Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg was named the Virginia Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year, as voted on by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID). Greenberg also earned the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year honor following the end of the regular season in which the Hokies finished fourth in the ACC. They were picked to finish 10th in the preseason.

Read more at HokieSports.com.

Top 50 point guard Tyshawn Taylor wants out of his letter of intent with marquette now that Tom Crean has bolted for indiana. The Hokies were the first school to offer him a scholarship and Seth Greenberg was among the first to call Taylor to reiterate Virginia Tech’s interest.

Read more at the DailyPress.com.

Deron Washington isn’t done just yet. He will suit up in his Virginia Tech uniform one more time after being chosen to compete in the 20th annual State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships. The event will take place this Thursday, April 3, at the Greehey Arena at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas, and will be televised by ESPN at 9 p.m. EDT. TechHoops.com will have highlights of Deron’s dunks.

Read more at HokieSports.com.

Box Score

It was a hell of a ride, but tonight, it was time to get off. The ole miss rebels came into the Cassell and pounded the Hokies on the boards, out-rebounding the home team *46-23 en route to a 72-81 win to earn a spot in the NIT Final Four. When you factor in the Hokies’ abysmal free throw shooting, just 13/22, it’s a miracle that Tech didn’t lose by more than nine points.

During the post-game radio interview with Seth Greenberg, it was clear that he was not happy with his team’s performance. He apologized to the fans because he felt like he and the team “let them down.” I think Seth is being a little too hard on his team, but he was still in coaching mode, so I expected nothing less.

It certainly wasn’t the way Deron Washington wanted to end his career at the Cassell, but he did everything he could to get a win by scoring a season-high 23 points and pulling down 7 rebounds. A.D. Vassallo scored 16 and Malcolm Delaney added 14. Jeff Allen was held in check all night and only managed 7 points and 4 rebounds.

The Hokies jumped out to a quick 12-3 lead and the crowd was rocking and rolling. It was the same feeling and atmosphere as the uab game on Monday night. The Hokies picked up right where they left off and were just hitting everything. But the rebels were able to slow the Hokies down and played pretty much a zone defense the entire night which completely took the Hokies out of their game.

Tech also struggled with the size difference in the paint. As Niemo pointed out in the preview, senior Dwayne Curtis (#44) weighs 262 pounds and fellow senior Kenny Williams (#40) comes in at 6-8, 240 pounds. Niemo also correctly pointed out that Tech had to do a much better job boxing out on defense … and they did not. Rebounding and free throws killed the Hokies on this night, which saw their first home loss in the post season NIT.

The Hokies trailed by two at the half, 31-33, and managed to scratch, claw and fight their way to a 46-46 tie with 12 minutes to play in the second half, but ole miss ripped off a 14-3 run that proved too much for the Hokies to overcome. The closest they got within the final two minutes was seven points.

The fans deserve a lot of credit because they stuck with the team until the end. It was as loud as the uab game and it wasn’t until about 45 seconds left that I think the crowd finally came to grips with the fact they were going to lose the game. As the clock ran down, the fans began chanting “LET’S GO HOKIES!”

On a whole, Hokie fans have to be thrilled with a 21-14 season. No one would have expected this in November and even without Deron Washington next season, there is plenty to excited about for 2008-2009.

One final note: Hank Thorns, who was 0-3 with no points in 9 minutes, did score an assist, which gives him Tech’s freshman record for assists in a season with 113, one more than Bimbo Coles.

Niemo may or may not have notes depending on his mental state following this crushing defeat.

Recap | Box Score

The Hokies advance to the NIT Quarterfinals with Monday’s win over uab.

Recap | Box Score

The Hokies advance to the ACC Tournament semi-finals with Friday’s win over miami.

Recap | Box Score

The Hokies guaranteed a winning conference record with Tuesday night’s win over wake forest.

Box Score

Deron Washington scored a season-high 22 points. Marcus Travis made his first ever start and played the game of his career. Jeff Allen broke Dell Curry’s freshman record for steals in a single season. And the Hokies crushed wake forest 80-58 to secure a winning record in conference play and guarantee at least a tie for fourth place. Today, my Hokie friends, was a great day!

You just could not have scripted Senior Night any better for Deron and Marcus. The opening possession saw Marcus, a much beloved, but seldom used fan favorite, come off a couple of beautiful screens to have Jeff Allen feed him the ball en route to an uncontested layup. Meanwhile, Deron closed out his regular season career at the Cassell Coliseum by leading the Hokies with 22 points and 13 rebounds, including two more highlight-reel dunks and a pair of big-time three-pointers. The Hokies dominated the demon deacons from Marcus’ opening basket until Dorenzon Hudson’s three-pointer with :19 seconds left in the game that sealed the deal.

