Last Year: 19-15; Eleventh (8-12) in the Atlantic Coast Conference; lost in the first round of the NIT
Head Coach: Mike Young (Fifth Year; 73-51 at Virginia Tech with two NCAA Tournament appearances)
Projected Starting Lineup
| PG Sean Pedulla – 6’1″, 195 – Junior |
| SG Hunter Cattoor – 6’3″, 200 – Senior (5th) |
| W Rodney Rice, Jr – 6’4″, 205 – Sophomore |
| F Robbie Beran – 6’9″, 215 – Senior (5th) |
| F/C Lynn Kidd – 6’10”, 235 – Senior |
Projected Starters’ 2022-23 Stats
Sean Pedulla: 15.0 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.8 apg, 1.2 spg – 34.4% 3FG
Hunter Cattoor: 10.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.0 spg – 42.4% 3FG
Rodney Rice, Jr: 7.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.8 spg – 33.3% 3FG in eight games played
Robbie Beran: 7.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.7 bpg, 0.5 spg – 34.5% 3FG
Lynn Kidd: 5.0 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.4 bpg – 66.4% FG
Experienced Reserves
| W Mekhi Long – 6’7″, 200 – Senior (5th) |
| G MJ Collins – 6’4″, 195 – Sophomore |
| F/C Mylyjael Poteat – 6’9″, 265 – Senior |
| F Tyler Nickell – 6’7″, 220 – Sophomore |
| F John Camden – 6’8″, 210 – Junior |
Experienced Reserves’ 2022-23 Stats
Mekhi Long: 10.7 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.5 spg – 35.9% 3FG @ Old Dominion
MJ Collins: 4.1 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.4 spg – 34.8% FG
Mylyjael Poteat: 3.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.1 bpg – 64.2% FG
Tyler Nickel: 2.1 ppg, 0.6 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.1 spg – 37.5% FG @ North Carolina
John Camden: 1.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.2 apg – 25.0% FG
Freshmen
| G Brandon Rechsteiner – 6’1″, 185 – Freshman – Consensus Top 150 recruit |
| G Jaydon Young – 6’4″, 190 – Freshman |
| C Patrick Wessler – 7’0″, 255 – Redshirt Freshman |
The Gobblers stalled a bit last year. After three seasons of steady improvements which culminated in an Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship two years ago, head coach Mike Young and his program had a ton of positive momentum behind them. Last year’s Hokies were young, sure, but they could re-tool on the fly and stay in contention for the ACC title, right? Because that was the trajectory which Young had set the program upon, of course. Especially with the top recruiting & transfer class of Young’s tenure coming aboard and a star freshman in Rodney Rice.
And things started out fairly well, with a win over #18 North Carolina and, coming off of a blowout win over A10 power Dayton, nobody saw the Hokies approaching a cliff. The morning of December 21st, Tech was 11-1. The night of January 21st, the Hokies fell by a point at Clemson, 51-50. It was their seventh straight ACC loss. And, though the season didn’t unravel, Tech never really recovered.
Not having Rice to start the year due to injury, and then losing him again almost immediately to a broken finger in practice – practice, man – hurt. So did losing veteran guards Darius Maddox, who left the team midseason to attend to family matters, and Hunter Cattoor for two weeks with what was revealed after the season to have been a fractured elbow that he played through to finish the season. The Hokies didn’t have the continuity they were hoping for, but Rice did return down the stretch to get some meaningful experience.
Now, Young is starting again with a healthy and deep backcourt, but largely a new frontcourt. Veterans Grant Basile and do-it-all forward Justyn Mutts, one of the Tech faithfuls’ favorites over the past three years, have moved on. How well the new bigs and bigs in new roles can perform may have a lot to say about Tech’s fate; but the guards will drive this team.
That’s because Cattoor is back for his ‘Covid Year’, Rice is healthy, MJ Collins is a year older and breakout star Sean Pedulla has returned to lead the team after averaging 15 points as a sophomore. Pedulla, from the ACC recruiting hotbed of Edmond, Oklahoma, was great in his first year as a starter, knocking down 67 triples and handing out 130 assists. Now the unquestioned lead ballhandler and playmaker without Mutts, Pedulla will have to do even more. In his second season, Pedulla had the ball in his hands quite a bit, and developed his off-the-bounce shooting game as he was proving that he could use his dribble to take defenders down the lane. An 87.1% foul shooter through two years, Pedulla can be a tremendous advantage when he earns freebies, and can help the Hokies to avoid scoring droughts by getting to the stripe more frequently.
