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The one downside to our current blogging format is that it’s tough for us to cover breaking news. Unlike TSL and other Tech sites, we don’t have a message board format to relay breaking news to our readers. Thus, I have to revert to Twitter to actually post something about the topic. Even then, less than 30% or so of our readership have Twitter accounts.
So finding a way to actually post breaking news is tough without having a lot of small, less than 200 word blog articles posted on the site. Despite that, I’m hoping this article catches you up on some of the more noteworthy pieces of information that have protruded out of Blacksburg recently.
Finney Smith to Transfer
Yesterday, word leaked out that former five star recruit Dorian Finney-Smith is indeed going to transfer from Virginia Tech. Doe Doe, as he’s known, averaged a team high seven rebounds last season but struggled as a scorer, especially in ACC play. Needless to say, he didn’t quite live up to expectations.
Finney-Smith is still a talented player and I thought he would be destined for a breakout season this fall if he stuck around. Instead, he’ll likely transfer to a smaller, non-ACC school in the area. One school that could potentially land him is ODU but according to Twitter reports, DFS is not considering ODU as a potential destination.
Overall, this will hurt our depth and rebounding ability in 2012. As it stands, the starting five will likely consist of Erick Green, Robert Brown, Jarrell Eddie, CJ Barksdale, and Cadarian Raines. Obviously, that’s not a bad starting five. It’s not quite top of the ACC quality but it’s as good as any of the other teams in the ACC not named Duke, UNC, or for next year, NC State.
But the depth behind them will be a major issue. We will have Marquis Rankin, Marshall Wood, Joey Van Zegeren, and maybe Montrezl Harrell if he does stick with Virginia Tech and qualify academically.
The word “Yikes!” comes to mind. Hopefully, Johnson can finish hiring his coaching staff and can find a diamond in the rough or two to finish out this 2012 class. It will be tough but if not, one injury to this team this fall and we could be in a lot of trouble.
Johnson Close to Hiring Two Assistant Coaches
That’s as good of a segue as any. As I talked about last Friday, Johnson is close to hiring Mark Byington, who was a former standout at Salem High School in Salem, Virginia. Byington is currently at the College of Charleston but you can read about that more in the linked article.
According to new reports, the Hokies are also looking at Ramon Williams, who is an assistant coach at Ohio University. Williams is a Roanoke native and graduate of VMI in 1990. Obviously, being able to move back close to his hometown would be a draw and I’m sure the Hokies would be able to pay him more money than what he’s making at Ohio. Also, the Bobcats did make it to the Sweet 16 this past season so if there were ever a time to make a move this would be the time.
After doing some research, it looks like those two guys would be excellent hires for Johnson’s staff. Both are local, neither would likely leave within the next few years, and they both are good recruiters. Byington has ties in South Carolina, North Carolina, and in the 757. Williams has ties in Ohio (which surprisingly produces some good basketball players on an annual basis). I’m waiting to hear a third name announced but so far, I’m satisfied with how Coach Johnson is assembling his staff.
Hokies visit Robert Nkemdiche
Let’s flip it over to football recruiting for a second and talk about the top player in the country in 2012. Shane Beamer swung by his high school early this week and evaluated him for the Hokies. It’s unclear if Virginia Tech has or will offer Nkemdiche but it’s nice to see our coaching staff being more aggressive now that the boat is mostly full. With limited targets left, you might as well throw out an offer to the top player in the country and see if you can land a visit. 
Nkemdiche is a heavy SEC lean and it would shock me to see him go anywhere other than Alabama. But, who knows. Get him up on campus over the summer and maybe he’ll list Tech as one of his five official visits. If that happens, maybe he’ll come up for one of our bigger games and fall in love with Hokie Nation. You never know.
But for now, we probably shouldn’t get our hopes up as fans. But, I do like the aggressive nature on the recruiting trail. If we’re going to take that next step as a program, we need to start bringing in more four and five star guys.
