Virginia

Clemson Basketball Preview: Clemson vs Virginia Tech

Published

2 days ago

January 24, 2025

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Clemson Basketball Preview: Clemson vs Virginia Tech

Clemson (16-4, 8-1 ACC) vs Virginia Tech (8-11, 3-5 ACC)

Blacksburg Virginia, Cassell Coliseum

Saturday, January 25th, 5 PM

ACC Network

This isn’t a good Virginia Tech team. Mike Young’s squad has struggled all season against any team with a pulse. Their win over NC State on January 15 is their only victory over a team in the KenPom top 100, and NC State is ranked 97th. On top of not beating good teams, they have a few head-scratching losses on their resume, including a home loss to Jacksonville and an away loss to Georgia Tech last time out in a battle of bottom-tier ACC squads.

I will say this for the Hokies: they’ve managed to cobble together three ACC wins over Miami, Cal, and the aforementioned NC State. They are currently on a two-game losing streak, including a nine-point home loss to Wake Forest. If the Hokies are going to salvage anything from this season, knocking off Clemson at home could be the impetus to turn things around during the back half of the ACC schedule.

Turnovers have been one of the primary issues for Virginia Tech. Their turnover percentage of 20.7% ranks 332nd in the country (out of 364 teams). Meanwhile, Clemson’s defensive turnover percentage of 20.5% is good for 48th in the country. Virginia Tech is terrible at holding onto the ball, and Clemson is pretty good at taking it away. If that trend holds, it’s going to be tough for the Hokies to win this game.

Giving a team as efficient on offense as Clemson (currently 26th in the nation in terms of offensive efficiency) extra chances to score is a bad idea. The Hokies lost the turnover battle 17-10 to Georgia Tech in their loss in Atlanta and 14-7 in their home loss to Wake Forest. Forward Tobi Lawal and guard “Little Poppa Pump” Bradon Rechsteiner have both struggled with turnovers this season, coughing the ball up around 2.5 times a game. Look for Clemson’s sticky defense to force Tech to go the long way around on offense. The Tigers are the best team in the nation in terms of forcing opponents to use clock on offense. The longer Tech has the ball and the more passes they attempt, the better it is for Clemson.

Inside scoring is another spot where the Tigers should have a decisive advantage. Tech is allowing teams to shoot 54.8% from two (302nd in the nation) this season. Clemson isn’t great at scoring inside the arc, hitting 51.8% (153rd) from two, but the combination of Ian Schieffelin and Viktor Lakhin should find the going easier against Virginia Tech. Their frontcourt combination of Tobi Lawal (6’8”) at power forward and Mylyjael Poteat (6’9”) at center leaves a lot to be desired in terms of rim protection. Look for the Clemson guards, led by Chase Hunter, to attack the paint all game.

This could also be an opportunity for Ian to polish his post-game ahead of the back half of the ACC schedule.

Virginia Tech is going to need help from Clemson in this game. If the Tigers play anything close to their “B game” on Saturday, I don’t think the Hokies have much of a chance. The Tigers are too good on offense, and Virginia Tech isn’t particularly good on defense.

The only way forward I see for Tech is to play a game similar to the one they played in their win over NC State. They put enough points on the board in that one because they got hot from three, hitting 11-22 from behind the arc, including a 3-3 performance from leading scorer Tobi Lawal and a 3-4 performance from Jaden Schutt.

The three-point line is the one place where Tech could potentially hurt the Tigers. They’re currently hitting 36.2% (70th) of their three-point attempts. That’s not great, but that—along with offensive rebounding (72nd)—are the only two areas where they are ranked in the top 100 in KenPom.

The problem they run into is that Clemson is currently shooting 39.2% (8th) from behind the arc. Still, shooting on the road can be tricky in college basketball and can act as a great equalizer. Clemson shot 33% (8-24) from three in their road loss to Louisville and would need to replicate something similar—both in terms of volume and percentage—to lose on the road in Blacksburg.

As long as they don’t fall in love with a three-point shot that isn’t falling and remember to work inside-out on offense to get quality outside looks, the Tigers should win this game.

