ACC TEAM PREVIEW #16 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES

Virginia Tech enters this season hoping to end a three-year NCAA tournament drought since winning the ACC tournament during the 2021-22 season. They're now in year seven of the Mike Young era, and he's had a 105-85 record during his Virginia Tech tenure. VT is coming off one of the worst seasons since of his tenure. They finished with an overall record of 13-19. There's reason for optimism this season with one of the best freshman recruiting classes in the history of the program.

Projected Lineup:

G Izaiah Pasha (Delaware transfer)

G Jaden Schutt

G Neoklis Avdalas

F Toibu Lawal

F Amani Hansberry (West Virginia transfer)

This season's Virginia Tech team is intriguing to say the least. They landed quite possibly the best international recruit in this year's cycle in 6-foot-8 guard Neoklis Avdalas from Greece. He's a five-star recruit by 247 Sports and has "one-and-done" potential, being projected to go in the first round in several NBA mock drafts. Avdalas should be the primary piece of the Hokies' offense this season. Another young, talented player that head coach Mike Young brought in for this season is Delaware transfer Izaiah Pasha. He was a very highly-coveted name in the portal after having an outstanding freshman season, winning CAA Freshman of the Year, and averaging 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. If Pasha's game can translate well to the NBA level, VT could potentially have two NBA draft picks after this season.

Another reason for optimism around this year's team is the return of last season's leading scorer (12.7 PPG) and rebounder (7 RPG), Tobi Lawal. Lawal enters this season as one of the best returning forwards in the conference. They brought in West Virginia transfer Amani Hasnberry to play alongside Lawal in the front court. He was a big part of WVU's rotation last year, averaging 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. 6-foot-5 guard Jaden Schutt is back for Virginia Tech. After transferring in from Duke for a bigger role, he started in 26 of 32 games and averaged 7.7 points.

Virginia Tech is definitely a tough team to predict for next season, but they should have one of the more talented starting lineups in the conference. If Pasha and Avdalas can adjust well to ACC play, Virginia Tech could have quite a turnaround next season.