HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: COPPIN STATE AT VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES 8PM ACCNX/ESPN+

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: COPPIN STATE AT VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES 8PM ACCNX/ESPN+

You better be there 😉For five reasons to catch the @HokiesWBB & @HokiesMBB doubleheader on Monday.— HokieSports (@hokiesports) November 3, 2023

Coppin State
vs. Virginia Tech
November 6th, 2023
Cassell Coliseum
8 p.m. ET
ACCNX/ESPN+
Virginia Tech Sports Network

ACCNX/ESPN+
Play-by-Play: Evan Hughes
Analyst: Mack McCarthy

Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop

Current Spread: Hokies +27.5
Over/Under: -141.5

Opening Night

The Hokies begin against Coppin State. The Eagles come into this season with a new coach after the departure of Juan Dixon. Larry Stewart takes over the Eagles after many years as an assistant coach in the MEAC. Stewart is a former NBA player, the first player to go undrafted and make the NBA All Rookie team. He brings a much more developed defensive focus than Dixon.

The Eagles need something to keep them competitive, coming off a 9-23 campaign, they must replace six of their top seven scorers from last season. They will be looking to mesh five returning players with five tranfers and six freshman. Two transfers followed Stewart from Morgan State in Senior Guard Daiquan Copeland and Grad Forward Toto Fagbenle. These two were not significant contributors at Morgan State so difficult to determine what their role here will be. Senior Forward Justin Winston is the highest returning scorer. He averaged 8.1 ppg last season.

What to expect from Coppin State?
This Eagles team is going to be putting pieces together so I expect we will see quite a few different lineups. Early on I expect Coach Stewart will rely on his more veteran players to be on the floor so likely the Hokies will see Winston and Fagbenle underneath with 7 foot Freshman Darryon Prescott and Junior 6'11 Luka Tekavcic rotating them in. As far as guards, Isaiah Gross, Zahree Harrison and Malik Battle likely round out the starters. Not really sure what to expect from the freshmen so they may or may not play a role.

Coppin State is going to try to bog down the game to slow the Hokies scoring. Style of play is still kind of murky. Stewart has been known to develop post players which isn't surprising with his background. He had over 1000 points and 1000 rebounds in college and a five-year NBA career. Considering his challenge of molding so many new pieces together I expect the Hokies will see a heavy zone defense.

The Hokies
Who will we see as a starting five? Seeing a diverse opinion on who will start. The major divergence appears to be between a two guard/three big starting five versus a three guard/two big lineup. Rice's departure seems to have most leaning to a Cattoor, Pedulla, Long, Beran, and Kidd starting five. I tend to think we will eventually have Nickel establish himself as a starter over either Long or Kidd but Collins due to his experience with the other starters likely is first off the bench for now.

With three new starters, the Hokies will need to demonstrate they have enough chemistry to make clean passes on the offensive end and smooth transitions on switches defensively.

The Hokies have a clear experience and talent advantage but will need to show they can work together to be successful. Success obviously starts with a win but coming in a 27+ point favorite, they really need to do a bit more than that. Can the Hokies avoid taking possessions off either physically or mentally? Hopefully they can establish a big lead early to allow Young to see a few different groups together in live competition.

🔥6🔥MORE🔥DAYS🔥READ: https://t.co/uShQ5e7DRtBE THERE: https://t.co/Meie0w0g7Z#StoneByStone pic.twitter.com/cRht2GlWLf— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) October 31, 2023

For those that haven't been tuning in up to this point, Robbie Beran, a Grad Forward comes over from Northwestern. He has started an incredible 99 games at this point so before leaving Tech could reach 130 starts in college. He scored 7.5 points per game, has a Basile like outside shot but struggles getting position in the paint and averaged 4.5 rebounds last year.

Put your 4s 🆙 @RunItUpKhi_ ⏳⏳⏳⏳🎟️ » https://t.co/Meie0w0g7Z#StoneByStone pic.twitter.com/WpDzD5N7z3— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 2, 2023

Mekhi Long joins the Hokies as a Grad Forward from ODU. Long is a double double machine with slick passing and a moderate outside shot. He is definitely being counted on to fill the hole left by Mutts.

Tyler Nickel is the all-time leading scorer in Virginia high school basketball come home, transferring back from UNC. Nickel is honestly the best bet to replace any semblance of the driving capability that left with Rice.

In Closing
Win each possession. They have not done anything as a team and have plenty of questions to answer on who they are. Leave the game management to the coaches and go out and play.