Prediction

KenPom

Clemson – 72

Virginia Tech – 63

Confidence – 80%

Drew

Clemson – 77

Virginia Tech – 63

Clemson is the better team and has handled its business on the road against opponents ranked outside of the KenPom top 100 this season. Virginia Tech is ranked 170th and hasn’t exactly been stellar at home this season. The Tigers are too talented and experienced to get drawn into the kind of rock fight Tech needs to win this game.

As long as Clemson breaks 70, they should be bringing a dub back home to Tiger Town. I think they put up 77 and force Tech’s offense into an unsustainable number of turnovers.

Of course, I could also be totally wrong.

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Virginia

JD Vance 'fulfilling his promise' with first trip as vice president to hurricane-damaged Virginia town

Published

14 minutes ago

January 26, 2025

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JD Vance 'fulfilling his promise' with first trip as vice president to hurricane-damaged Virginia town

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FIRST ON FOX: JD Vance is “fulfilling his promise” to American voters as he makes his first trip as vice president to Damascus, Virginia, on Monday to visit areas affected by Hurricane Helene in late September.

It will be Vance’s second trip to Damascus since the hurricane swept across the southeast on Sept. 27, destroying parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and leaving more than 200 people dead.

“Vice President Vance visited with Damascus residents in October after the town was ravaged by Hurricane Helene,” a spokesperson for the vice president told Fox News Digital. “He pledged to be back, and now he’s fulfilling his promise. The first week of this administration has made it clear that President Trump and Vice President Vance keep their word.”

Vance’s trip comes just days after President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump and other politicians visited Asheville, Fletcher and Swannanoa, North Carolina, on Jan. 24, marking the now-president’s second trip to those areas since September.

HURRICANE SURVIVORS WHO MET TRUMP IN NORTH CAROLINA SHARE PRESIDENT’S WORDS THAT STUCK WITH THEM

Vice President-elect JD Vance, left, takes the oath of office as his wife, Usha, watches on Jan. 20, 2025. (Kevin Lamarque/Pool Photo via AP)

Trump spoke in all three towns but allowed a group of locals who lost everything in Helene to share their own personal stories during his stop in Swannanoa. Some locals have taken issue with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) handling of the disaster, saying it has too much red tape for those in need of immediate assistance to get the help they need, whether it be housing, money or both.

“I’ll also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina on Friday morning. “I think, frankly, FEMA is not good.”

FEMA EXTENDS TRANSITIONAL HOUSING PROGRAM FOR NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS DISPLACED BY HURRICANE HELENE

President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, N.C., on Jan. 24, 2025. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump also promised that his administration would step in and assist North Carolina to fix the damage quickly, vowing to “do a good job” for the state.

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“We’re going to fix it, and we’re going to fix it as fast as you can,” Trump said. “It’s a massive amount of damage. FEMA has really let us down, let the country down. And I don’t know if that’s [former President Joe] Biden’s fault or whose fault it is, but we’re going to take over. We’re going to do a good job.”

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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How does West Virginia fill out the 2025 class needs with recruiting?

Published

12 hours ago

January 26, 2025

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How does West Virginia fill out the 2025 class needs with recruiting?

West Virginia has 22 current high school or junior college commitments in the 2025 recruiting class so how will the coaching staff go about filling the rest of the remaining slots?

The Mountaineers still have needs left to fill. Which ones take priority with the remaining slots?

The Mountaineers have filled a need at quarterback with a commitment from Mentor (Oh.) 2025 quarterback Scotty Fox.

As for the rest of the positions, the program has two Drexel Hill (Pa.) Monsignor Bonner 2025 wide receiver Jalil Hall and Hurricane (W.Va.) 2025 wide receiver Tyshawn Dues, one tight end in De Forest (Wi.) 2025 tight end Jackson Accuard,i and four offensive linemen in Olney (Md.) Good Counsel 2025 offensive lineman Gavin Crawford, Olney (Md.) Good Counsel 2025 offensive lineman Eidan Buchanan, Parma (Oh.) Padua Franciscan 2025 offensive lineman Brandon Homady and Cincinnati (Oh.) La Salle 2025 offensive tackle Jahmir Davis.

