Virginia

College basketball offseason winners and losers: Duke scores continuity, West Virginia plummets from high

Published

1 year ago

August 17, 2023

College basketball offseason winners and losers: Duke scores continuity, West Virginia plummets from high

Between the transfer market, traditional high school recruiting, summer workouts, foreign tours and all the other commitments required of coaches, there isn’t much of an offseason in modern college basketball. But with the dawn of a new academic year, the 2023 player movement cycle has nearly concluded, bringing the upcoming 2023-24 season into focus.

A few transfers, such as new Kansas State commitment Ques Glover, dragged their recruitments into mid-August. It’s also a normal practice for international prospects such as recent UCLA commitment Aday Mara to sign in August as programs look to fill out some of their remaining scholarship slots.

For the most part, though, the offseason — perhaps free agency is a more appropriate term in 2023 — has concluded. It won’t be long before official practices are fired up and preseason polls and predictions start rolling off the presses.

Before we get there, let’s take a look back at the “offseason” and determine who the winners and losers have been in college basketball since UConn celebrated its national title in Houston on April 3.

Winner: Duke scores continuity

Continuity is a significant but increasingly rare trait in college basketball, and Duke ranked No. 337 in KenPom’s continuity metric last season, as guard Jeremy Roach was the team’s only returning rotation player. A great offseason ensured the Blue Devils will climb the continuity charts in coach Jon Scheyer’s second season. Five members of the Blue Devils’ No. 1 ranked 2022 recruiting class chose to return for their sophomore seasons. Three of them — Kyle Filipowski, Tyrese Proctor and Mark Mitchell — likely would have been drafted. Their returns speak to the foundation established by Scheyer, who also landed the nation’s No. 3 ranked recruiting class. Duke finished 27-9, won the ACC Tournament and earned a No. 5 seed for the NCAA Tournament last season in a transition year. After an excellent offseason of roster retention, the Blue Devils are poised to contend for the national title in 2023-24.

Loser: West Virginia’s offseason goes from great to bleak

West Virginia went from an obvious winner to an obvious loser thanks to the stunning downfall of legendary coach Bob Huggins. First, he dropped a homophobic slur on live radio in May. He managed to stay employed amid that blunder. Then came a June DUI charge that resulted in the end of a head coaching career spanning more than four decades. Making matters all the more painful for WVU is that Huggins’ collapse came at a time of high optimism for the program. The Mountaineers assembled what still ranks among the nation’s best transfer classes. However, starting center Tre Matthews opted to transfer to Kentucky amid the mayhem with Huggins. Assistant Josh Eilert is serving as the interim coach and did a good job to retain big-time transfers such as Kerr Kris from Arizona, Jesse Edwards from Syracuse and RaeQuan Battle from Montana State. But the Huggins fiasco turned a celebratory offseason at WVU into a disaster and casts plenty of doubt over what the Mountaineers will be this season.

Winner: Purdue running it back

The Boilermakers bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in embarrassing fashion as just the second No. 1 seed to ever lose against a No. 16 seed. But a good offseason set Purdue up for a shot at redemption. When reigning National Player of the Year Zach Edey announced his return, the Boilermakers immediately became the top contender to repeat as Big Ten champions. In fact, four of the five players who started in the Boilermakers’ stunning loss to Fairleigh Dickinson opted to return. The only other time a No. 1 seed lost to a No. 16 seed was Virginia in 2018. The Cavaliers proceeded to win the national title the following season. The early portions of a similar script were written this offseason at Purdue with so many key players — none bigger than Edey — choosing to return.

Winner: Rick Pitino makes a splash at St. John’s

It didn’t take long for Rick Pitino to start molding the St. John’s roster to his liking. The 70-year-old coaching legend overhauled the Red Storm this offseason and turned it into a team capable of reaching the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Coveted former Ivy League stars Jordan Dingle (Penn) and Chris Ledlum (Harvard) stand out in the Red Storm’s transfer haul, as does Daniss Jenkins, who led Pitinio’s Iona team in assists while also averaging 15.6 points per game last season. Power conference transfers Nahiem Alleyne (UConn), Glenn Taylor Jr. (Oregon State) and Zuby Ejiofor (Kansas) are quality additions, and former North Carolina commit Simeon Wilcher is a freshman who could play early. The list of additions goes on for Pitino, who also got all-Big East performer Joel Soriano to stay after averaging 15.2 points and 11.9 rebounds last season. How long Pitino will continue to coach is anyone’s guess, and he wasted no time getting his new program up and running.

