2024-25 Hokie Hoops Statistical Notes: Volume II

The Men's Team

Year Six of CMY Ball began with a 3-1 record against the first quartet of opponents. Virginia Tech beat the teams they were clearly better than, but lost to the one who was a near peer. With those three wins, Young sits just 5 wins behind Buzz Williams, who went off to A&M and as of this writing has just as many wins at A&M as he did at Tech. It's actually kind of hard to believe, but if the men's team goes 5-2 over the next seven games, Young and Williams would have identical records at Virginia Tech. Young has one more conference win and two more conference losses, though (and an ACC tournament championship).

So let's look at the team

Scoring

The Hokies place three scorers in double-figures, led by Mylyjael Poteat's 13.25, followed by Tobi Lawal's 12.75 and Jaden Schutt's 11. With the top 2 scorers being bigs, it's obvious that the style of play that we've come accustomed to has changed. Guards Jaydon Young and Brandon Rechsteiner both accrued 8.75 ppg, while Tyler Johnson leads bench scorers with 8 ppg. The rest of the bench hasn't really been seen in the scorer's column that often. 3.5 ppg for Ben Hammond. 3.25 for Patrick Wessler and Ben Burnham. Ryan Jones Jr has 2 ppg. Rodney Brown Jr added 0.67 ppg.

Overall scoring is down 0.4 ppg from last season. Bench scoring is down by 0.58 ppg from last season. Shooting percentages are down almost 3%, while we're down 3.5% from beyond the arc. Free throws are down over 8%

Rebounding

So far, the Hokies have only seen one double-double; from Tobi Lawal, who leads the team with 8.75 rebounds per game. Tyler Johnson has also pulled down a decent amount with 6.5 per game.

No other Hokie is averaging two rebounds per half.

Poteat is only getting 3.75 per, while Burnham gets 3.5 and Schutt gets 3.25 per. Young gets 2.5.

So only six Hokies are pulling down a board per half.

Rechsteiner nabbed 1 per game, Hammond has 0.75, while the Juniors both have 0.33 per.

It looks bad, until you realize how bad we were last year at rebounding. Offensive rebounds have gone from 7.75 per game to 12.75 while defensive rebounds have remained the same. Good to know that with the lower shooting percentages as shown above, we're getting second chances almost twice as often.

Assists/Turnovers/Steals

Avert your eyes.

Through four games, the Hokies have dished out 55 assists, but committed 56 turnovers, while clawing back 18 steals. Despite being in the top 2 of both scoring and rebounding, Tobi Lawal is far and away the most nerve wracking with the ball, putting together an ATO margin of 2:12, thankfully, he is also top 2 in steals, with 5 to make that a still dreadful 2:7 AATO, where he is joined by Johnson. Wessler (0:3) and Burnham (2:3) also in the red in ATO/AATO margins.

Rechsteiner leads the Hokies with 14 assists and an AATO of 14:3. Both Poteat and Young have ATOs of 10:7. Schutt and Hammond are the glowing bright spots though. While having committed 5 turnovers each, they've both done work on the defensive end to bring their AATOs to 9:1 and 6:0, respectively.

So if the Hokies want the best ball handlers on the court, the go to would be Rechsteiner, Schutt, Hammond, Young, and Poteat. That would also give you four of the five players who have recorded steals on the court, as well.

Experience/Depth

Young did a good job not playing anybody too much, which should serve to keep legs fresh later in the season and to give more players a chance to mesh together.

The top six are set pretty well, while three more backups provide solid minutes. Jaydon Young accrued the most minutes at 28.75, joined in the 20 mpg club by Schutt (28), Rechsteiner (26.25), Lawal (25.5), Poteat (24.5), and Johnson (22.5). Hammond and Burnham also provide a bunch of minutes at 14.5 and 14.25 mpg, respectively, with Wessler (10) rounding out the major players. Brown Jr (3.33) and Jones Jr (2) average at least one minute per half. Serven (1.33), Carr and Venable (1) round out the minutes

Upcoming

Jacksonville starts off the next window of games. The Dolphins come in at 202 with losses to Florida and Furman, and wins over SC State and Trinity Baptist. Jacksonville plays 10 over 10 mpg. All of the offense runs through 6-4 Jr G Robert McCray V, who leads the team in scoring, 2nd in assists, and 3rd in rebounding. 6-2 Jr G Zach Bell also scores in the double figures. Inside, 6-9 Fs Stephon Payne III, Kendall Munson, and Donovan Rivers combine for 16.8 points and 15.1 rebounds per game. The Dolphins are characteristically bad with the ball, averaging a 15.3:17.0 ATO margin. This could get sloppy.