Jonathan Allen Trims List
Five star defensive end Jonathan Allen is down to Alabama, Florida, Virginia Tech, Ohio State, and Penn State. Being a former Alabama resident and growing up a huge Crimson Tide fan makes Alabama the clear leader in this race. But, he did visit Blacksburg for the spring game and it seems that the Hokies might have taken over the 2nd spot in his top five.
This is going to be a tough decision for Allen, even though I fully expect him to commit to Alabama whenever he decides to go ahead an commit. Still, his immediate family is in Virginia, which does help Virginia Tech’s cause. They are the closest school to his current residence and his family would be able to watch him play almost every Saturday.
But, can the Hokies overcome that loyalty to Alabama? That’s the big question and one we’ll have to watch going forward. Allen’s recruitment may be a good measuring stick at how far we’ve come on the recruiting trail in the last 12 months. If the Hokies find a way to land him, I think it’s time to give Torian Gray and Shane Beamer a pay raise.
Other Recruiting Notes
I haven’t done a Friday recruiting article in a few weeks and I promise I’ll get back on that over the summer. I graduated last weekend so it’s been hectic. But, here are a few other recruiting notes that have been announced publicly over the last few days.
* DaeSean Hamilton continues to blow up with offers rolling in from Miami, Illinois, West Virginia, Michigan State, Wake Forest, Temple, Maryland, and Duke. The Hokies, UVA, and Miami are probably the three teams to watch here although I think Hamilton will likely stay in-state.
* Virginia Tech commit Holland Fisher along with Kendall Fuller, DJ Reid, Derrick Green, Marcus Newby, Larenz Bryant, Marquez Grayson, Greg Gilmore, Peter Kalambayi, and Uriah LeMay have all been invited to participate in the 2013 US Army All-American Bowl broadcasted on NBC in January. Odds are, the Hokies have somewhere between 3-5 players participating in that game. The most Tech has had was two, which occurred last season even though Joel Caleb was injured and did not actually play.
Previous US Army Commits we’ve had are Ryan Williams, Tyrod Taylor, Logan Thomas, Joel Caleb, and Brooks Abbott.
* Speaking of Holland Fisher, he was nominated to participate in “The Opening,” which is a national All-Star camp out in Oregon this summer.
* Deon Newsome will likely enroll early if he can get his grades in order and graduate in December. Being a Virginia High School student, that’s tough to do with SOLs. But, if he has all of the classes, enrolling in January helps most all college athletes. Having that extra practice session in the spring to learn your assignments helps most freshmen immensely.
* 2013 kicker Dillon Christopher is a name to watch. He could earn a scholarship from Virginia Tech sometime this year. He holds the state record for longest field goal made with a 60 yard FG last season. Of course, high school kickers are allowed to kickoff rubber tees but that’s still impressive for a high school student.
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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }
Travis Wells with WDBJ 7 said that the third coach for basketball is probably going to be Kurt Kanaskie with Navy. It’s also been said of Kanaskie from a few other news related sources. Sounds like 3 solid reputable assistants.
Those are 3 good hires. Do you think we will sign anybody else this year or just wait till next year and sign a bounce of players. We can’t afford to waste scholies like Greenberg did with certain players.
Well I have to comment now…Not at all happy with Weavers leadership as AD. First of all James Johnson Is not an ACC head coach. Period. He has never been a head coach even at the High School level! Mark Byington has never been a high school head coach nor has Ramon Williams. I can’t blame DFS for leaving…this is going to be a fiasco! These guys should be cutting their teeth in the Ohio Valley, Southern Conference or maybe even the CAA..Not the ACC!! Someone blogged that Roy Williams started his coaching tenure at Kansas without being a head coach? What?? Not a good comparison as he was a HS head coach for 5 years (w/great record) and spent 10 years learning the ropes from a legend in Dean Smith at UNC. Also, let’s compare notes with rival UVA on this one…Toney Bennett was a very successful HEAD COACH before being hired and he brought in two asst. coaches with local ties ..Richey McKay was also a head coach with a winning positive percentage at Liberty. Even with all this experience UVA has needed some time to put together their program. I’m sorry but this is like racing a two year old in the Kentucky Derby…its being set up to fail..As much as I wanted to see a coaching change like a lot of fans…Seth has to be shaking his head as is the rest of the basketball world…How discouraging…cant wait for football
I don’t think the lack of head coaching experience is reason enough to say that JJ won’t be successful…….