Loser: Michigan’s roster takes hits

Losing Kobe Bufkin and Jett Howard was to be expected, and both wound up as top-15 NBA Draft picks. But the transfer of star center Hunter Dickinson to Kansas after three all-Big Ten campaigns struck a brutal blow to coach Juwan Howard’s program. The offseason woes were compounded when North Carolina transfer Caleb Love had to back out of his commitment to the Wolverines because of a hangup with academic credits. Michigan wound up with three transfers comprising the nation’s No. 51 ranked transfer class. None of them bring anything close to what Dickinson and Love could provide offensively. All told, the offseason left Wolverines’ 2023-24 roster looking significantly less talented than a 2022-23 roster that failed to reach the NCAA Tournament.

Winner: Big 12 keeps beefing up

Losing Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC is certainly not ideal, but they were always better known for their football anyway. While the replacement crew of BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF was already established, this offseason brought news that even more quality basketball programs are on the way. In particular, the addition of Arizona (along with Arizona State, Colorado and Utah) for the 2024-25 season should solidify the Big 12 atop the conference hierarchy in college basketball. A league that features Arizona, Baylor, Houston, Kansas as its upper quadrant is absolutely stacked. Of the eight No. 1 seeds in the past two NCAA Tournaments, five came from that group. Realignment has shifted the balance of football power even more distinctly to the Big Ten and SEC. But the Big 12 remains king of the court until proven otherwise.

Loser: Pac-12 schools get left behind

There was ample reason for optimism at Cal amid the hiring of Mark Madsen and his subsequent recruitment of an excellent transfer class. While the 2023-24 season could still be a good one for the Bears, the long-term outlook for Cal, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State is suddenly bleak. With eight Pac-12 members leaving for the Big Ten or Big 12 after this season, those four have been left in limbo. None of them were thriving to begin with, and now their basketball outlook is even more uncertain. Recruiting figures to be a particularly difficult exercise for the staffs at those schools until their long-term conference affiliations are ironed out.

Loser: Colorado returning to tough territory

Before transitioning to the Pac-12 from the Big 12 for the 2011-12 season, Colorado went five straight seasons without a winning record in the Big 12. Upon joining the Pac-12, the Buffaloes promptly rattled off three straight winning seasons while making the NCAA Tournament each season. The Buffs have remained a consistent mid-tier Pac-12 program under coach Tad Boyle for 12 years, enjoying some of their better seasons of the past half-century while members of the league. Now, they are heading back to a Big 12 that is going to be particularly brutal in basketball. As an institution, CU was smart to get a head start on fleeing a crumbling Pac-12. But finding the upside on the hardwood is tough. Life will be similarly challenging in the Big 12 for schools like Arizona State and Utah. But the transition is particularly striking for Colorado because of how much the Buffs previously struggled in the Big 12.

Winner: FAU fends off the portal

It seemed likely that FAU’s roster would be raided once the Owls’ Cinderella NCAA Tournament run ended. The stars of the program’s stunning Final Four run would parlay their newfound fame into NIL paydays with power conference programs and relegate little ‘ol FAU to rebuilding status during its first season in the AAC. Not so fast. Coach Dusty May stayed put, and the roster followed suit. All five starters are returning, including NCAA Tournament stars Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin. Only one rotation player, Michael Forrest, is departing, and that’s because he ran out of eligibility. The Owls are well-equipped to compete for the AAC title and return to the Big Dance. The feel good story is rolling on in Boca Raton.

Source link

Virginia

Virginia Tech Football: Three Keys to Victory for the Hokies on Saturday vs Virginia

Published

2 hours ago

November 28, 2024

Press Room

Virginia Tech Football: Three Keys to Victory for the Hokies on Saturday vs Virginia

The rivalry matchup between Virginia Tech and Virginia is nearly 48 hours away and it is a big matchup for both teams. The Hokies and the Cavaliers are both 5-6 and needing a win to make a bowl game. The loser will be getting a headstart on 2025 instead of playing in the postseason.

