Virginia Tech Basketball: 2024-25 Season Update & 10-Year Snapshot

2024-25 North Carolina Sports Network
Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Spotlight:
Virginia Tech

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network

School: Virginia Tech

Location: Blacksburg, Va.

Previous NCAA Conference Affiliations: Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1895-1906), South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association (1907-21), Southern Conference (1921-65), Metro Conference (1978-95), Atlantic 10 Conference (1995-2000), Big East Conference (2000-04)

ACC Member Since: 2004-05

ACC Ranking Among 32 Leagues (KenPom): 5th (2025), 5th (2024), 7th (2023), 5th (2022), 5th (2021), 4th (2020)

NCAA Tournament Bids: 13 (1967, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1996, 2007, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)

Conference Titles: 2 (1979 in Metro; 2022 in ACC)

Conference 1st-Place Finishes: 1 (1960 in SoCon)

Head Coach: Mike Young (61 years old, 6th season at Virginia Tech)

As A Player: Emory & Henry (1982-86)

Record At Virginia Tech (Through Dec. 30): 97-73 (.571) in 5+ seasons

Previous HC Experience: Wofford (2002-19)

College AC Experience: Emory & Henry (1986-88), Radford (1988-89), Wofford (1989-2002)

Assistant Under: Robert Johnson, Oliver Purnell

2023-24 Record: 19-15, 10-10 (8th in 15-team ACC)

2024-25 Preseason Prediction (Coaches/Media): 14th in 18-team ACC

2024-25 Record (Through Dec. 30): 5-7, 0-1 ACC

2024-25 Midseason Ranking (KenPom): #149 nationally (17th in ACC)

Upcoming Schedule: at #4 Duke (12/31), Miami (1/4), at Stanford (1/8), at Cal (1/11), NC State (1/15), Wake Forest (1/18), at Georgia Tech (1/22)

In one sense, Virginia Tech basketball has been on the rise.

The Hokies’ two most recent coaches may be the best in their program’s history. Buzz Williams took Tech to three straight NCAA Tournaments before being lured away by Texas A&M. Mike Young, now in his sixth season in Blacksburg, was a consistent winner at Wofford and led the Hokies to their first and only ACC title just three seasons ago, in 2022.

Heading into the 2024-25 season, though, Tech essentially invited disaster, and it looks as if that’s exactly what the Hokies are going to get.

First, Virginia Tech lost its entire starting lineup from last year’s NIT team. While forward Robbie Beran and guard Hunter Cattoor were out of eligibility, it especially hurt when point guard Sean Pedulla (Ole Miss), wing guard MJ Collins (Vanderbilt) and center Lynn Kidd (Miami) departed, too.

Of the four ACC programs (Boston College, Cal, Louisville, Tech) that lost all five of their most frequent starters from a year ago, only the Cardinals appear to have anything close to a contending team this season.

Second, in their attempt to add high-end players via the transfer portal, the Hokies fell far short of filling the holes created by their talent exodus, although wing guard Jaden Schutt (Duke) and power forward Tobi Lawal (VCU) have played well at times.

Tech’s most accomplished offseason addition, Temple point guard Hysier Miller (16 ppg, 4 rpg, 4 apg, 2 spg in 2023-24), projected as the Hokies’ best player this season, but he also came with an enormous amount of baggage, as a central figure in a federal probe of suspicious gambling activity last season.

In late October, just a month before the start of the 2024-25 season, Tech “permanently released” Miller from the team, citing “circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech.”

That development left Tech with a squad on which all five new starters are being asked to fill much bigger roles than anything they had previously experienced at the college level, and the results have been predictably poor.

During their 5-7 start, the Hokies lost six games by 10 or more points. Their lowlights have included a 74-64 home loss to Jacksonville, a low-major opponent, and most recently an 82-62 blowout defeat against St. Joseph’s.

“We got a long way to go,” Young said recently. “Haven’t played well at all (lately), and the road gets more difficult as we go along. Improvements to be made, certainly, and (the players) understand that, as well as our coaching staff.”

