Virginia Tech basketball: Hokies get top 100 scorer Landers Nolley

After losing two of his best offensive players a year ago, Buzz Williams is looking to replenish his team’s ability to score. He may have done that with the pledge of Landers Nolley.

It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for Landers Nolley out of Fairburn, Georgia. Just one week prior, he elected to commit to the local Georgia Bulldogs. Then just one day later after discussing with his family, he decided to re-open his recruitment.

We’ll never know what was inside of his mind the past couple of weeks, but we do know what’s on his twitter account, where he announced his commitment to the Virginia Tech Hokies. Virginia Tech and Georgia both received official visits from Nolley, as well as Oklahoma State, NC State, and Illinois.

https://twitter.com/thatbooych3z/status/919733796282556417

As far as rankings go, 247 Sports Composite has him inside the top 100 at 96, although the scouting website itself has him above 110. Scout.com is the highest, with a No. 57 ranking. One of the reasons for the discrepancies is his size at 6’4 and just 175 pounds and concerns about his ability to play defense at the division one level.

But there’s no debate about his ability to score, as he is considered one of the best shooters for 2018. He has a high floor just with his shooting alone, and notable players to compare with include Bryce Alford of UCLA and Andrew White of Syracuse.

Next: ACC predictions for 2017-18

Coach Williams will now have a guard of the future that can be relied on to score. That’s important because the team has already lost Seth Allen and players like Justin Robinson, Ahmed Hill, and Justin Bibbs are upperclassmen. With so many great guards in the ACC, his defensive liabilities could be worrisome for the Hokies, though his offense may more than make up for it.