Hokies Hoops: Who is Tyrone?

I had to book it to the grocery store after Virginia Tech knocked off Wake Forest in the opening round of the ACC Tournament. You can't put off getting the milk until tomorrow when you have a one-year-old. I checked Twitter whenever I was stopped at a traffic light to keep up the post-game info, and figured most of the Hokies / ACC media I follow would be talking about Jalen Hudson's spectacular game.

Jalen Hudson scored career-high 32 points off bench for Va Tech, outscoring Hokies' 5 starters combined.

He had 34 pts in previous 6 games— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 10, 2015

According to the ACC's post-game notes, Hudson's 32 points were the most by a Virginia Tech player in an ACC game. Additionally, Hudson scored 12 of Tech's final 15 points. Instead I was reading tweets about some dude named Tyrone.

#Hokies guard Jalen Hudson said coach Buzz Williams gave him nickname "Tyrone" when everything going right for him. Def. Tyrone-mode today.— Norm Wood (@normwood) March 10, 2015

#Hokies Justin Bibbs on Jalen Hudson's alter-ego, Tyrone: "When he's Jalen, he's just chilling... When we say Tyrone, he's here to play."— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) March 10, 2015

As a once avid reader of Highlights, Goofus & Gallant popped into my mind. Jalen skips weightlifting because he doesn't want to walk through the snow*, Tyrone plays hard no matter what.

Buzz Williams expounded upon this some when asked after the game what the catalyst for Tyrone's big-time performance was.

"I've said since Thanksgiving that Jalen was our most talented player, but he didn't play hard enough to be that every game. He knows that. He's as smart as Christian Beyer is. When he plays hard, he's really good, and when he doesn't play hard, he's just a 6'4" guard that doesn't play hard. He's growing up just like the rest of the freshmen are. I don't think that we strategically did not run a play that we haven't ran in the last three games. It was just the mentality of how we ran the play."

Buzz hasn't been shy about noting the shortcomings of his squad to the media. I don't know if he uses the media as a megaphone to send a message to his players like Phil Jackson, or he's a just a brutally honest and forthcoming person. The truth is probably somewhere in between. As a fan, I'm more concerned with whether or not his sometimes unique coaching philosophy yield wins. Tonight it did.

Buzz had his players create the scouting report for tonight's game, an outside the box strategy for sure. Freshman guard Ahmed Hill noted the experience made him appreciate the hard work, effort and time the assistant coaches, who normally scout, dedicate to the task. Hudson said, "We knew everything they were going to do before they were going to do it, and even better."

Since he was hired, I've listened to almost every interview Buzz has given, and read about everything that's been written about him. Above all else I've learned he's a quirky, motivated, big-picture guy that's driven to succeed. That personality might rub some players the wrong way. In fact, I expect plenty of roster turnover throughout his tenure at Tech. It might also resonate and get a previously unknown Tyrone to come off the bench and have a career game.

*Blatant speculation on my part.