Here’s an interesting Roanoke Times article about one time VT verbal commit momo jones.  Apparently he wants out of usc (trojans) now that Head Coach Tim Floyd has left.  jones verballed to two schools (louisville and VT) and will now have signed with two others.  Probably for the best VT won’t have to deal with all this.

Also in the article it talks about Hank Thorns and how it looks like he will end up playing for a school in Texas.

Hank Thorns

The rumblings that Hank Thorns’s days at VT were over have been confirmed.    Hokiesports.com has reported that Thorns is leaving.  It is unclear at this time where Thorns will go. 

With Thorns gone, the Hokies will face depth issues at the point guard position again next year.  Incoming freshman Erick Green will be counted on to fill Thorns’ minutes.  It is likely that Green would have eaten up Hank’s minutes even if Hank stayed, which was probably a catalyst for this move by Thorns.

This may be hard to believe now, but Thorns actually started over Delaney at the beginning of the 2007-08 season.  He averaged 4.6 ppg and 3.2 apg his freshman year and set the freshman record for assists (113).  But this past year those averages dropped to 2.7 and 2.4 respectively as his minutes also dwindled.  Hank could never establish himself as an offensive threat.  He shot under 30% from the field this season and was just 8/41 on threes (19%).  His height was also an issue at times on defense as guards could shoot over him.  He did have an assist-to-turnover ratio of almost 2:1 though, and was excellent in this category in ACC play, leading the conference with a 2.8:1 ratio in ACC games.

Hank had some pointed comments towards Greenberg in this Roanoke Times article.  All I’ll say is Hank was the last person on the floor to warmup before VT’s NIT game against baylor, heading out for the shootaround well after everyone else.  Best I could tell, he had already checked out.  But I’ll let sleeping dogs lie.

This news came on the heels of the announcement that someone was transferring to VT…

Allan Chaney

That someone is Allan Chaney, a 6′8″ forward who played for the florida gators this past season.  Allan will transfer to VT for next year but he will have to sit out the upcoming season (he can practice with the team) and then will have three years of eligibility left beginning with the 2010-11 season. 

Richmond Times Dispatch Article

Chaney was a 4-star recruit in the Class of 2008 according to Rivals.com and was rated the #96 player overall in that class.   Scout.com also rated Allan as a 4-star, the #61 player overall, and the #17 power forward in the country for 2008.  He is originally from Baltimore and knows Malcolm Delaney, but he played his high school ball in Connecticut and Tech apparently did offer him in high school.

Chaney played in 23 games for the gators this past season and averaged three points and two rebounds in 10 minutes per game.  But Allan played in just one of florida’s final 13 games while battling a foot injury.  He apparently fell into Billy Donovan’s doghouse and was suspended for the gators’ final two games of the season (Chaney’s account of what happened is in the Roanoke Times article up above).  This ultimately led to his decision to transfer.

Chaney will give the Hokies a big body inside as he carries over 230 lbs. on his 6′8″ frame.  Tech also has a verbal from another Top 100 recruit, Jarell Eddie, who will start at VT for the 2010-11 season.

Recruiting Tidbit

The Chaney news means the Hokies will likely not get Deshawn Painter.  Painter was a one time florida commit who reopened his recruiting about a month ago.  The Top 150 prospect visited VT, nc state, and maryland since then and was expected to announce his decision this week among those three.  But the Hokies are maxed out on scholarships (13) with the news that Chaney is replacing Thorns.

Painter’s cousin, Vinston Painter, is on the Hokie football team.  Deshawn is not fully qualified for next year anyway, so this may all be a moot point if he has to prep next season.

The Hokies will face the iowa hawkeyes for the second time in four seasons as part of the ACC/Big(11)Ten Challenge on Tuesday, December 1st.  Tech beat the hawkeyes 69-65 (it wasn’t that close, iowa made a late run) in Blacksburg in November of 2006.  This time VT will have to travel to Iowa City, Iowa.

