BLACKSBURG — Mike Young’s best Virginia Tech team ranked third nationally in 3-point shooting and won the 2022 ACC Tournament. His best Wofford squad ranked second nationally beyond the arc, went undefeated in the Southern Conference and advanced to the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
Young doesn’t expect the 2025-26 Hokies to approach such exceptional accuracy, but they could well prove to be the most gifted roster of his 24 seasons as a head coach.
The most accomplished?
Well, that’s a conversation for closer to March. But for now, suffice to say that Young is enamored of this roster’s talent, depth, versatility and size.
“We really, really wanted to keep (Jaden) Schutt, Ben Hammond, Tyler Johnson and Tobi (Lawal),” Young said Tuesday of his four returnees. “Were fortunate enough to do that. Those four guys are good players. They’re going to be better with better players around them.”
Young and his staff suspected as much while assembling a nine-man recruiting class comprised of four freshmen, three transfers and two former European pros. But it wasn’t until late summer, when center Antonio Dorn and unicorn Neoklis Avdalas arrived from Germany and Greece, respectively, that Young could see how these diverse pieces might fit into a mosaic.
West Virginia transfer Amani Hansberry shoots over Tobi Lawal during a Hokies practice. (VT Athletics photo)
The 6-foot-9 Avdalas is capable of playing either guard spot or small forward. Hammond or Delaware transfer Izaiah Pasha mans the point when Avdalas is elsewhere.
West Virginia transfer Amani Hansberry teams with the 7-foot Dorn on the interior defensively while serving as a “connector” on offense who challenges opponents with his mid-range shooting out of pick-and-rolls.
Lawal is reprising his levitating power forward role from last season, when he led Tech in scoring and rebounding and flirted with the NBA draft. Schutt (team-high 57 made 3s last season) and Nevada-Las Vegas transfer Jailen Bedford, the Hokies’ best on-the-ball defender, share minutes on the wing with the rugged Johnson.
“It was a tad choppy,” Young said of early workouts, “as Neo was playing for his national team in the Under-20 World Games in Greece (until late July). … We probably practiced with Neo and the whole unit — Dorn got here early July — probably had the whole unit here together for 10 to 12 practices late summer, which was big, a big deal.”
Practices have resumed, but without assistant coach Kevin Giltner, the Hokies’ untitled offensive coordinator during Young’s tenure in Blacksburg. Giltner played on Young’s first two NCAA Tournament teams at Wofford, 2010 and ’11, and Monday the Terriers named him as their head coach, an awkward transition that followed the school’s dismissal of Dwight Perry two weeks ago.
Inconvenient timing aside, Young urged Giltner to accept Wofford’s offer.
“When we first caught wind of it last week,” Young said, “he came in, he was hesitant. ‘We’ve got a really good team, I love being here.’ And I said to him, ‘Hey, pal … if you’ve got a chance to get this one, or any job, you’ve got to go.’ … Timing is obviously terrible. That’s a part of it. We’ll figure that part of it out.”
Giltner was among many exceptional 3-point shooters Young recruited to Wofford, a group headlined by Fletcher Magee. He graduated as the NCAA’s career record-holder for made 3s (509).
Young followed that blueprint at Tech with the likes of Hunter Cattoor, Storm Murphy and Sean Pedulla. But he said during the spring and Tuesday that this team won’t be as 3-point dependent.
Avdalas shot 40.2% beyond the arc for his professional team last season but on minimal volume. Bedford, 36.2% the last two years combined at Oral Roberts and UNLV, is arguably the Hokies’ most-established deep shooter, while Schutt ought to improve his 35.6% from a season ago.
“I don’t think it’s going to be an Achilles heel,” Young said. “We don’t knock the bottom out of it like some teams that I’ve had. I said the other day we’re going to have some games where we make 12; we’re going to have some games where we make six. But defensively and other areas, we’re going to be much improved, and I don’t have a lot of heartburn about it.”
At the very least, Avdalas’ playmaking skills should create open shots for his teammates.
“That’s the best part of his game, I think, is his passing,” Young said. “He is an elite passer and a willing passer … I’ve found myself encouraging him to shoot more than any other part of his game. He’s defending well. He’s very capable.”
Avdalas declared for the 2025 NBA draft and was projected as a possible second-round pick. But he withdrew from the draft and aspires to elevate himself into the first round this season at Tech.
Dorn and Avdalas are growing accustomed to college basketball’s faster pace, while the entire team adjusts to one another, the latter task universal in the transfer portal age. But veterans Lawal and Johnson are as bullish as Young as the Hokies strive for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2022.
“We’re much better (than last season),” Lawal said, “especially with connectivity and understanding what Coach wants us to do, and I feel we have more versatility.”
“I really like where we’re headed,” Johnson said, “and where we are.”
David Teel, david.teel@virginiamedia.com
