PG - Pasha Wing - 2 of Bedford, Schutt and Johnson (all will play probably close to equal minutes) 4 - Lawal 5 - Hansberry I would have Dorn above Gurdak at the moment. It's a lot harder to know how an 18 year old will adjust to college than a foreign 22 year old. Gurdak may ultimately win the job outright or eventually become the guy later in the season, but it's pretty telling the staff went and got 2 grown men to play center. You dont spend resources it would take to get a 22 year old with professional experience to have them be the 3rd center All 3 will play, just like the wing spots. I think Hansberry will outpace both in minutes played, but I would expect around 12 to 15 mpg from Dorn and 5 to 12 from Gurdak. PG will be about a 60/40 split between Pasha and Hammond with Bedford getting emergency PG duties. If they add the INTL wing, then I would pencil him in for close to 30 mpg with serious hits to Schutt and Bedford's minuted. I'm not expecting Sincere Jones to factor into the rotation for a while. Hansberry is the backup 4. Johnson played 4 in emergency situations last season. Jones can sit and learn.

Here's how I'd see the minutes shaking out (IF the current roster stays as is...which isn't likely) Pasha - 29 Hammond - 17 Bedford - 23 Schutt - 23 Johnson - 28 Lawal - 30 Hansberry - 30 Dorn - 12 Gurdak - 8 Developmental/Situational Jones Gurdak (?)

I'm wondering if he's now looking at a situational role at VT (as opposed to more meaningful time), which is causing a similar type of role and extra $$ from Duke to be more attractive.

But it's an interesting case. I'm not sure he's ready for the changes to the college game, but he so skilled that it would be hard to not put on the floor. I think it would depend on how he showed up on campus ready to learn/work. He's not in the same boat as Jones where it's more clear he will need time, but it's also not like Tyler Johnson where it's pretty clear he's ready from the jump. I think his ceiling is definitely higher than Johnson, but Johnson had a much higher floor

If we get another wing who is capable of playing a lot, then Hawthorne would probably be the 5th wing and play sparingly. If we don't, then he'll be in the rotation and play plenty.

…of having 5 who can play (+sincere developing)

Maybe we will. It would be sweet if we could. My understanding is that he's trying to find the balance between where he can go where he plays enough to actually develop and how much money he'll be making. Duke and Kentucky can pay him more, obviously. But how much would he play? If I were Kentucky, I'd be trying to sell him on a redshirt year. I'm not sure what Duke's lineup looks right now, so I can't comment. If he committed to Tech right now, he'd be in the rotation on the wing. But if we get the international, that would probably knock him back to fifth, unless he could beat out one of Schutt, Johnson or Bedford. My understand is that he's a very skilled player with a high upside, but he's also very raw right now. So sort of a guy who starting at a slightly lower point, but his ceiling is higher. IMO, guys like that are generally better off going to somewhere they can play early and then transfer up rather than spend a year on somebody's bench. But don't rule out Pitt, either. Maybe they are the sweet spot for him. At any rate, I'd be surprised if we ended up with both Hawthorne and the international. And if the coaching staff could choose one of the two, I think it would be the international, as I've heard they've saved a significant amount of money for him.

I think I too would prefer the international guy. NBA caliber talent is a cheat code in college basketball. We were at our best when we had a first round talent in NAW here. UVA won a championship because they had a lottery pick on their team. Having elite talent like that is a massive advantage. Plus, this lineup screams Sweet 16 potential: 1 - Pasha 2 - Bedford 3 - Avdalas 4 - Lawal 5 - Hansberry 6 - Johnson (2/3) 7 - Hammond (1) 8 - Schutt (2/3) 9 - Dorn (4/5) That's a good enough group to challenge atop a weak ACC and potentially make some noise in the NCAA tournament. If we add Hawthorne instead, I think that helps for 2026-2027 but hurts us this year likely bumping us back to being a bubble team.

"Come on Dorn, get in front of the ball, don't give me this olay BS."

Mrs. "You're a great kid." ;-)

all his games. Being the closest thing he has to a hometown team could be a selling point that Duke or UK can’t promise.

PG - Pasha, Hammond Wing - Schutt, Bedford, Johnson Wing - Johnson, Bedford, Schutt PF - Lawal, Hansberry Center - Hansberry, Dorn That gives us an 8 man rotation if roster stays as it is now.

Any chance of line Lawal planning some 3? PG - Pasha/Hammond SG - Bedford/Schutt/Johnson SF - Johnson/Lawal/Jones PF - Lawal/Hansberry/Jones C - Hansberry/Gurdak/Dorn Any chance we see lineups with Lawal, Hansberry, and Gurdak? Also can Bedford or Johnson play point in an emergency?

Hall started 3.5/2.0 his freshman yr then quickly increased that to 15/6 the remaining 3 yrs at Clemson. Any real pundants have any thoughts on that comp? ** Edited by chagerma at 5/1/2025, 3:10:05 PM

I'm going to start getting my hopes up

Like we had for 3 years who balled out for U MISS 🏀

Another depth piece would be more likely. AND ALSO? Both Schutt and Bedford are starting caliber sgs? You want a prolific scoring threat at the 2, which Mike young has pretty much never had in his tenure at tech. Radford was probably the best in that regard and Jayden Young fulfilled that role (sometimes). Last season this core showed that they could win games by having multiple contributors. As long as offensive efficiency increases drastically, which it should, I don’t think having a prolific 2 guard is a necessity. Would be great, but who knows how much $ tech has left; I can’t imagine it’s enough for the type of player you would want….

could figure out why CMY played him when he needed points!!

If you think I’m criticizing previous rosters in my original post, that wasn’t my intent?

Going to see what Visa thinks about bumping my credit limit up to 2 mil, temporarily