literal best time as I'm about to head down to NC to celebrate our one-year anniversary where we got married. I may he able to get back to some additional questions later in the week but I'm not ghosting if I don't immediately get to replies. So lets go through the newbies... First the freshmen Ryan Jones - big body, long arms. Has the **ability** to shoot the 3 but no one should expect him to come in and hit more than 1 three per 20 min. That's just not where he is strongest. He is a center all the way, as his ability to cover and switch like a 4 will be very limited. Could he do it in a pinch? Maybe. But I wouldn't want him out there on an island for long enough periods that opposing coaches can adjust and find him. Very good touch around the rim, much like Kidd in that aspect. He does a better job of holding position than Kidd and if he were 6'10 then he might already be on that type of level. Offensively he is the best big man we've brought in since Kidd and Blackshear. Defensively is TBD and dependent on where he plays minutes. I think he can handle the 5, but if he plays the 4 it'll be a long learning curve to figure out when (and when not to) switch vs hedge/string out/etc. Tyler Johnson - to me he is the most skilled and most physically ready to play freshman not named Rodney Rice in the Mike Young era. He fits in well at the 4 for me because of his diverse skill set. He can post, he can pass, he can have the ball in his hands and he can guard 1-4 easily. Guarding a 5 on a rotation might be pushing it in year 1, but if he sticks around he could be a monster guarding any spot. He is the most like Mutts to me but with a better feel for his skill set. What he doesn't have (yet) is Mutts experience and knowledge that playing so much has given him. If Johnson can be patient with himself, and the fans can be patient with Johnson, he could be the best of the freshmen group. Ben Hammond - he is ahead of his years in his understanding of the game. I'm not sure how high his ceiling is with physical limitations but from a skill and knowledge standpoint he is ready to play. He can affect the game on both ends. He is a serviceable shooter but not an exceptional one. He is more like Miller in his ability to shoot and be a playmaker, just smaller and quicker. It's going to be interesting to see he and Rechsteiner battle it out to become the next PG after Miller, but I don't expect the loser of that battle to stick around too long, they're both too good not to be playing. Hysier Miller - will be VTs best player next season, and probably the most crucial to their success. He won't make as many risky decisions as Pedulla, but he's also not the shooter Pedulla was. I think ultimately the production out of that spot stays relative the same as last season it'll just be different. More drives and assists, less efficient shooting. Toibu Lawal - super athletic, provides more rim protection than VT has had in the last 2 decades. It's an interesting skill set as the person he is most like in the Mike Young era is David N'Guessan, but outside of that he is quite a bit different than what MY has recruited in the past. He doesn't really fit in as a 4, much like Ryan Jones but for the opposite reason. I think he could guard 1-5 on any given possession without a whole lot of trouble but under MY the 4 spot is a playmaker spot and needs to initiate the action with the ball in his hands. Robbie Beran took quite a while to ingratiate himself into the offense because of the different responsibilities he had as a 4 at VT rather than at Northwestern, even if his skill set as a passer and shooter looked ideal on paper. Lawal is NOT Beran offensively, so I'm just concerned if he plays a majority of the minutes at the 4, that the offense as a whole will take a hit by being more stagnant if Lawal is taking longer than necessary to make the right read. Beran got better at it, but the offense wasn't very efficient early on and the Hokies dropped some games because of it that they otherwise would've won. Jaden Schutt - high level shooter in the same line of Nickel and Cattoor who simply hasn't been on the floor due to injury. He has had injuries to multiple areas, so on one hand you're thrilled it isn't the same knee over and over increasing the risk of re-injury, but on the other hand you wonder if he is an injury risk in general. If he is, then he falls in line with Rodney Rice, Justin Holt, etc. who has a high level skill they never got to show. If he has his injuries behind him, then VT got an absolute steal who has the *potential* to supplant Miller as the best/most important player on the roster. He is that level of talent. Rodney Brown Jr. - I would view him as a 1:1 replacement of Tyler Nickel. Very similar offensively, and at times very similar defensively. I think he has a higher ceiling defensively than Nickel, but that doesn't mean he will reach it. But he is learning a new defense this year and also learning just like anyone else how to be productive within the framework of Mike Young's offense. High ceiling, TBD floor. Ben Burnham - like Robbie Beran but quite different as well. He isn't going to be the defensive help that Beran was, but he plays the game with a team-first mentality that means he makes some plays that can be overlooked that make everything run smoothly, much like Beran. Serviceable to above average shooter. Solid to average playmaker. Won't jump off the page in any one area, but also doesn't do anything in any one area that is bad enough to jump out either.