Tech is just 1-3 in the challenge and 0-2 on the road.  iowa finished 15-17 this season, their second straight losing season.

Lamont “Momo/Benedict” Jones made it official, signing with the usc trojans.  It has been known for a while that he wasn’t going to sign with the Hokies, but now Tech fans can officially give up all hope.  Tim Floyd, who almost left usc for the arizona job, lured Momo with promises of tons of early playing time.  The trojans starting point guard from this past season, Daniel Hackett, is bolting for the NBA.

This is obviously extremely disappointing for Virginia Tech.  Here they had gotten a verbal from a kid that was flying under the radar in terms of recruiting site rankings, then say his stock blow up while leading Oak Hill to a 40-1 season.  He had a chance to sign with Tech back in November, but wanted his mom to be there to see him sign his Letter of Intent.  Oak Hill’s Head Coach, Steve Smith, all but guaranteed he would sign with VT in the Spring Signing Period, but it was not to be.  Smith expressed some disappointment when hearing Jones had re-opened his recruitment, stating he thought Jones would be a great fit at VT.

Benedict Jones had also verballed to louisville in the past. 

The Hokies are still maxed out on their 13 scholarships for next year, so barring someone leaving, they are done for this recruiting class.  Deshawn Painter has recently backed out of his commitment to florida and has been mentioned as a possibility, but like I said, someone would have to leave for him to come on board next season.

I had the chance to watch Erick Green, Cadarian Raines, and Momo Jones play tonight as part of the Capital Classic All-Star Game.  Here are my thoughts on each with my unofficial stats:

Erick Green: 10 points (5/7 shooting), 4 steals, 3 assists

• Ballhandling: Decent dribbler but not electric like Momo.  Looks to pass when pressured.  Is not going to beat guys off the dribble a whole lot.  Similar to Delaney when he arrived at VT — not a great handle but good enough to bring the ball up the court.
• Shooting: Not sure he made more than one or two jumpers in warm-ups out of 10-plus attempts, but his season has been over for a few weeks so he might have been rusty.  Has a good stroke, though.  Hit one of two jumpers in the game (both were just inside the college three-point line) and also nailed a nice runner off a pass.  Most of his shots were layups in this game, and he can dunk.
• Passing: Makes the smart pass, not the flashy one.  Good zip on the ball.
• Defense: He is not a shutdown on-ball defender.  Momo beat him off the dribble a couple of times.  But he gets his hands on a LOT of passes, much like Dowdell and Gordon used to.  All four of his steals were off intercepted passes, I believe, and led to transition points.  Erick also deflected several balls.  He knows how to get his hands in passing lanes and interrupt offenses.
• Overall: Class Greenberg guard.  Not flashy, just plays hard on both ends — I mean, who plays defense in an all-star game?  Erick Green, that’s who.  Makes smart, sound decisions on the floor.  And he’s an extremely nice guy.  Very approachable and easy to talk to.  Ready to be in Blacksburg.

Cadarian Raines: 9 points (1/4 FTs), 4 rebounds, 1 block

• Size: Good but not great size.  Has a VT low-post body already.  In other words, not as tall or big as the elite ACC teams, but similar size as Cheick Diakite had in his early years.  Big upper body, legs need to add some weight.  Big enough to get minutes next year.
• Rebounding: Was disappointed in this tonight.  Did not have more than one offensive rebound by my count and just a few on defense.  A couple of times he was out-positioned for rebounds, or brought the ball down below his shoulders and had it stripped away.  This is supposed to be one of his strong points.
• Offensive Game: Didn’t get to see what he can do on second chances.  He is a back-to-the-basket low-post player and showed some very impressive moves inside.  Has a nice hook shot that he made a couple times.  He did try to dunk one handed from the left side of the hoop (ball wasn’t protected) and got stuffed.  But he goes at the rim hard and has no fear inside.
• Defensive Game: He was not an explosive leaper like some of the big men in this game like Isaish Armwood (villanova), but he gets off the ground quickly.  He can get up to contest shots in a hurry.  That’s why he’s a good shot blocker and likely will be a shot blocker on the college level.  He doesn’t wildly go after shots though (should prevent foul trouble). On his block in this game, he actually pinned the ball against the glass with two hands to keep possession, which was nice.
• Overall: Didn’t see the high motor we’ve heard about, but this was an All Star game, so that’s not a surprise.  Hopefully that was the reason.  But he does have the body and moxie to battle inside.  Tech will need him next year, and he does seem like he can help.  His offensive game is well beyond Cheick’s was early in his career (maybe ever) and he should be able to block shots.  He just needs to be a terror on the glass, which is his reputation so hopefully we’ll see that next year.  Also a very nice guy.