2024-25 Virginia Tech Hokies
(5-7, 0-1 ACC; through Dec. 30)

STARTERS (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Brandon Rechsteiner, So. (6-1/190) — 3-star HS signee in 2023
26 mpg, 8 ppg, 1 rpg, 36% FG, 70% FT, 26% threes, 44/32 ATO, 0 blocks, 9 steals

G Jaden Schutt, r-So. (6-5/205) — 2024 Duke transfer (backup)
29 mpg, 9 ppg, 3 rpg, 38% FG, 73% FT, 37% threes, 24/13 ATO, 1 block, 12 steals

G Tyler Johnson, Fr. (6-5/215) — 3-star HS signee in 2024
21 mpg, 6 ppg, 5 rpg, 42% FG, 73% FT, 21% threes, 12/20 ATO, 2 blocks, 6 steals

F Tobi Lawal, Jr. (6-8/200) — 2024 VCU transfer (backup)
25 mpg, 11 ppg, 6 rpg, 58% FG, 73% FT, 35% threes, 5/26 ATO, 10 blocks, 11 steals

C Mylyjael Poteat, Gr. (6-9/260) — 2022 Rice transfer (backup)
21 mpg, 10 ppg, 4 rpg, 51% FG, 71% FT, 0 threes, 15/20 ATO, 2 blocks 1 steal

KEY RESERVES (stats = 2024-25 numbers)

G Jaydon Young, So. (6-4/205) — 3-star HS signee in 2023
23 mpg, 7 ppg, 2 rpg, 32% FG, 82% FT, 32% threes, 18/13 ATO, 0 blocks, 3 steals

F Ben Burnham, Sr. (6-7/220) — 2024 Charleston transfer (2-year starter)
20 mpg, 7 ppg, 4 rpg, 42% FG, 77% FT, 45% threes, 13/11 ATO, 3 blocks, 6 steals

G Ben Hammond, Fr. (5-11/170) — 3-star HS signee in 2024
15 mpg, 5 ppg, 1 rpg, 41% FG, 78% FT, 47% threes, 20/18 ATO, 0 blocks, 14 steals

G Rodney Brown Jr., So. (6-6/185) — 2024 Cal transfer (backup)
13 mpg, 4 ppg, 2 rpg, 44% FG, 50% FT, 40% threes, 10/5 ATO, 1 block, 2 steals

C Patrick Wessler, r-So. (7-0/250) — 3-star HS signee in 2022
11 mpg, 5 ppg, 3 rpg, 61% FG, 77% FT, 0 threes, 2/7 ATO, 4 blocks, 2 steals

Departures from 2023-24: F Robbie Beran* (Sr./Belgium), F John Camden (So./transfer/Delaware), G Hunter Cattoor* (Sr./France), G MJ Collins* (So./transfer/Vanderbilt), F Mekhi Long (Sr./Macedonia), G Tyler Nickel (So./transfer/Vanderbilt), C Lynn Kidd* (Jr./transfer/Miami), PG Sean Pedulla* (Jr./transfer/Ole Miss), G Rodney Rice (Fr./transfer/Maryland)

*—2023-24 starter (started at least 50% of Tech’s games last season)

Virginia Tech Hokies
10-Year Snapshot

Season: Overall, League (Place), Postseason

2023-24: 19-15, 10-10 ACC (8th), NIT Second Round (Mike Young)
2022-23: 19-15, 8-12 ACC (11th), NIT First Round (Mike Young)
2021-22: 23-11, 11-9 ACC* (7th), NCAA Round of 64 (Mike Young)
2020-21: 15-7, 9-4 ACC (3rd), NCAA Round of 64
2019-20: 16-16, 7-13 ACC (10th), no postseason (Mike Young)
2018-19: 26-9, 12-6 ACC (5th), NCAA Sweet 16 (Buzz Williams)
2017-18: 21-12, 10-8 ACC (7th), NCAA Round of 64 (Buzz Williams)
2016-17: 22-11, 10-8 ACC (7th), NCAA Round of 64 (Buzz Williams)
2015-16: 20-15, 10-8 ACC (7th), NIT Sweet 16 (Buzz Williams)
2014-15: 12-21, 2-16 (15th), no postseason (Buzz Williams)

*—conference champion

NOTE: In the coming weeks and months, please visit the North Carolina Sports Network’s 2024-25 profiles and 10-year snapshots for all 19 Division One men’s basketball programs in North Carolina and all 18 Atlantic Coast Conference programs. The items below will become “live links” as new articles are posted.

Appalachian State Mountaineers, Sun Belt Conference

Boston College Eagles, Atlantic Coast Conference

California Bears, Atlantic Coast Conference

Campbell Camels, Coastal Athletic Association

Charlotte 49ers, American Athletic Conference

Clemson Tigers, Atlantic Coast Conference

Davidson Wildcats, Atlantic-10 Conference

Duke Blue Devils, Atlantic Coast Conference

East Carolina Pirates, American Athletic Conference

Elon Phoenix, Coastal Athletic Association

Florida State Seminoles, Atlantic Coast Conference

Gardner-Webb Runnin’ Bulldogs, Big South Conference