Hokiesports.com is reporting that Coleman Collins has signed with the Phoenix Suns and will report to their training camp, which begins tomorrow.

Coleman played in Germany last season and played for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Summer League a few months ago.

To see the article, go Hokiesports - The Notebook

Niemo has now hit double digits in terms of arm curling Virginia Tech basketball players after running into the Hokie basketball tailgate outside Lane Stadium on Saturday. Don’t worry, the boys had nothing but Shirley Temples and Arnold Palmers flowing.

This moment sent my street cred through the roof. Upon walking up to Dorenzo Hudson, Jeff Allen, and J.T. and hearing I was from TechHoops.com, Dorenzo emphatically stated, “You have to arm curl [J.T.]! He hasn’t gotten you yet.”

J.T. wasn’t sure my guns were up to it. Please! Don’t anger the lads…

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Here I am with all three, including the trimmed down Allen and Hudson.

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Virginia Tech missed out on another mega recruit this weekend, but this time it was a Virginian that decided to go elsewhere.  Joshua Hairston, ranked #14 overall in the Class of 2010 by Rivals.com and #5 Power Forward by Scout.com, decided to play for Coach K and the evil empire, duke.  Hairston attends Courtland High School in the Spotsylvania area. 

The Hokies had been in serious contention for Hairston, but once duke offered a few months ago, Tech’s chances became a lot lower.  Hairston visited duke over the weekend and his commitment was not a surprise.

Dickie V’s Top 40 pre-season poll is out on ESPN.com, and he has the Hokies at #20. Other ACC schools in his Top 40 are:
#1 - unc
#9 - duke
#21 - miami
#29 - wake
#32 - clemson

It’s going to be a fun year, Hokie fans.

I spoke with someone who watched the basketball team unofficially scrimmage today (Greenberg could not coach them).  Here were his observations:

• Both Jeff Allen and Dorenzo Hudson have lost significant weight. 
• Jeff Allen was the best player on the court by far, including A.D. Vassallo.  Man-child.  Played a lot of minutes despite a nagging injury, and his slimmer physique had to help.
• Vassallo and Malcolm Delaney each knocked down a couple of threes.  [Remember, the line moved back a foot for this season.]
• Victor Davila still needs to add some weight/muscle but looks like a player.  Will produce this year.
• Gene Swindle is a major project, will not play this year.  [Niemo’s observation: Think Carruth/Krabbendam only more goofy.  I don’t see him ever playing significant minutes for us, unless he steps up and develops like Chas McFarland did at wake.  But I haven’t seen VT develop a true big man yet (ie: wasn’t a big recruit but became good), so we will see.]
• 2009 VT verbal commits Ben Boggs and Cadarian Raines both played.  Boggs played the 2-guard and held his own, showing a good inside/outside game.  Raines impressed him with his aggression on the boards and offensive end.  Seems like he has a high motor.

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, and frankly, I don’t feel like writing a thousand words about watching VT lose to eazy-u last weekend in the ricky stokes Bowl, Part II*. But it was quite a trip up until about 3 PM Saturday.

*I call it the ricky stokes Bowl since the worst head coach in college basketball history, heck, maybe even history period, “led” both VT and ecu. Tech was 46-69 in four years of stokes ball, including their only home losing season in the history of the Cassell. Then, his former coach at uva, terry holland, hired him at ecu. No clue what he was thinking. stokes proved everyone else but holland right when he “led” the pirates to a 14-44 record in two seasons, including 3-25 in mighty c-usa.

Thursday:

Charlotte or bust! Well, not exactly. My rental Dodge Not-A-SUV-Not-A-Car and I hit the road, picking up TechHoops.com regular, Duffy. Day 1 involves leaving Washington, D.C. and heading about 85 miles west and then south to Woodstock, VA. Why stop there? The Shenandoah County Fair, of course! Shenandoah County, which was home to VT 2009 recruit Erick Green, can be summed up in one word: country. I saw lots of pro-McCain, pro-VT, and didn’t see much in the way of diversity, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Duffy and I walked up to the Fair around 5 PM. Bitter Moment #1: It was a dry fair. I guarantee you there is a great fight story behind that one. Luckily I had smuggled two tallboys in my Canadian tuxedo jacket so we were fine for the time being. Let that be a lesson to always be prepared.

Bitter Moment #2: The rides were shut down for the day. Great.

Great Moment #1: I ran into Miss Shenandoah County! Good thing I had my best Canadian Tuxedo on to impress her! Unfortunately, I didn’t have my temporary tattoos of “T-Bone” and a bull on me yet.

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So get this - she has to hand out the ribbons for each cow in the cow-judging-contest, or whatever it is called! Talk about a perk of being Miss ShenCo! Although I enjoyed watching the guy that had to judge them. He’s all in his dress shirt and slacks, practically giving the cows a rub-and-tug. Are there training classes for this???
[Click ‘Read more’ below to see the rest of the trip]
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For more information, check out the daily recaps on Hokiesports.com.

With the win, Puerto Rico will be in the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship with a shot at the U.S.A.  This is the national team, by the way, so a great honor for A.D. to play for his native land.