On the defensive side, the Mountaineers have five defensive line commitments in Nashville (Tn.) Lipscomb Academy defensive lineman Amir Leonard-Jean Charles, Miami (Fla.) Northwestern 2025 defensive end Wilnerson Telemaque, Cleveland Heights (Oh.) 2025 defensive lineman Brandon Caesar, Upper Marlboro (Md.) Wise 2025 defensive lineman Taylor Brown and Huntingtown (Md.) 2025 defensive lineman Evan Powell, one linebacker in Douglasville (Ga.) 2025 linebacker Michael Hastie, two pass-rushing linebackers in Coconut Creek (Fla.) Monarch 2025 defensive end Romando Johnson and Glendora (Ca.) Citrus College 2025 edge Keenan Eck and six defensive backs in Columbus (Oh.) Marion Franklin 2025 cornerback Dawayne Galloway, Bel Air (Md.) 2025 safety Julien Horton, Lakeland (Fla.) 2025 defensive back Sammy Etienne, Huntington (W.Va.) 2025 safety Zah Jackson, Columbus (Oh.) Beechcroft 2025 athlete Tyrell Russell and Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College High School 2025 spear Chris Fileppo.

The Mountaineers also have transfer additions from: two quarterbacks in Jayden Henderson (Texas A&M) and Max Brown (Charlotte); two running backs in Tye Edwards (Northern Iowa) and LJ Turner (Catawba College); five wide receivers in Cam Vaughn (Jacksonville State), Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan), Cyrus Traugh (Youngstown State), Jarod Bowie (Jacksonville State), Jeff Weimer (Idaho State); two tight ends in Johnny Pascuzzi (Iowa) and Jacob Barrick (Jacksonville State); six offensive lineman Will Reed (Princeton), Walter Young Bear (Tulsa), Kimo Makane’ole (LSU), Robby Martin (N.C. State), Ty’kieast Crawford (Arkansas) and Wyatt Minor (Youngstown State); one defensive lineman in Braden Siders (Wyoming); two linebackers in Chase Wilson (Colorado State) and Ashton Woods (North Carolina); one pass rushing linebacker in Jimmori Robinson (Texas San Antonio); four safeties in Fred Perry (Jacksonville State), Jordan Walker (UT Chattanooga), Justin Harrington (Washington) and William Davis (Virginia Union); and finally five cornerbacks with Michael Coats (Nevada), Jordan Scruggs (South Alabama), Devonte Golden-Nelson (Akron), Jason Chambers (Appalachian State) and Derek Carter (Jacksonville State).

So what positions are left to fill?

The Mountaineers should not take another quarterback with Fox, Henderson, and Brown filling the need in the 2025 cycle although they could look at a younger option with multiple years of eligibility. The Mountaineers should be done at running back with the two experienced transfers in the mix.

Tight end remains a position that could potentially have another addition depending on the options that are there in the transfer portal.

West Virginia could still add at least one more at wide receiver to round out that position group although that would only be for the right addition likely a slot type that can create after the catch.

On the offensive line, the Mountaineers have three commitments in place from high school and six more from the portal but this is the biggest priority. There will need to be several more additions.

That means overall, the offensive side of the ball could still take anywhere from 4-5 more players at the various spots.

On the defensive line West Virginia has five commitments and a transfer addition, but the program could look at adding at least one more depending on the options.

Inside linebacker won’t be as heavily hit this cycle but the Mountaineers could still add one more outside Hastie and the transfers while outside linebacker is likely set with Robinson, Eck, and Johnson.

The defensive backfield has been hit heavily in this class but could still add some pieces likely through the junior college ranks or transfer portal.

That means that on defense the Mountaineers still need to add as many as 4-5.

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Sharp-shooting Notre Dame MBB wins at Virginia for first time

Published

19 hours ago

January 26, 2025

Press Room

Sharp-shooting Notre Dame MBB wins at Virginia for first time

Don’t blame Micah Shrewsberry for being uncomfortable with a 12-point halftime lead in Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena.

The head coach of Notre Dame’s men’s basketball program saw his team squander a 10-point lead at NC State and a 17-point lead at Syracuse in the past three weeks. And no Notre Dame coach had ever left a road game in Charlottesville with a victory over Virginia in nine previous tries.

“We haven’t played well on the road,” Shrewsberry said. “We’ve had opportunities. We were up double figures in NC State. We’re up double figures in Syracuse. We gotta finish games. We gotta capitalize better.”