The game was a complete blowout from the opening tip as the Hokies raced out to a 17-3 lead and never looked back. They went on to play their best first half of the season, scoring a season-high 47 points on 50 percent shooting from the field. Deron led the way with a couple of nasty dunks that inspired both his teammates and the crowd.

Surprisingly, Marcus played more than just a token minute or two, probably in large part to the energy with which he was playing, and the fact that the Hokies were flat out dominating wake - if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Marcus played the first 4:30 of the half and had the layup, a beautiful no-look assist to Jeff and even fought hard for a rebound that ended up going the Hokies’ way. Not to mention his lock-down defense. When he came out of the game, I actually thought to myself, “Maybe Seth [Greenberg] should have played him a little more this season?”

The second half saw the Hokies stretched their lead to as many as 32, and also let wake creep back to within 19, before sealing the 22-point win. To wake’s credit, they never quit … it just wasn’t their night. Even their 7-footer Chas McFarland couldn’t do anything inside against Allen, despite a 5-inch height advantage. Chas was righteous from the free throw line where he scored six of his 10 points, but outside of that, he was essentially a non-factor thanks to Allen’s physical prowess in the paint.

Tech was not to be denied this critical win on its home floor. The fans were treated to Deron’s top 10 dunks of all time just before the game, which just added to the electricity in the Cassell. Talk about whipped up into a frenzy. As soon as I walked into the Cassell tonight, I literally got chills because it had that kind of energy that you generally only experience at a playoff game. The fans were hyped up and were the louder than any other game I’ve been to this year. I was especially proud of the students, who showed up en mass despite being off this week for spring break.

The crew here at TechHoops.com wants to thank Deron and Marcus for their contributions to Virginia Tech’s basketball program. Great job, guys!

Other Notes:

• Marcus Travis’ final stats: 2 pts, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 reb, 12 minutes
• Nine Hokies played at least 10 minutes (all nine scored)
• Deron was 2/3 from three-point land
• Tech committed just 10 turnovers
• Tech shot 75.6 percent from the free throw line

Niemo’s Notes:

• Wow. Honestly, wow. That’s all you can say. What a great effort, great win, great tribute to both seniors. It is a shame last year’s seniors couldn’t have gone out on a similar note, and won an ACC regular season title. But let’s focus on tonight. Tonight was simply awesome…
• The Hokies clinched a winning record in the ACC. Amazing. Picked to finish 10th preseason, they all but locked up a first round bye in the ACC Tourney. Unbelievable. Give Seth the ACC COY. Dino Gaudio was considered a top contender, but VT is now 3 games ahead of wake in the ACC standings. Frank Haith of miami (picked 11th preseason) still has a shot at it.
• Marcus Travis, who had only played 13 minutes coming into tonight, started the game, played 12 minutes, and scored Tech’s first two points. He also had a spectacular no-look assist to Jeff Allen later in the first half.
• This was the first time all season Deron reached 20 points. This was the first time all season he hit multiple threes in a game, coming in shooting just 20% from behind the arc. He also had 13 rebounds, good for his fifth double-double of the season. Jeff Allen leads the team with 8.
• THE HOKIES THREW AN ALLEY-OOP!!! And guess what, it worked. Deron had a big flush, which was followed by a putback flush by Lewis Witcher, who continues to play out of his mind of late. Where has this play been for Deron’s four years???
• Tech continues to be very unselfish on the break, a switch from earlier in the year. The result is a lot of easy buckets.
• The Hokies dominated the glass early on, playing like absolute beasts. They got every offensive rebound, every defensive rebound. They had a 27-16 margin on the glass at the half and finished by winning the board margin 47-27.
• Tech won the rebounding margin, but lost the FT attempt margin and turnover margin (by just 1). This is the first time in ACC play the Hokies won a game when losing 2 of 3 of those.
• The Hokies hit 9 threes for the game, including 6/11 in the first half. Tech only averaged 5 per game. This is the 2nd most threes VT has made in one game this season, behind their 10/20 performance against eastern washington in Alaska in Game #2.
• The attendance was awesome. Great job by our fans to show up and support the team while most of the students were on Spring Break.
• Bear fights for everyone! Before the game, we set +20 points at the “Bear Fight” margin. It got close, but with Dorenzo Hudson’s three with 12 seconds to go, Tech locked up a Bear Fight for the Partyboys/man.

For the record; Cope’s beautiful wife, Donna, has watched the last four games, all Hokie wins. She was also at Sunday’s women’s game against wake forest, which the Hokies dominated. The women’s team has only won two ACC games all season. I’m not sayin’ that she’s the reason we’re winning, but I’m gonna make damn sure she’s watching the Clemson game on March 9 … just in case.

PLEASE EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE!  Voting will run through Monday until 11:59 PM.  The winning highlight will be announced on Tuesday.

