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NCAA Basketball: Biggest winners and losers of 2019 offseason

By Brian Rauf

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Dana Altman yells at Payton Pritchard (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 26: Head coach Dana Altman yells at Payton Pritchard (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – MARCH 23: Head coach Mike Young of the Wofford Terriers watches play as they take on the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half of the game in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vystar Memorial Arena on March 23, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – MARCH 23: Head coach Mike Young of the Wofford Terriers watches play as they take on the Kentucky Wildcats during the first half of the game in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Vystar Memorial Arena on March 23, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images) /

Loser: Virginia Tech

While Oregon was able to fill all the holes on their roster via recruiting and transfers, Virginia Tech seemingly had holes created for them thanks to players – and head coach Buzz Williams – leaving the program.

Williams’ decision to leave Blacksburg for the head coaching job at Texas A&M really opened the floodgates for what turned out to be a mass exodus. Nickeil Alexander-Walker left for the NBA, Chris Clarke transferred to Texas Tech, and Kerry Blackshear Jr. left for Florida.

To add insult to injury, Clarke was named the Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Year while Blackshear was named the Preseason SEC Player of the Year.

The Hokies could certainly use that kind of talent.

Virginia Tech replaced Williams with former Wofford head coach Mike Young, who has been one of the nation’s best mid-major coaches for a couple of decades now. However, he wasn’t able to assemble anything close to the kind of recruiting class that would replace everything they lost.

Point guard Jalen Cone will be exciting and could post big numbers, but Virginia Tech is set to embark on a long rebuilding process because of what happened this offseason.

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