Danny Coale caught the ball.

Oh shit, wrong sport. Tech then goes to take on Michigan, in the Fort Myers Tip-Off who will offer a different challenge than Jacksonville, as the Wolverines mostly play a 4 guard lineup. Inside, though, they do have 7-0 tree Danny Wolf, who averages almost a double double a game, who gets relieved by 7-1 Vladislav Goldin. Outside, Michigan utilizes a deep guard rotation led by 6-3 Jr Tre Donaldson with 14 ppg and 4.5 apg. 6-5 Nimari Burnett, 6-5 Roddy Gayle Jr, and 6-2 LJ Carson all average between 8.5 and 12 ppg. Additional post depth comes from 6-10 Sam Walters and 6-8 Will Tschetter. We may also see 6-5 G Rubin Jones and 6-3 Fr Justin Pippen, son of NBA legend Scottie Pippen. The lone loss of the 3-1 Wolverines has come the only other time they've ventured to face ACC competition, a 2 point loss to Wake Forest.

Keeping the next game summary short, the Hokies will play either Xavier or South Carolina following the Michigan game.

Closing out the frame, the Hokies welcome Vanderbilt in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Unbeaten, the Commodores nine-man rotation is led in the guard position 6-1 G Jason Edwards, a name you might remember in Tyler Nickel, 6-4 AJ Hoggard, 6-0 Tyler Tanner, another name you might remember in MJ Collins, 6-5 Chris Manon, and 6-4 Grant Huffman. They are, however, very shallow at the post, with only 6-7 Devin McGlockton and 6-8 Jaylen Carey seeing much playing time. This could get ugly as they are a feisty defensive team, averaging double digit steals per game, 6 blocks per game, and less than 7 turnovers per game. The only saving grace is that they suck from range or from the line.

Prediction

After watching the first four games, my confidence level in predicting the Hokies is shaky at best. I do think that the Hokies are a better team than Jacksonville. Michigan will be a toss-up, as will Xavier or South Carolina. I don't see the Hokies beating a good defensive team in Vanderbilt.

2-2.

The Women's Team.

The inaugural season of Coach Duffy's career at Virginia Tech has started as expected, going 3-1, demolishing the lesser opponents, while not quite being up to the task of taking on a title contender, but there are some bright spots to be sure.

Scoring

Through four, the Hokies have put up just over 80 ppg, while holding opponents to just over 60. Unlike last year's team, this iteration of Hokies Women's basketball seems to be more balanced in the attack. Four players average double figures, led by Carleigh Wenzel's 16.25. She is joined by Rose Micheaux's 14, Carys Baker's 10.25 and Tilly Ekh's 10 ppg. Adding to the scoring, are Samyha Suffren with 7.75, Kayl Petersen with 7.6, Lani White with 5 ppg, and Mackenzie Nelson with 4.75, rounding out the scorers with at least 1 basket per half.

That's 6 players scoring at least 7 per game, compared to last year's 4.

Ramiya White (3 ppg), Myah Hazelton (2 ppg) and Leila Wells (2 ppg) round out the scorers.

Rebounding

As is expected when you lose the greatest post player in school history, rebounding does tend to fall off.

Micheaux leads the team in rebounding with 6.75, joined by Wenzel (5.75), Petersen (4.5), and Ekh (4) at nabbing one rebound per quarter.

Tallying at least one per half we have Baker (3.75), Ramiya White (3), Lani White (2.5) and Nelson (2.5).

Suffren has also pulled down 1.5 rpgs, while Wells grabbed 1 in four games.

Assists/Turnovers/Steals

Like the men, the women have committed more turnovers (69) than assists (63). Unlike the men, and unlike any Kenny Brooks squad, this Hokies team plays aggressive defense, swiping 31 steals.

You'd have to go all the way back to Dennis Wolff's first year (2011-12) to see a Hokie's team that prolific in thievery. The 31 steals are also 25% of last year's entire total.

