HOKIES’ EXPECTATIONS CLIMB
Williams believes seniors can build on success
BLACKSBURG — Virginia Tech coach Buzz Williams’ affection for his seniors is boundless and understandable.
Steered by their frenetic-yet-calculated coach, Justin Robinson, Chris Clarke, Ty Outlaw and Ahmed Hill helped rescue basketball in Blacksburg.
But Williams knows his core players, in concert with their teammates, are capable of more. So he needs to curb that affection, further extending their limits and perhaps taking the Hokies to where they haven’t been in more than 50 years.
Toward that end, Williams texted the foursome in August, asking them to hold him accountable, to make sure he demanded more from them than ever.
If that pact holds, Tech almost certainly will reach a program-record third straight NCAA tournament. Moreover, the Hokies could advance in the bracket for the first time since 2007 and advance multiple rounds for the first time since 1967.
“We are very talented across the board,” Robinson said Thursday at Tech’s preseason media gathering. “We have a lot of experience.”
And then some. A clever, left-handed point guard, Robinson was second-team All-ACC last season.
Outlaw and Hill provide elite, long-range shooting, while Clarke contributes everywhere with tireless athleticism. Add redshirt junior Kerry Blackshear Jr. in the post and sophomore Nickeil Alexander-Walker on the wing — both are returning starters — and you have the makings of a roster capable of challenging the likes of Virginia, North Carolina, Duke and Syracuse atop the ACC.
The Hokies have finished 10-8 in regular-season conference play each of the past three years, this on the heels of four straight lastplace seasons. They return 77.6 percent of their scoring from 2017-18, and that doesn't include Outlaw, who missed all of 2017-18 after injuring a knee during a pickup game.
Tech almost certainly will appear in the Associated Press' preseason top 25 for only the fourth time, and first since 2011. The Hokies might also exceed their highest preseason ranking: No. 15 in November 1984.
Pronouncing himself unaware of such expectations, AlexanderWalker spent the offseason “under a rock” to avoid the external noise that he believes limited a freshman year in which he started every game and averaged 10.7 points.
“We are grateful and thankful for the notice and appreciation because that's what we work for,” Alexander-Walker said. “We work to be the best. For our work to be noticed — that means a lot.”
Alexander-Walker and Robinson, Tech's top scorer last season at 14 points per game, roomed together in August at Chris Paul's Elite Guard Camp, and outside chatter was a frequent topic.
“We kind of came to the conclusion that he had a lot of voices in his head that he couldn't get out,” Robinson said. “I think now that he's calmed down and not worried about the outside view, that he's ( just) worried about himself and God, that he's ready to roll.”
The Hokies know all too well what has prevented them from truly rolling during their current renaissance, from cracking the ACC's top five and advancing in the NCAA tournament: defense and rebounding.
Tech's man-to-man defense was so poor late last season that Williams made what he called “a monumental” shift. After an
84-75 home loss to Miami — the Hurricanes shot 58.6 percent in the first half and 50.9 percent for the game — the Hokies played zone defense for the remainder of the season.
They won five of their next seven, including conquests of No. 2 Virginia, No. 15 Clemson and
No. 5 Duke, before closing with setbacks against Miami, Notre Dame in the ACC tournament and Alabama in the NCAA tournament. The losses were by a combined 10 points.
Williams said he's unsure how to deploy defensively this season, but the zone certainly won't surprise opponents. He also needs to discover who will replace the graduated Devin Wilson and Justin Bibbs as the team's best defenders.
Due to negligible depth behind Blackshear and an overall dearth of size, rebounding is a perennial issue for the Hokies. They ranked 211th among 351 Division I teams last season in preventing foes' offensive rebounds and 308th in rebounding their own misses.
“We rebound,” Blackshear said matter-of-factly, “we're going to win.”
As skilled and versatile as Tech is offensively, there is a hint of truth in Blackshear's analysis.
Williams often reminds his players of the program's modest history. So they know it's been nearly 12 years since Tech's last NCAA tournament victory, which matches Boston College for the ACC's longest such drought. They know Tech has never reached three consecutive NCAAs.
“I'm willing to man up and carry more water,” AlexanderWalker said, “whatever it takes to get to another level. We're grateful. We're not satisfied.” Teel can be reached by phone at 757-247-4636 or by email at dteel@dailypress.com.