Virginia Tech Basketball: 2020-21 season preview for the Hokies

Virginia Tech Basketball has an opportunity to build upon a solid Year 1 under head coach Mike Young. Expectations shouldn’t exceed themselves heading into Year 2 under Young.

Virginia Tech Basketball had an interesting 2019-20 season, which concluded in the departure of their top scorer, Landers Nolley II, headed off to Memphis. In a year where the transfer portal is bigger than it’s ever been, it’s not much to fret about, given the circumstances.

The Hokies finished the season with a record of 16-16 and 7-13 in the ACC, which isn’t bad considering they had to rebuild their recruiting class with a head coaching departure. In fact, they had two freshmen who fared well in their first season on the hardwood.

Tyrece Radford put up 10.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.0 steals per game, including a career-high 26 points against the Miami Hurricanes back on Feb. 19. Jalen Cone was the other freshman that flourished. He was a top 3-point shooter on the Hokies’ roster in 2019-20, shooting 44.4 percent from behind the arc (6th in the ACC) and ninth in 3-pointers made (2.2).

They lost P.J. Horne as well to the transfer portal as well, but with production returning and some added talent of their own from the transfer portal, things are looking up for Virginia Tech in 2020-21.

Where they’ll need to improve is against teams in Quadrant I and II in the NCAA Tournament picture. Last season, the Hokies went a combined 3-13 against teams in those quadrants. They got out the gates fast under Mike Young, but it seems while some embraced their roles, others had hard times adjusting to them. Year 2, things should run a whole lot smoother as Young brings in more of his own recruits.

Considering there’s a pandemic now and a shortened schedule to work with, there’s a lot less room for error for the Hokies heading into the 2020-21 season.  Here’s a look at the season preview for the Virginia Tech Hokies.