At the start of the year, Virginia Tech was being talked about as one of the biggest surprise teams not just in the ACC, but in the country. This team’s biggest goals have gone away, but they still have an opportunity to reach a bowl game for the second straight season. That should still be a big deal to the program, but on the other side, the Cavaliers are trying to make a bowl game for the first time under Tony Elliott. They are going to be fired up about playing in this game and having a chance to make a bowl game, so Virginia Tech can’t take it for granted, no matter their past success vs Virginia.

So what are the keys to a win for Virginia Tech on Saturday?

Before you could even blink on Saturday night, Virginia Tech was trailing Duke 14-0 thanks to two long touchdown plays and the Blue Devils have not been a very explosive offense this season. Virginia has found a way to put points on teams like Clemson and Louisville this season and has improved since last year. The Hokies’ pass rush was non-existent on Saturday vs Duke, finishing with no sacks and being unable to disrupt Duke quarterback Maalik Murphy. They will have to be able to play better on Saturday if they want to avoid the upset.

It is still up in the air who is going to play quarterback for the Hokies on Saturday night, but whoever it is would benefit from a big game from one of the nation’s best running backs. Tuten had 84 yards on 19 carries last week, but Virginia Tech might need more than that on Saturday when the face the Cavaliers.

Our own RJ Schafer wrote this about the quarterbavck situation heading into Saturday’s game:

“Brent Pry listed both Kyron Drones and Collin Schlee as questionable ahead of the historic matchup. He added that both will practice, although very limited, and they could “just be watching” from the sidelines.

Coach Pry also added that Virginia Tech is preparing four quarterbacks to be ready to play this weekend, including Davi Belfort, a freshman quarterback from Brazil, a country which could begin to be the future of American college football.

Whoever plays this weekend is going to have to have to manage the game and not turn the ball over. I think the offense is going rely on the run game heavily this weekend due to that.

Additional Links:

Virginia Tech Football Releases Depth Chart Ahead of Matchup Against Virginia

Virginia Tech Football: PFF Grades and Snap Counts For Every Player in Saturday’s Loss to Duke

Virginia Tech Football: Updated Bowl Projections For The Hokies Heading Into Final Game

Source link

Virginia

Big Tests On The Horizon For Virginia Tech Wrestling – FloWrestling

Published

10 hours ago

November 28, 2024

Press Room

Big Tests On The Horizon For Virginia Tech Wrestling – FloWrestling

At 3-0 with marquee victories over #6 Missouri (23-10) and #21 Rutgers (26-11), as well as a second-place finish in the Keystone Open with just a handful of starters competing, Virginia Tech has swept through a tough November and is prepared for a difficult December.

The Hokies, #12 in Flo’s team tournament ratings but top 10 in various dual-meet rankings, are next scheduled for an annual trip to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational, featuring 27 teams, of which 14 are among Flo’s top 25. And then it’s another trip west to Stillwater on Dec. 19 to challenge #5 Oklahoma State in a rare Thursday match.

The early key thus far for the Hokies has been the ability to win the bouts they’re supposed to win and grabbing a fair share of so-called toss-up bouts.

To wit, Tech’s #18 Sam Latona downing Missouri’s #13 Josh Edmond (4-2) at 141, or #25 Rafael Hipolito majoring the Tigers’ #32 James Conway (11-3) at 157 and #15 Jimmy Mullen stopping #20 Seth Nitzel (4-2) at heavyweight.

That trend continued at Tech’s Moss Arts Center match against #21 Rutgers when Latona used a late takedown to defeat Joey Olivieri 7-5, #4 Lennox Wolak pinned veteran Jackson Turley at 174 and #9 Andy Smith slipped past #17 John Poznanski 4-3 at 197.

Hokies coach Tony Robie only took a few regulars to the Keystone Open in Philadelphia and, led by championship efforts by #1-ranked Caleb Henson at 149 and heavyweight Hunter Catka, Tech placed second behind Lock Haven. Latona placed third at 141 and Sam Fisher did the same at 184.

Robie opted to use the Hokies’ roster as freshmen Dillon Campbell (125), Matt Henrich (157), Luke Robie (157) and Jack Bastarrika (133) competed as did redshirt juniors Jackson Spires (165) and Ty Finn (174). Spires placed second.

Who’s Ready For Change?

With legislation on the NCAA’s table affecting scholarship and roster limits — unlimited scholarships and a roster cap — as well as revenue sharing, some college wrestling programs likely have a serious dose of trepidation while others are confident they can deal with whatever happens.