Momo Jones: 18 points (10 in about a 2 minute span)

• Ballhandling: Exceptional.  Can beat anyone off the dribble.  Great crossover from right to left.  Actually, maybe a little too good — will likely draw some palming calls on the college level.
• Shooting: Was maybe 1/5 on threes.  Shots were often way off, too.  Has a good stroke, but he wasn’t known as a great shooter anyway.  Around the rim though he is deadly despite being just 6′1″ (BTW: He isn’t 6′1″, more than likely under 6′).  But he drives the lane and has an amazing ability to either get separation to get his shot off, or he can just fling it at odd angles in traffic.  And they go in.
• Passing: Makes the difficult pass with mixed results.  Looked to drive to score more than to dish the ball in this game.
• Defense: Didn’t work very hard in this game on defense, but again, it was an all-star game.  I’m not sure he had to play much D at Oak Hill either with the talent they had.  He did have a nice steal late in the game off the press.  Can’t really judge him by this game.
• Overall: Despite being from NYC like Greenberg, he didn’t seem like a typical Seth player.  Had a lot of flash, and even barked at the officials several times.  Loafed on defense at times, too, but for the 1000th time, it was an all-star game.  Definitely a big-time point guard who can score in bunches, and has lots of swagger.  Height may be a liability on defense but not sure — wasn’t on offense.
• Future: Neither Raines nor Green thought he’d end up at VT.  Rumors I’ve heard is he’s headed to usc (so-cal).

Other Notes:

• Deshawn Painterwas in this game as well. Painter was a big-time VT recruit who verballed to florida, but has since decommitted.  His stock has dropped a lot in the last year.  People questioned his toughness inside against bigger opponents.  I did notice he is plenty tall, but doesn’t have the beef to battle inside.  Plus, he is hesitant at times, almost afraid to bang in the trenches.  He needs more of a killer “the-ball-is-mine” mentality.   Would like to see him in orange and maroon, though.  He is a talent, just needs that fire (Lewis Witcher part II?).
• Tristan Spurlock, a uva signee, tried to pull a fast one over on me.  He tried to claim the player with him before the game was Erick Green.  Uh, I’m Niemo from TechHoops.com.  I know who Erick Green is.  Nice try, wahoo.  And he wouldn’t let me arm curl him.  But this kid is good.  Great size for a wing player and has a good inside/outside game.
• Mouphtaou Yarou (villanova) was the best college player in this game, in my opinion.  Huge frame, and definitely taller than Raines.  Explosive leaper.  Will fit right in the Big East and will be a force inside.  He was the MVP of the game.
• Derrick Thomas, who is going to drexel of all places, can really shoot the ball.  Wish VT was getting him unless he had the game of his life.
• Capital team (Green) won 129-98 over the U.S. team (Raines and Momo).

More Pictures:

Virginia Tech 2009 signee Erick Green was named to the Washington Post’s All-Met First Team.  He was one of 10 players (why 10 instead of five?) selected.  Erick played for Paul VI Catholic High in Fairfax, VA this season.  The All-Met team is comprised of the top players from Northern Virginia, DC, and the maryland ‘burbs of DC, which has recently been hyped as one of the great basketball breeding grounds in the US.

