2008 Virginia Tech Basketball Predictions & Season Preview
Written October 6, 2008 by Jack Jones
Last year was supposed to be a down year for the Virginia Tech basketball program with so many fresh faces. The team was relying on eight freshman, but Seth Greenberg got his team to work together and end the season at 21-14 and 9-7 in the ACC. After a fourth place finish in the conference there are going to be a lot higher expectations for this team that returns four of five starters. They were snubbed by the selection committee a year ago, but anything less than an NCAA tournament appearance this season would be a disappointment for the Hokies. If you want to bet on this team to win the national title, a $100 bet would net you $10,000 at year’s end from BetUS. Virginia Tech is one of those teams that isn’t normally a national powerhouse, so the college basketball lines could be favorable for them all season long.
If the Hokies are going to score inside this year, then most likely that production is going to come from either Jeff Allen or freshman Victor Davila. Davilia is a big boy at 6′9″ and 245 pounds and the team is hoping he reaches his potential as quickly as Allen did last year when he averaged 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds as a freshman. Greenberg didn’t always like Allen’s attitude on the floor, but evidently that has changed as he has dedicated himself to getting into shape and becoming a dominant post player. Lewis Witcher hasn’t seen much floor time in his first two seasons, despite starting in half of the games. Cheick Diakite is a beast at 6′9″ and 217 pounds, but he is almost non-existent on the offensive side of the floor.
The big loss Virginia Tech has to overcome is the departure of swingman Deron Washington. He averaged over 13 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game last season. There are going to be three players trying to help fill the void and they are all sophomores. JT Thompson, Dorenzo Hudson, and Terrell Bell will all be in the running. The team knows that they are going to get quality minutes and a lot of points out of AD Vassallo. Vassallo keeps getting better each year at Virginia Tech, and last year averaged 16.9 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 39% from beyond the arc. Greenberg wants to free up more shots for Malcolm Delaney, who should have a breakout year in 2008-09. Hank Thorns needs to improve so he can take the starting point guard spot back as he is more of a natural fit at the position than Delaney.
Final Analysis
It seems like this is going to be a good year for Virginia Tech basketball. While we don’t see them quite as good as North Carolina, Duke, Miami, or Wake Forest in our ACC basketball predictions, they aren’t that far behind. If they don’t make the NCAA tournament then something definitely went wrong and it should only get better from there as so many of their players are sophomores. Definitely take a look at betting on Virginia Tech at BetUS, where you can get up to 145% in signup bonuses for opening a new account.
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