Virginia Tech Basketball: State of the program, 2022-23 offseason edition

Virginia Tech Basketball has a new frontcourt fresh out of the transfer portal to adjust to heading into the 2022-23 season.

Fresh off their first ACC Tournament Championship in 2022, Mike Young and his coaching staff aren’t wasting any time looking to build on that success on the recruiting trail. Virginia Tech Basketball has already signed a stellar 2022 class with Rodney Rice, M.J. Collins, Patrick Wessler, and highly-rated Darren Buchanan Jr., but they’re not done just yet.

The Hokies have already made three big splashes with additions out of the transfer portal with John Camden (Memphis), Grant Basile (Wright State), and Mylyjael Poteat (Rice) as they look to play underdog once again in the ACC ranks.

The departures of Storm Murphy, Nahiem Alleyne, Keve Aluma, and David N’Guessan will certainly leave things up in the air for the Virginia Tech frontcourt in 2022-23, but with three experienced prospects out of the portal set to make their impact in the rotation, they’re off to a good start. It helps that Justyn Mutts, Hunter Cattoor, Darius Maddox and Sean Pedulla are returning but they’ll need to build chemistry right away with their new blood if they hope to find success.

John Camden is a 6-foot-8 big man that joins the Hokies after appearing in just one game for the Memphis Tigers in 2021-22. The Hokies beat out the LSU Tigers for his commitment, so Camden wasn’t exactly forgotten about but injured for most of his freshman season at Memphis. He’ll have four years of eligibility left to show off his ability to roam the wing and interior at either forward spot.

Poteat joins the Virginia Tech frontcourt with two years left to play after spending the past two seasons at Rice, mainly as a reserve. He put up 7.7 ppg and 4.2 rpg this past season across 33 appearances for the Owls in Conference USA. He’ll give the Hokies an active presence on the rebounding front.

Their biggest coup is the addition of 6-foot-9 forward Basile out of Wright State. He committed to the Hokies back on May 4 over Wisconsin, Iowa State, and Notre Dame. After producing 18.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, and 1.6 bpg and earning Horizon League MVP honors this past season, Basile looks to push the envelope as a feature name in the Hokies rotation.

While he isn’t the greatest 3-point shooter (30.8 percent for his career), he certainly has shown he can hold his own on the interior. He led the Horizon League this past season in blocks and finished fourth in offensive rebounds (93).