All-Met Teams

Erick is playing in the Capital Classic tonight and yours truly will be there to document it.

Note: Sean Miller of xavier accepted the arizona coaching job a day after allegedly turning it down.

Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg is one of many people named as a possible candidate for the vacant arizona wildcats’ head coaching position.  The wildcats’ top two choices, Tim Floyd (southern cal) and Sean Miller (xavier) have both turned the job down already. 

Here’s a list of potential candidates according to the Arizona Republic: Article

And here’s what they said about Greenberg: “Seth Greenberg, Virginia Tech. Might have the stuff to become a star, but sorry. NIT = garage band.”

In a Roanoke Times article, Greenberg sounds like he isn’t considering it: Scroll to the bottom of the article.  From the article: “[Seth said] ‘I will be coach at vt for long time,’ he texted me, then added in a second text that Tech athletic director Jim Weaver knew he had not spoken to Arizona.”

While arizona is a top tier basketball program that has made the NCAA Tournament 25 years in a row, the longest active streak in the NCAA, the job would have some challenges.  They have not been able to recruit well over the last two or three seasons due to the Lute Olsen situation — with recruits not knowing if he’d be around or not, they went elsewhere.  Olsen eventually retired due to health issues.  The wildcats’ top three scorers, each averaging more than 15.7 ppg, are juniors.  Beyond that, they have very little depth or talent.  If any of those three decide to leave, it will really cripple arizona next year and in two years they will most certainly have a lack of skill.  There is only one player in this year’s class currently and he is a JUCO guy.

But, it is a marquee job at a basketball school.  We shall see if arizona goes after Seth and if he reciprocates.

Virginia Tech 2009 signee Erick Green will be seeing a lot of american university’s Bender Arena in April.  He is scheduled to play there as part of the Capital Classic on April 9th, and will return to the arena as a member of the Reebok All American game on April 18th.  Erick will play for one of the two Team Finish teams.

The two games played on the 18th will feature seven ACC signees or commitments.  It will showcase a handful of Top 100 recruits, according  Rivals.com,  including #18 Thomas Robinson (kansas) and #24 Dante Taylor (pitt).

The recruiting picture is becoming more clear.  It now seems like Virginia Tech will not have any scholarship issues next year.  This is due to a few things:

• According to Head Coach Greenberg in a recent Roanoke Times article, Terrance Vinson will not play for the Hokies as a redshirt-senior and will instead head off to grad school (not sure if that is at VT or somewhere else).  This means the Hokies have four scholarships available for next season (Vinson, the two departing seniors, and one they weren’t using this season).
• Also accoring to Greenberg, the four signees in the 2009 recruiting class have all qualified and so will be at VT next Fall.  That includes everyone but Momo Jones on the list above.
• Speaking of Jones, not only has he decommitted but it seems very unlikely he will sign with the Hokies.  It appears he is headed elsewhere.  Not sure why this all came about, if it was because of a lack of an available scholarship, or a change of heart by Jones.  This is a big blow to the Hokies in terms of signing a marquee player, even though he didn’t used to be one.  I’ll have some more insight on this after the next signing period opens up in mid-April.
• Finally, Seth Curry has picked the blue devils according to several sources.  There will be no second coming of the Curry’s at VT, unless Seth fails to qualify for duke.

One other note - I never updated this but Petersburg High lost in the Virginia State AAA Semi-Finals.  This was the only loss of the season for Petersburg and ended the high school career of Cadarian Raines.

THE SEASON (19-15, 7-9 ACC — tied for seventh; ACC Quarterfinals; NIT Second Round)

Any way you look at it, this season was a disappointment.  Back in November you heard one thing from almost every college basketball expert: this Virginia Tech team was an NCAA Tournament team.  The players said that was their goal.  Greenberg expected it.  Everyone expected it after coming so close last year and having every significant player back other than Deron Washington.  Well it turned out Deron’s loss was a very big one, as Tech went from having the best Scoring Defense in the ACC last year (and by over three points) to just the eighth-best Scoring Defense in the ACC.