Pedulla doesn’t play above the rim, but he has a good handle and is stronger than most 6’1″ players. Once he’s in the paint, Pedulla is a creative finisher who works, fakes, dekes, and works some more to get clean looks against bigger guys, and though he let fly from three 195 attempts last year, he also shot 51.4% near the rim on 140 attempts, per Bart Torvik. Pedulla’s percentage from the outside fell more than ten percent on increased volume, and it would be huge if Pedulla could split the difference and be a 39ish% shooter from the land of trey as a junior. Tech’s defense overall wasn’t the best of Young’s career last year, and Pedulla can stand to improve a bit on that side of the ball. Also, he will need to keep the ball moving efficiently without Mutts to function as a point forward this season. The Hokies ranked fifth nationally last season in team assist to turnover ratio, a high standard to maintain. Pedulla did so much in his first year as a starter, though, that there is no reason to doubt his ability to reach another excellent level. Now with the confidence of a year’s success running the Hokies, Pedulla has every appearance of emerging as one of the best players in the league.
Cattoor is one of the most proven outside threats around, a vital four-year contributor who has made more than 40% of his triples in each of his four seasons. He’s averaged 63 triples made per season for his career, and with 39 more this season, Cattoor should become Tech’s all-time leader in made three’s as well as percentage made. “He’s a leader and one of the smartest players I’ve had the privilege of coaching,” Young declared I’m a statement upon Cattoor’s decision to play another season in Blacksburg. “Hunter is a terrific representative of our program and Virginia Tech, and I’m thrilled I get to coach that young man one more year.”
A great defender and useful ballhandler and playmaker as well, Cattoor is as reliable a presence on the outside as a team could hope for. He was the ACC Tourney MVP during Tech’s run two years ago after hitting seven three’s in the title game against Duke, and would like to end his career on that sort of high note rather than limping through with a bum wing. “The injury … [was] as disruptive defensively for us … as it was offensively,” Young lamented to the Roanoke Times this fall. “But he looks great [now]. He’s healthy.” Cattoor scored in double figures 17 times last year, and sixteen times he hit three or more triples in a game; and every time he’s on the court, opposing defenses have learned that they have to account for him. Pedulla will continue to find Cattoor a vital aid in spacing the floor and running the offense; and is Cattoor can find another level of offensive production, Tech will be trotting out one of the ACC’s best pairs of guards.
Rice would love to put the Hokies in contention for top backcourt trio. Bigger than his more experienced counterpart, Rice carries a 4-star reputation for scoring the ball. He’s got a good handle, good outside shot, and knows how to attack the paint. While Rice can finish at the rim, he’s just as effective with pull-ups and runners in the lane, and he can rip off mid-range jumpers in amongst his three point attempts. In high school, Rice showed that he can handle the ball a bit and create for his teammates as well, though he played off the ball in his few games as a freshman. If Rice is healthy and right, he should get the minutes to show off his considerable talents this time around and provide a vital source of secondary scoring.
MJ Collins, like Rice, is a bigger guard who can do a bit of everything, and though he wasn’t a big scorer as a freshman, he showed a lot of other useful skills. Collins started 16 games in his first year, and though Young would have preferred not to have to use Collins for the 29 minutes per game he did down the stretch. He started 14 of the Hokies’ final 17 games, and while he didn’t take many shots, Collins also played solid defense and posted 27 assists against just 11 turnovers. This year, Collins should be the first guard off of Young’s bench and a helpful defender when Cattoor needs a break. And the more that Collins and Rice can drive to the rim, the better Tech’s offense will be. Last year, while the Hokies could really shoot it from deep at times, they also had cold stretches, and it didn’t help that they ranked 334th nationally in free throw shots attempted. If Rice and Collins can follow Pedulla’s lead of willing their way to the bucket, everyone will benefit.