Dean Smith was never a head coach until he took over at North Carolina (was assistant there at the time) in 1961. He was an assistant there for 3 years prior. That turned out to be a good hire.
Tom Izzo was never a head coach in college before taking over Michigan State in 1995 from the assistant coach position. He was a high school coach for one year, though, in 1977. I am sure that is where he gained most of his prowess as a coach, huh?
Jim Boeheim was never a head coach before taking over at Syracuse. He ALSO was the assistant coach for the previous 7 years.
Sure, JJ most-likely will not achieve the same results, but your reasoning is faulty.
That is pretty funny.. look at the coaching tree of those you are talking about? Dean Smith was at UNC with the likes of Charlie Scott and coach Frank McGuire , Tom Izzo –Judd Heathcoat and a National Championship with Magic Johnson, Jim Boeheim was an assistant with and the mentored Rick Pitino and on and on ..That is your analogy? Not good odds fella….Very impressive… come back in a couple of years and Man up with your prediction of a faulty statement. How many schools would hire that staff in the ACC? SEC? BIG EAST? Answer Zero
What would the Vegas Odds be on him lasting more than 5 years 30-1 40-1??
Let me clarify a bit, myself or no one I know is blaming JJ. Everybody wants to be the CEO? He is giddy about this opportunity and as the saying goes “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”. But I spend my hard earned money attending 4/5 BBall games and 3/4 football games a year and as a consumer I have been very disappointed with the basketball program over the last 10 years until recently. Winning 20 games a year is something we have been getting used to until last year. The logical next step is to get into the big dance and make some noise. While Seth was having a hard time getting over the preverbal hump..There is no question among most experts familiar with the VT situation that this is a major step backward. That does not mean that I will stop going to the games and cheering the guys on…but the chances of JJ and his staff taking them further than Seth is unrealistic. I think as fans we need to hold the decision makers accountable and in my opinion Weaver did not do everything he needed to do to take the bball program to the next level. Football was a plug and play for him so no pressure there. If this blows up in his face I know a lot of fans and season ticket holders that will be giving him an ear full.
Regardless of what anyone says, Weaver made the choice he HAD to make, and I for one think it will turn out to be a good choice. VT wasn’t going to be able to produce enough incentive for ANYONE with much of a proven track record for one. Two odds are heavy that most anyone who came in besides JJ was going to lose several members of the team. As for your comments LJ if you read David Teel’s article on DFS leaving then you’d know that DFS had been making plans to leave back when Seth was here because he didn’t like the situation from several angles, mostly the fact that he and his mom didn’t believe his game suited VT’s. JJ could have come in farting golden rainbows of NCAA championships and DFS was going to already be gone. They had made up their minds a while ago. Next regarding Ramon and Mark, they are both excellent basketball hires. Mark is a terrific X & O man and has lots of good bench experience, no not head coaching, but I’ll take his resume. Ramon is a superb guard coach who has really made some proficient scoring guards with the teams he has been with. Both are good recruiters. Hopefully Kanaiske from Navy will join and that will be our Head Coaching experience to round out our staff. All in all everyone has to start somewhere and I am at least one Hokie who is excited to see what these guys can do with building our basketball program.
Justin, love your Hokie blogs. How come you are graduating from Radford Univ? Why not VT? Emily
Thanks Emily. Tried to transfer in but it just didn’t work out. I’m happy it worked out the way it did though.