The result was no invitation to the Big Dance for the Hokies.  In fact Tech was further off the bubble this year than last.  Tech completely fell apart in the second half of the season, losing six of their final seven ACC games. 

One of the biggest frustrations this season was Tech’s inability to start and finish games.  The Hokies regularly trailed by 4-7 points at the first media timeout.  In fact, they were behind at the first break in their final seven ACC regular season games and nine of the last 10.  In the ACC Tournament, Tech jumped out to early leads and we saw the results — VT was much more in control. 

Just as frustrating was the final eight minutes of games.  Tech was within three points (one possession) in each of their final three regular season games, but could never take the lead in any of them.  In fact, the Hokies were within three points or less in the final eight minutes of 11 of their 15 losses, and led in the final 10 minutes of seven of those games.  Tech just ran out of gas at the end of games, possibly due to how many minutes Malcolm Delaney and A.D. Vassallo had to play.

Another frustration was the off-the-court and on-court antics.  A.D. Vassallo was benched at the start of two games for two separate incidents and Jeff Allen sat the second uva game for flipping off maryland fans.

Defense

Defense was an issue all year.  The Hokies could not get stops when they needed them at the end of games.  Tech’s low post defense was abysmal, allowing opponents’ big men to catch the ball way too close to the basket.  Part of this had to do with the skinnier Jeff Allen, but it also had to do with Hokie big men not working hard at times when the ball was on the perimeter and rooting the opponents out. 

VT also got dominated on the glass, giving up key offensive rebounds to bigger teams.  Tech just doesn’t have the size inside to really secure the glass.

In perimeter defense, Tech got torched in non-conference games.  In the two NIT games, VT allowed their opponents to hit 27 of 51 threes.  And that wasn’t even their worst effort.  wisconsin hit 12/18 (67%) in a key out-of-conference loss in December.  The Hokies’ guards did a very poor job of fighting through/over screens, and the help defender often released too early.

Tech will have to improve in all of these areas next season if they want to return to the upper half of the league, a place VT lived in three of their first four ACC seasons.  6′9″ Cadarian Raines should help inside and lessen the impact of losing Cheick Diakite, but Jeff Allen needs to put weight back on.  At maybe 6′7″, he needs that bulk to throw around against taller players.  But Tech will still not have a really big body inside that many of the other ACC schools have.

On the perimeter, Dorenzo Hudson became a solid man defender as the year went on.  But judging by the production of some of the guys he was guarding, like 46 by duquesne’s Jackson, ‘Zo needs help.  The guards need to really embrace the defensive end and work harder to fight through screens, and the help man cannot release until the guard is back in position on high screens.  Green, Boggs, and Atkins will add length on the perimeter and can help.

Offense

For Tech this season it was The Big 3 of Allen, Vassallo and Delaney.  Those guys produced almost 70% of Virginia Tech’s points, and against boston college at bc, they accounted for 61 of 66 points.  If two of the three were off on a given night, forget about it, VT was done for.  But when they were clicking, Tech was tough to beat.

Vassallo was Tech’s most complete offensive player.  He continued to drain threes, finishing his career with 267 made, a Virginia Tech record.  He also showed a deadly runner either down the paint, or along the baseline.  Every now and then he’d rock the rim with a dunk, and shot a career high 84% from the line.  A.D. was third-team All-ACC (he was 2nd team last year) and finished as Tech’s fifth all-time leading scorer with 1822 points.