Versatile veterans have arrived via the Transfer Portal to shore things up in the post, and a talented freshman is coming off of his redshirt. Whether new face or holdover, though, Young needs someone – or ideally, a couple of guys – to emerge as consistent offensive players up front this year. Lynn Kidd and Mylyjael Poteat return after forming the two-headed closest-thing-to-a-pivot Young had last season. They generally played when Basile needed a break or was getting knocked around by bigger players, averaging just over 21 minutes combined.
Kidd, a former 4-star recruit, only played 58 total minutes in his first two college seasons between Clemson and Blacksburg. Last season, though, Kidd began to earn a legitimate role and to realize a bit of the potential he’s shown. He scored in double figures ten times, but his impactful games sometimes featured noticeable gaps between them. When he catches the ball cleanly and goes about his business decisively on the offensive end, Kidd is effective. When he tries to dribble as the defense is collapsing or gets trapped with the ball, not as much. Young also needs Kidd to be more consistent and physical on the glass. He’s a strong deterrent to opponents looking to score inside, and with a year’s experience and development in live action, the expectation is that Kidd can play more like 21 minutes by himself.
Poteat looks the part of a center, with a wider frame and considerable strength in the paint. He’s a force setting screens and then rolling to the bucket, and can post up a bit, but Poteat struggled to get many minutes last year to show off those abilities. He’s not immobile defensively, and has long and active arms; yet he picked up fouls in clusters sometimes a year ago. If he can play clean defense and provide a nice target for the guards offensively, Poteat will have the opportunity to grow his role.
Both veterans will get a challenge, though, from redshirt freshman Patrick Wessler. A true seven footer, Wessler brings the size and strength that Young needs up front, and if he could defend without fouling for 15 minutes or so some nights, it would better help the Hokies’ rim protection. Wessler can move his feet well and has been practicing with the team for more than a year now as his redshirt was developmental, not the result of an injury; so there will be some expectation that he can help out defensively from Day One. On the other end, Wessler shows the same good feet on the block and has a reliable hook shot that he can go to with either hand. While it would be unreasonable to think that Wessler is going to transform the Tech frontcourt overnight, he has both unteachable physical traits and some skills that should play well immediately, and Young is reasonably excited to see what his new center can do.
| Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks) |
| 15.5 – Team Assists Per Game (25th) |
| .259 – Free Throw Attempts Per FG Attempt (334th) |
| 54.0% – Team Effective FG Percentage (31st) |
| 50.7% – Opponent Effective FG Percentage (183rd) |
| 10.5 – Opponent FT Made Per Game (24th) |
Young’s teams have always thought of their defense as a calling card, and the fact that things faltered last year sprang largely from using a stretch-4 against true centers much of the time last year. Robbie Beran is also a stretch-4, but will look to show that he can guard well enough to get things back up to standard all the same. His new coach calls Beran “an exceptional defender,” and Beran was a key part of Northwestern’s rotation in each of his four seasons there. Now he’s returned to his home state hoping to finish with a breakout year. Beran is a career 36% outside shooter and has blocked 47 shots the past two years, versatility which should help Tech immensely if they’re able to get more from the 5 spot. Beran can play the pivot, but is best when playing alongside another big.
All the way through his time as a Wildcat, Beran has shown great defensive positioning and footwork, and he works energetically to keep his opponents from establishing comfortable space in the post. Northwestern has long featured players who learn to both cut to the hoop and pass to cutters coming off of screens, and Beran has those skills. And with his outside shooting ability already well established, opponents will be aware that Beran could be a threat to pop for a jumper after every screen he sets. If he’s to take the next step offensively, Beran must utilize the space his jumper creates and the strength and experience he’s gained to take the ball assertively towards the rim this season.
Beran has shown great defensive positioning and footwork, and he works energetically to keep opponents from establishing comfortable space in the post
Tech’s two most intriguing new players this season may be the two transfer forwards, Tyler Nickel and Mekhi Long. The Hokies very nearly landed Nickel out of high school, but Nickel left home and pledged to be a Tar Heel. One season in Chapel Hill, though, and he’s a Hokie after all. Nickel is a scoring forward who racked up the most points in the history of Virginia high school hoops by the time he graduated, and should prove dangerous coming off of screens opposite the wing where Cattoor is hunting his looks. “I can put the ball on the floor and score. If you give me space, I can shoot the lights out,” he proclaimed to Mark Berman for the Roanoke Times. “If I drive and penetrate and people help in, I can find the open guy.”
