Virginia Tech Basketball: Analyzing the Hokies’ rotation for 2018-19

Virginia Tech Basketball returns several key players from last year’s team. With more talent coming to the program, how will everyone’s’ minutes work out?

For the first time in over 30 years, Virginia Tech Basketball was able to pull off three straight seasons of at least 20 wins. It took a bit of reshuffling, but Buzz Williams has this program trending upward – with potentially the best to come.

There’s a great chance that the Hokies will have another 20+ win campaign, based on the roster that’s coming back. Four out of the five starters from last season return, with the exception of graduating guard Justin Bibbs. He along with fellow guard Devin Wilson are the only players who played in double-digit minutes that won’t be back.

Then there’s a pair of players who didn’t play at all last season. Ty Outlaw missed all of the 2017-18 season with an injury, while big man Khadim Sy left the team at first, before rejoining the program in back in December. He essentially redshirted this past year when all was said and done.

Add to it a recruiting class of three players who potentially could play this year and there will be a deep rotation with players vying for significant minutes. With four starters who played 25+ minutes coming back as experienced upperclassmen and it becomes a riddle for Coach Williams to solve.

I’ll attempt to create my own projected rotation using the traditional positions to make things for clear. Based on the amount of talented returning via starters and redshirts, I’ll predict that both freshman Jon Kabongo and Jarren McCallister. Either certainly could earn minutes but I find it hard for now to see where they get meaningful minutes in year one.