The LaBlue Review

Bryce Watts was never a highly successful player at Virginia Tech. That much is undisputed. But Watts still had time and room to grow, and there was still a chance that Watts would develop into a solid and consistent contributor.

That certainly won’t happen at Virginia Tech, now that Watts has decided to rival North Carolina. Watts entered the transfer portal on May 31 and announced his decision to transfer to Chapel Hill just nine days later.

Continue reading “Bryce Watts’ Absence Highlights Virginia Tech’s Cornerback Problem”

Since being hired this offseason, Mike Young has worked quickly to reconstruct the Virginia Tech men’s basketball roster. Tech might’ve made the NCAA Tournament each of the last three seasons, but the Hokies’ roster looks vastly different than it did just a few months ago.

Young has added four players since taking over in Blacksburg — Keve Aluma, Hunter Cattoor, Jalen Cone and Branden Johnson. Of that group, all are currently eligible to play right away other than Aluma, who could seek a waiver from the NCAA. Young “retained” Landers Nolley, a former four-star recruit who was ineligible to play for Virginia Tech last season. Wabissa Bede is also returning to the Hokies, withdrawing from the transfer portal.

Virginia Tech’s 2019-2020 roster is beginning to take shape. With these young men on the roster, it’s fair to start figuring out what the Hokies’ rotation will look like next season.

Continue reading “Sifting Through Recent Additions to the Virginia Tech Basketball Roster”

Howdy Hokies, and welcome back to another edition of Monday Mail. We’re hitting the point of the year where there is little news to talk about, but if you dig deep enough you can find some potential nuggets that are actually pivotal moments.

I don’t want to spoil the questions for this week, so let’s get to it.

Continue reading “Monday Mail: Football Culture Turning the Corner, Basketball Recruits and More”

Every solid building and every magnificent structure begins with a foundation. And every foundation begins with a single block.

That’s how Virginia Tech basketball fans need to view this offseason. Rome certainly wasn’t built in a single day, and the new version of Hokies hoops won’t be built that way either. But head coach Mike Young has his first two building blocks in place — forward Landers Nolley and guard Hunter Cattoor.

Continue reading “Mike Young Begins Reconstruction of Virginia Tech Basketball With Nolley and Cattoor Commitments”

Welcome back, Hokies. Thank you for patiently waiting on this week’s Monday Mail, which is a day late. I apologize for the delay.

This week’s Monday Mail comes directly after Saturday’s “Spring Game” for the Hokies, which was nothing more than a glorified practice. I was fortunate enough to be in attendance and boy, was I disappointed. It was hard for the crowd to get excited on Saturday, thanks to the choppiness of the practice format and lack of exciting plays.

Nonetheless, Tech’s spring practice schedule is nearing its close, so it’s time to take stock of what we’ve got right now. Let’s get into your questions this week.

Continue reading “Monday Mail: A Not-So-Exciting Spring ‘Game’ for Virginia Tech”

When Whit Babcock settled on hiring Buzz Williams in 2014, Babcock was fulfilling two main objectives — ignite a lackadaisical basketball fanbase and bring in a mercenary head coach who could get the program to a competitive level.

This time around, things are different. Babcock’s two main objectives in this year’s coaching search, as I see them, were finding a coach who can build upon Williams’ recent success and a coach who could maintain the fanbase’s current level of excitement.

Continue reading “Mike Young Represents Whit Babcock’s Biggest Gamble at Virginia Tech Thus Far”

March 21, 2014 was the beginning of the greatest era of Virginia Tech men’s basketball. With the program on life support, director of athletics Whit Babcock dug deep into the Hokies’ pockets to hire Marquette head coach Buzz Williams.

Williams arrived in Blacksburg to all sorts of pomp and circumstance. A press conference in Cassell Coliseum was held for Williams to be introduced.  It was the beginning of an precarious pact in which Williams and Babcock gave each other something they wanted.

Continue reading “Buzz Williams’ Uneasy Alliance With Virginia Tech Reaches Predictable End”

Normally, it would be hard to justify retiring a few jerseys from a period that netted just three NCAA Tournament appearances and one Sweet 16 berth. But for Virginia Tech, the case can be made with some ease.

For nearly two decades, Virginia Tech men’s basketball was on life support. Between 1996-97 and 2014-15, the Hokies made exactly one NCAA Tournament appearance and only four NIT appearances. Three head coaches failed to take the Hokies to the Big Dance and the only one that did, Seth Greenberg, seemingly underachieved during his tenure and left the program in tatters in 2012.

Continue reading “Through Trial and Tribulation, ‘Five’, ‘Med’ and ‘Ty’ Put Virginia Tech Basketball Back on the Map”