Malcolm Delaney had an up and down season on offense.  He started out slow, getting most of his points from the line.  But when the Hokies won nine of 10 games in December and January, Delaney started taking over the VT offense.  He was named the ACC Player of the Week once in mid-January after torching wake for 21 and miami for 29.  Then he scored 37 against clemson, a VT ACC game record.  But as he got more banged up, he went into a shooting slump down the stretch, and to no surprise, VT struggled.  He completely lost his ability to hit runners in the lane, a shot he was deadly with mid-season.  Malcolm did set a VT single season record for free throws made with 225, crushing the old high of 200.

Jeff Allen also struggled down the stretch.  He lost weight in the offseason and this allowed bigger opponents to push him out of the way.  He did show a much improved three point shot, hitting 17/42 on the year, but inside his numbers went way down.  He has a patented spin to the baseline and up and under move that worked very well this season, but he needs to add muscle this offseason to battle inside next year.

With the rest of the offense you never knew what you were going to get, if anything.  J.T. Thompson showed an ability to convert second chance opportunities, and hit open mid-range jumpers, but that’s it.  Terrell Bell, Hank Thorns, and Dorenzo Hudson really struggled shooting-wise most of the season.   Thorns shot under 30%, Bell 33%, and Hudson 36%, though Hudson did improve as the season went on and as he took over the two-guard spot. 

Tech also severely lacked ballhandlers.  This will have to be addressed this offseason.  Hudson needs to work on that aspect of his game, and Green should help with this next year.  Momo Jones would have been a big help, but the Oak Hill point guard has reopened his recruiting and may not end up in Blacksburg.

AWARDS

Time to give out the Dundees!  I mean the Niemo’s.  Here we go…

• MVP: Malcolm Delaney — Hands down.  No one meant more to this team.  Vassallo was the better offensive player, but he didn’t play defense.  And Malcolm was one of only two ballhandlers VT had along with Thorns.  Plus, he was the team leader.  As Delaney struggled down the stretch, so did VT.  As he goes next year, so will Tech.  Hopefully he won’t have to carry as much of the load.
• Offensive MVP: A.D. Vassallo — Like I said above, he can do it all on offense.  He leaves Blacksburg as Tech’s fifth all-time leading scorer and best three-point shooter.  He had a good inside-outside game, and could score off the glass.  A.D. had his best season this year.
• Defensive MVP: No one — No one earned this.  Cheick didn’t block as many shots this year.  Allen didn’t get as many steals.  The Hokie guards couldn’t shut anyone down.  The low-post players couldn’t stop anyone.  The team just couldn’t get stops.  I will say that Thompson was the hardest working player on defense.  Despite being undersized, he really battled inside.
• Most Improved Player: Dorenzo Hudson — He really struggled with his shot early in the year, but found his touch at the end.  Hudson hit a three in each of VT’s last six games, and eight of nine games, nailing 7/16 threes in those final six games.  Dorenzo scored at least six points in five of those six games, and had a career-high 15 points against duquesne.  He hit 80% from the line on the season, and he became the shutdown defender for VT, drawing the opponent’s best guard in each game.  Big things will be expected from him next year and he’ll have to pick up many of Vassallo’s points.
• Best Win: VT 78, #1 wake 71 — What a great road win for VT.  This win put them at 3-1 in conference and gave Tech their third win over a #1 team all time.  Things were certainly looking up at this point.
• Toughest Loss: Wow, there is no shortage of games to pick from:  The xavier half court shot to beat VT in Puerto Rico…  The off-balance jumper by wisconsin to give them a two-point lead with less than a second…  The one point loss to georgia…  The tip-in with less than a second left at boston college… The three point loss to unc in the ACC Tournament…  But I’m going with clemson 86, VT 82.  Tech led by as many as 15 in the second half.  They could do no wrong.  Delaney had 22 at the break, including a 3/4-court shot.  But the wheels came off with 16 minutes to go and clemson went on an 18-0 run to take the lead.  Tech battled the rest of the way but came up short.  Had VT held on, they would have been 5-1 in conference with five very winnable games coming up and may have become ranked in the polls.  Instead, the wheels started to come off and VT went 3-8 the rest of the way in ACC play (including this loss).