Virginia Tech sits in the latter category.

“I have no concerns whatsoever about that,” Robie said earlier this month. “I think a lot of it probably will happen. It’s hard to say whether it’s good or bad for the sport; that’s not really for me to say. What I will say is you have to adjust with what the rules are and what the landscape of college athletics looks like, and that’s what we intend on doing.

“Is it good for the overall health of the sport of wrestling? The kid that’s the 35th kid on your roster? Probably not. But I think definitely there were probably some things that needed to change; the pendulum was starting to swing significantly the other way. At some point, it’ll probably start to go back to the middle.”

Robie said all anyone can do is wait for the final decisions.

“We have some contingency plans based on what we think is going to happen and we’ll move forward with our plan and try to execute it,” he said.

A Pretty Good Gig

Robie, in his eighth year as head coach, has been at Tech since 2006 and as each season passes, the commitment and enthusiasm remain the same.

“Well, you get to do what you like to do. And it’s a pretty cool thing to be able to coach wrestling for a living and be a part of a pretty good program, and work with some great people and try to affect the lives of the kids in your program,” he said.

“I think anybody would want to do that. For me, I’m not young anymore. I turned 50 … who knows how long I’m going to do it, but I’m going to give it the best I can while I’m doing it and hopefully continue to improve as a program and try to try to help these guys as much as possible. But it’s good, Virginia Tech’s a great place to work, it’s a great place to live. I’ve got a great staff and it makes my life pretty easy.”

Source link

Virginia

VIDEO: UVA Football Players Preview the Virginia Tech Game

Published

18 hours ago

November 27, 2024

Press Room

VIDEO: UVA Football Players Preview the Virginia Tech Game

With the game of year looming this weekend, members of the Virginia football team were made available to to the media after practice on Tuesday morning to talk about the regular season finale against Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash on Saturday night in Blacksburg. Watch the video below to hear what UVA senior safety Jonas Sanker, graduate tight ends Tyler Neville and Sackett Wood Jr., and graduate defensive tackle Jahmeer Carter had to say ahead of the Virginia Tech game:

Sanker is the team’s leader in tackles with 89 total tackles and also leads the ACC in solo stops with 60 unassisted tackles. He has racked up 8.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, four pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and an interception as part of a strong senior campaign that should earn Sanker some serious consideration for a First-Team All-ACC selection.

A transfer from Harvard, Tyler Neville is Virginia’s second-leading receiver with 35 catches for 387 yards and two touchdowns. Sackett Wood Jr., meanwhile, has recorded three receptions for 18 yards and a touchdown this season. Between the two of them, Neville and Wood have combined to appear in 83 college football games and make 48 starts.

Saturday will be the 55th game in the five-year career of Jahmeer Carter, who has started nearly every game for the last four seasons at Virginia. This season, Carter has 30 total tackles, including nine solo stops, two tackles for loss, one sack, and a pass defender. For his career, Carter is up to 131 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 7.5 tackles for loss.

Saturday night will be the first time Virginia plays at Lane Stadium in front of fans since the 2018 season, as the 2020 edition of the Commonwealth Clash was played in front of only 250 fans due to COVID-19 restrictions and then the 2022 Virginia vs. Virginia Tech game was canceled due to the shooting tragedy at UVA.

Virginia is seeking its first road victory at Virginia Tech since 1998, as the Hokies have won the last 11 Commonwealth Clash games played at Lane Stadium. Virginia Tech has won 17 of the last 18 overall games against Virginia and leads UVA 61-38-5 in the all-time series that dates back to 1895.

Both Virginia and Virginia Tech bring a 5-6 overall record into the regular season finale and both need to win the game in order to reach the six-win threshold required for bowl eligibility. There is only one other game this weekend between FBS teams who are battling for bowl eligibility (Eastern Michigan vs. Western Michigan). Virginia and Virginia Tech played each other for bowl eligibility at the end of the 2014 season.

UVA Football: Players to Watch in Virginia vs. Virginia Tech

UVA Football Week 14 Injury Report: Kobe Pace, Kempton Shine, Trell Harris

Virginia Football Depth Chart vs. Virginia Tech | Takeaways, Analysis

Virginia Football Opens as Touchdown Underdogs at Virginia Tech

UVA Football Report Card: Handing Out Grades for Virginia vs. SMU

Source link