Anyone else hearing Rankin wants to transfer. That’s the rumor going around, if he does leave their is a good chance we could play some games with 5-6 healthy scholie players because of injury’s and transfers. YIKES!
Rankin……I saw a clip from his Twitter feed that said “I AM NOT TRANSFERING!!!!!!”, so I took that as he is not transferring.
I would be very surprised to see Rankin transfer. He came in with Brown and Barksdale from Hargrave, and I figure it’d be tough walking out on them. Plus, I’m not sure he doesn’t start over Brown this year… depends on who puts their summer to better use. He should at least get a good amount of playing time, and be a two year starter thereafter. So transferring just doesn’t make a lot of sense there.
Looks like we’re losing Montrezl. Hate to see him go, but if your hearts not in the program then it’s what’s best for both sides. Hope he doesn’t get swallowed up on a stacked team cause I think he has some serious skills.
Kanaiske signed on as well. This has the makings of a very solid and reputable staff.
If Trez and DFS want no part in this program then….. Kick rocks! We dont want you either.
With that being said JJ has his work cut out for him. I have a good feeling about him though!
Anyone know of any names out there that we could offer and potentially bring in? Or are we just going to save scholarships?……That possibility of Adjehi Baru coming here with Byington would be awesome if it came true. But he might have to sit out a year
“Virginia Tech’s new staff reached out to 2013 PF James Ziemba. Quinnipac, Yale, and Princeton are after Ziemba.”
It’s not an encouraging sign going after talent that the mid-majors would shun. Second, he’s only a 6-7 center on his high school team.
There are a couple of de-commits from Byington’s school CofC but other Southern Conference schools don’t seem too excited by them. In fact, the players didn’t back out of commitments so much as Charleston declined to extend an offer on the signing deadline. Very cold.
Maybe we’ll work the college transfers heavily like Ohio University. They had four incoming transfers in their run to the Sweet Sixteen, but I thought the whole point of the coaching change was to bring stability to the program.
You have to remember that about 70% or more of prospects out there have signed to their respective schools. So there’s only a small base left to pull from. Then again, you can find some sleepers if you wait and right now, we just have to hope that our new staff can find somebody who can compete at an ACC level.
whats up the update to daniel rodriquez?
headed to Clemson. Official
Saw on rivals where Fuller has it down to VA Tech and Clemson. Only thing about clemson I’m worried about is his best friend O’daniel is committed their. How in the world is clemson always in it for top players I don’t understand it, their campus is average and that town is smaller then Blacksburg I’ve been their many times and I don’t get it. It has to be the WOMAN that’s the only thing I can think of.
They have an SEC like atmosphere, beautiful women, and great facilities. Plus, they have a head coach that isn’t afraid to sell them on just about anything. That’s the draw for Clemson. But, I wouldn’t worry about it. Fuller is VT bound unless something strange happens.
I Graduated from both VA Tech and Southern Cal in the 80′s. I Live on the east coast so I’m 100% VA Tech football. I have season tickets to both programs and I can’t wait to see Logan Thomas VS Matt Barkley.
WHATS TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE THE FOOTBALL RECRUITING INFO?
Calm down. I just graduated college and just started my internship so needless to say, I haven’t had as much time to write recently. Plus, I’m working on my countdown articles which start in 13 days. I have a recruiting article coming up this week and it will have a breakdown of where VT stands as of this week.
Who do you think will be our next commit in football.
I think DJ Reid, DaeSean Hamilton, and Wyatt Teller are close to pulling the trigger. I see all three guys being early summer commitments. I still think Teller is UVA bound but the other two still seem to have Tech first on their list so I’ll go with one of those two.
Lafonte Thoroghood has been granted.a.release from his schollie. any chance VT tries to get him again. i wouldn’t think they would but thought id ask.
I highly doubt it. We don’t have an open scholarship to give this semester so he would have to walk on and sit out a year if he did want to transfer here.