With a smooth release catching the ball or dribbling into his shot, Nickel has a true mid-range game at the heart of his scoring prowess. The more he can prove that defenders have to fear him taking them to the rim, the quicker he will emerge as a star scorer at the college level. And, of course, as a hybrid forward, Nickel is going to have to prove that he can defend at a high level in order to earn his biggest role. The jumper will play now, though, and Nickel can’t wait to show the home crowds all that they’ve been excited to see once more.
| Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on |
| @ Auburn – November 29 |
| N – Iowa State / VCU – November 24 |
| N – Boise State – November 23 |
| N – ESPN Events Invitational 3rd game – November 26 |
| vs South Carolina – November 10 |
Long may be the Hokies’ most versatile player, as the Old Dominion transfer has both the length to guard in the paint and the foot speed and agility to check perimeter players as well. And he gives the Tech guards an above-the-rim option to look for on lobs and in transition. Long uses, well, his long arms effectively as a defender, and his combination of size and athleticism make him a disruptive force for any ballhandler to deal with. While not a highly-developed scorer, Long knows how to slash to the rim off of a good feed, and despite a slightly irregular shot, hit a career-best 28 triples at 36% a year ago. “There’s a lot of space because he has a lot of shooters,” Long says of the lineup Young has put together this year. “I like to drive the ball – drive, kick [to a shooter] or drive, get to the basket.” An excellent and highly active rebounder on both ends, Long generates second chance possessions for his team and cashes in on cheap buckets around the rim. While he may not be the playmaker that Mutts was, Long should play a fairly recognizable role this year and, if he can continue to knock down three’s, may add a new flavor of his own. John Camden also returns after playing a deep reserve role last year. The former Memphis transfer can shoot the ball, but will need to bring his percentages up to earn more minutes.
It’s becoming tradition for Young to have clever, feisty point guards who can really shoot it as the leaders of his offense. That will continue beyond this year, because Tech’s top incoming freshman fits the bill. Brandon Rechsteiner is a 4-star playmaker out of Georgia, and looks to be the heir to Cattoor and Pedulla going forward. “Tough as nails lead guard. Gets where he wants off the bounce. Works hard on the defensive end, understands angles and rotations. Quick handle, great balance off the bounce,” said Jamie Shaw of On3 upon watching Rechsteiner play. “The jump shot is pure from deep, off bounce, and off the catch. The size will be a question, can he defend bigger guards in the half-court. Also, can struggle to finish at the rim. But is excellent in the mid-range with an array of floaters and pull-ups.” Rechsteiner is a smart and efficient player who should step seamlessly into a legitimate role as a freshman. The third freshman debuting for the Hokies this fall will be Jaydon Young, though it is also possible that Young could opt to redshirt him given the veterans who play his position. “He’s a strong and physical guard who finishes at the rim, has vision off-the-dribble and plays hard on both ends of the floor,” says 247 Sports writer Travis Branham of Young.
Virginia Tech wobbled last year, and it was largely a result of their defense not being as tight as usual. Improving on that end has been a key focus this fall in practice. After all of the Hokies’ work, Young expects the defense to be strong. “It better be,” Young told the Roanoke Times this fall. “We spent a great deal of time on it through the summer and through our first six practices. It will be.”
“We have a lot of guys who can score the ball. But if we’re able to lock in, create that edge, really focus on the defensive end, I think we could have a very, very good team,” Poteat said. “We know we have to be better defensively.”
As much as the Hokies need to be stronger defensively, they must also work harder to get to the free throw line. Tech has ranked 300th or worse in the country in both freebie attempts and makes each of the last two years. The good thing is, they do a great many other things well, defend without committing fouls, and generally don’t beat themselves. With veteran guards and rising youngsters, the perimeter in Blacksburg is strong. Nickel and Long can change things incalculably on the wings, and will help to make the team’s offense more consistent. If Young can get consistent production from the post, Virginia Tech will be an ACC contender, and a genuine threat to advance in March.
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