Notre Dame put those troubles behind with a 74-59 win Saturday night. A sharp-shooting offensive performance, which included 12 3-pointers, allowed the Irish (9-10, 3-5 ACC) to pick up their first ACC road win of the season.

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Notre Dame looked pretty good in the first half when star guard Markus Burton led the way with 15 points. The Irish shot 14-of-34 from the field in the first 20 minutes with half of those made field goals coming from behind the 3-point arc on 15 attempts. Burton made four 3s in the first half and his other three points came at the free throw line.

Notre Dame committed only one turnover in the first half while assisting on eight of its made baskets. The Irish played sound defense on everyone but Isaac McKneely. The 6-foot-4 guard scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, while none of his teammates tallied more than three points in the half. The Cavaliers (9-11, 2-7 ACC) made just 37.9% of their shots from the field and didn’t attempt a free throw.

The Irish showed they were going to stay hot from 3 from the start of the second half. Braeden Shrewsberry and Matt Allocco scored the first two buckets of the half for the Irish from 3-point land. Then even 6-10 forward Kebba Njie drilled a 3-pointer to extend Notre Dame’s lead to 48-31 with 16:30 remaining.

“I thought we had great effort defensively in the first half,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “I thought those guys really followed the game plan. The start of the second half, I thought was big. I thought we came out with lot of great energy. To be able to go on a run instead of the other team going on the run against us, I think was really big for our kinda psyche as a team.”

Notre Dame led by as many as 27 points when Burton made a breakaway layup with 8:11 remaining. That lead was sizeable enough that a 10-run from Virginia didn’t cause too much concern.

The biggest scare of the second half came when Burton briefly went to the locker room to get his ankle examined. He returned to action later in the game.

“Just kind of rolled his ankle at the end of a drive,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “He went to stop and just kind of rolled it. He just ran back, got re-taped, and came back and finished.

“My heart stops, though, when you see that. I ask him every few minutes, are you OK? When he’s asking to come out, you know something has happened. But it was very, very minor where he was able to come back and finish.”

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Freshman forward Jacob Cofie tried to get Virginia close with 15 points in the second half. But the Irish completely blanked McKneely with him missing all four of his 3-point attempts in the second half after his first half success. Notre Dame made a point to stick to McKneely in the second half.

“I’m yelling at Braeden the whole second half, stay with him,” Shrewsberry said. “Like he’s at the logo, and I’m like, stay with him. Just because he can make one or two and get going and now the place gets loud, teammates start getting going, they start guarding more.

“We made a small adjustment, but I think just not helping as much helped us.”

Notre Dame entered Saturday ranked No. 50 out of 355 Division I teams in 3-point shooting percentage at 36.8. But the Irish only attempted 21.6 3-pointers per game, which is good for 228th nationally. That’s why Micah Shrewsberry encouraged his team to shoot them more frequently.

With Burton, who dished three assists while scoring a game-high 21 points, and forward Tae Davis, who led the Irish with five assists with six rebounds and 16 points, continuing to be threats off the dribble, their drives helped open opportunities for others. Notre Dame finished 12-of-23 from 3 against Virginia.

“We need to find a way to get more attempts than we did,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “I think that’s a credit to Markus and Tae really getting into the paint, and it forces a lot of people and forces a lot of attention on them. I thought they did a great job of finding guys and kicking it out.”

Braeden Shrewsberry hit three 3-pointers on his way to 13 points. Allocco buried a pair with eight points.

The Irish may be able to stack a few wins together when they host Georgia Tech (9-11, 3-6) on Tuesday and visit Miami (4-16, 0-9) on Saturday. Both teams are below Notre Dame in the conference standings, but the Yellow Jackets beat the Irish, 86-75, in Atlanta on Dec. 31.

Notre Dame needs to continue to emphasize defensive intensity, but the signs of progress with the Irish offense may have been the most encouraging result against a Virginia team that allows just 64.5 points per game. Micah Shrewsberry didn’t have to draw up opportunities for individuals Saturday night. The ball moved where it needed to rather than where it was designed to go.

“Now we’re getting to the point, hopefully we can keep getting to this point, where it’s the number’s getting called for Notre Dame,” Shrewsberry said. “Let’s get the best shot for Notre Dame. I think that’s what happened. I think they just unselfishly turned one down to just keep finding the open guy.”

BOX SCORE: Notre Dame 74, Virginia 59

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