We know that Deron Washington still has at least three more games left in a Virginia Tech jersey and that means plenty of opportunities to add to his lengthy list of highlight-reel plays, but we wanted to see which of his more popular plays is most memorable to the Hokie fans.

We set up a special post for each of the following six highlights. To vote for your favorite highlight, just click on the link below and then give it a five-star rating at the bottom of the post. This is an honor system poll, so please only rate one video. If you rate more than two, Niemo will be reprogrammed to hunt you down and arm-curl you. Of course we’re kidding … but not really. Remember, do not rate each highlight, only the one you are voting for. Ratings don’t matter, it is the number of people that rated a highlight that will decide the winner.

In the spirit of the Oscars, the nominees for “Best Deron Washington Highlight in a Virginia Tech Uniform” are…

Choice A: Deron’s Dunk Over bc’s Tyrelle Blair (2/3/07)

Choice B: Deron’s Dunk at the Cassell vs. bc (2/21/07)

Choice C: Deron’s Dunk at georgia tech (1/19/08)

Choice D: Deron’s Game-Winner at uva (1/16/08)

Choice E: Deron’s Windmill Jam Against gwu (12/9/07)

Choice F: Deron Jumps Over duke’s Greg Paulus … Twice (1/6/07)

Honorable Mention to Deron’s put-back dunk at the end of regulation against uva in the Cassell this year and his accidental bank shot in the NCAA Tournament last year against illinois to put VT ahead in the final minute.

Thanks to ThillyGooth for the idea!

When I sat down to write this column, I was going to lead (or “lede” for my fellow press box jockeys) with: “Go ahead and give Seth Greenberg the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year Award. There isn’t another coach in the ACC that deserves it more.”

But, as I started doing my research, I discovered that there are really three very worthy candidates for the award … if the season were to end today.

The three coaches are Virginia Tech’s Greenberg, miami’s Frank Haith, and wake forest’s Dino Gaudio. Each of these men has taken his team to heights not thought possible before the 2007-08 season tipped off.

The Hokies, hurricanes, and demon deacons were picked to finish 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively, in the ACC prior to the season. As of today, Virginia Tech (8-6, 17-11) is alone in 4th place, while the deacs (6-6, 16-9) are in sixth, and the canes (6-7, 19-6) are in seventh. Tech and wake have a chance to finish 10-6 if they win out, but it will be a more difficult road for the deacons, who finish the season with maryland at home (2/28), then georgia tech (3/1) and Virginia Tech (3/4) on the road, before returning home to close out the season against in-state rival nc state (3/8). miami has three games left: the next two at home against virginia (3/1) and boston college (3/5), and then on the road against florida state (3/8).

I think Haith is on the outside looking in, right now. Unless his team can win out and finish 9-7 in the conference, I’m not sure he has a shot — an honorable effort worthy of mention, but not ACC COY material this season. Especially if Greenberg can win at least one of his final two games and finish 9-7. However, if wake forest can split their final four games and finish 8-8, I think Gaudio will get COY and I can’t argue with that decision.

We’re talking about a team that tragically lost their head coach Skip Prosser to a heart attack before the season started. Gaudio had so many unknowns to overcome … and he overcame them. Gaudio inherited a team picked to finish dead last in the ACC — he has them in sixth place, with a shot at finishing 10-6, which would probably put them in third place. Even 8-8 would be a major accomplishment, especially with a big win over duke on the resume. Gaudio is the sentimental favorite and I doubt anyone would argue against it.

Meanwhile, a compelling argument can also be made for Greenberg. The Hokies are the youngest team in the ACC with seven freshman, three sophomores, two juniors and two seniors. The guys who actually play quality minutes includes six freshmen, one sophomore, one junior and one senior. Those six freshman represent 55 percent of the minutes for the team.

With two games left in the regular season, the Hokies are in fourth place in the ACC at 8-6 and 17-11 overall. Tech has two games left on the schedule: at home next Tuesday vs. wake forest, before closing out the season on the road against clemson on March 9.

Regardless of what the Hokies do in the final two contests, Seth Greenberg would be a solid choice for the ACC Coach of the Year, an honor he first earned during Tech’s inaugural season in college basketball’s best conference (2004-2005) when the Hokies went 8-8. To play .500 ball with six freshman playing more than half of your minutes is truly amazing for any team in any conference, but to do it in the ACC is truly impressive and the mark of an outstanding coaching staff.

Of course, the Hokies lack a marquee win this season unless they can steal a road victory against clemson. The canes and deacs both have wins over duke, which could be the deciding factor if all three teams finish above .500. However, if the Hokies finish 10-6 in the ACC and end up third in the final regular season standings behind unc and duke, lock up ACC COY for Greenberg. Otherwise, I think Gaudio gets it as long as he finishes 8-8.