Unlike her predecessor, Wenzel is not as careful when passing the ball, as she leads the team with 16 turnovers, to go with her 10 assists. Five other Hokies have poor ATO margins; L White (4:7), Micheaux (3:6), Hazelton (0:3), Petersen (3:6), and R White (0:3).

Now for the good.

Tilly Ekh, Carys Baker, Mackenzie Nelson, Samyha Suffren, and Leila Wells have combined for a steals-adjusted ATO margin of 43 to 4.

I'm going to say that again.

When you subtract the number of steals from the number of turnovers, those five players are averaging almost 11 assists per game to just one adjusted turnover per game.

Experience/Depth

Duffy seems to prefer an 8-player primary rotation with 3 in the deep bench.

In the 20+ mpg club, we have Baker (29.5), Nelson and Ekh (25.5), Wenzel (24.5), Micheaux (21) and Petersen (20.75), with L White (19.75) and Suffren (19) just missing out.

All other players have accrued at least 1 minute per quarter played, with R White getting 8.5 mpg, Wells getting 6.5, and Hazelton getting 4.

Upcoming

First we have the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. Having played a schedule that has only a slightly better pulse than that of the Hokies (sans Iowa), Rutgers will play an 8-player rotation featuring four players at 6-3. Key for the Hokies would be to limit 6-3 Sr Guard Destiny Adams, one of the nation's most dangerous players. She puts up 27 per game, while pulling down 14 rebounds. Joining her in averaging a double-double per game is 6-3 Sr Center Chyna Cornwell. Also scoring in double figures are 6-1 Sr Forward JoJo Lacey and 5-8 Fr G Kiyomi McMiller. Rounding out the key contributors are 5-9 Gs Mya Petticord and Lisa Thompson, 6-3 G Antonia Bates, and 6-3 F Zachara Perkins. They shoot well, because they attack the paint. If we can keep them from getting the ball in, this would be a favorable game for the Hokies, as they shoot slightly worse than 1-4 from range.

Elon comes to town at 3-1 with wins over High Point, Gardner-Webb and Kent State and a loss to Marshall. So far, the Phoenix have not been able to score 70 yet this season. This may have something to do with not having a player taller than 6-0 getting serious minutes. The three who are taller have a combined 39 minutes through 4 games. So this will be a guard-heavy lineup with equal scoring threats in 5-7 Laila Anderson and 5-11 Raven Preston who average 14 and 13.5 ppg. 5-8 Jayda Angel also contributes close to double figures, while post production is almost entirely just Iycez Adams 6.8 ppg. Preston also happens to lead the team in rebounding with 10.5 per. They do force turnovers but turnover quite a few times on their own. Overall they are a very poor shooting team at 38%, 26.2% from range, and 62.4% from the line. This should be a team that the Hokies threaten early and often in the paint.

Davidson comes to the Fort Myers Tip Off at 2-2, with wins over Florida Gulf Coast and Wofford, but losses to High Point and Cincinnati. The win over Wofford was the only time they passed 60 points in scoring. They play a 4-1 lineup but there is not a lot of depth to their bench. At the post, they start 6-2 Millie Prior and 5-11 Candice Lienafa, who combine for 17.75 ppg and 12.75 rpg in 48.5 mpg. The three guards are led by 5-11 Katie Donovan, 5-11 Kyra Bruyndoncx, and 5-10 Issy Morgan. The starters average 29 ppg, 12.75 rpg through 90.75 mpg. Their bench seems to be three-deep, with 5-7 G Jasmine Timmerson, 5-11 G Sienna Dauer, and 5-10 Mallorie Haines. Occasionally they go deeper in the bench for 6-1 F Tomisin Adenupe. This should be a team the Hokies do not worry about height-wise.

The Hokies will wrap up the Tip Off with the winners of Belmont and Michigan. Either will give the Hokies a strong test, and if the Hokies emerge victorious, they should be looked at as greater than a bubble team

Prediction

Elon and Davidson should be over by halftime. Rutgers and the winner of Belmont/Michigan will be battled down to the last moment. As the ESPN predictor has the Hokies beating Rutgers, I will predict this frame at 3-1 with the loss coming against either Belmont or Michigan, although 2-2 would not be awful. If the Hokies manage 4-0, they will be in a much, much better position than previously anticipated.