Virginia Tech sophomore forward David N’Guessan entered the transfer portal on Thursday afternoon. He becomes the fourth Tech player to enter the portal this offseason, joining freshman forward Jaylen Haynes, junior center John Ojiako, and junior guard Nahiem Alleyne.
N’Guessan played in all 36 games for Virginia Tech in 2021-22, backing up Justyn Mutts and Keve Aluma at both the power forward and center positions. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures twice.
Virginia Tech recently added Memphis transfer John Camden, who could potentially play power forward or small forward in Mike Young’s system. The Hokies also signed power forward Darren Buchanan, who was the 2022 DC Gatorade Player of the Year as well as the All-Met Player of the Year.
Mike Young currently has three open scholarships for next season, and possibly four if Justyn Mutts declines to use his COVID year of eligibility. Virginia Tech’s roster breakdown can be seen in the tables below, which were prepared by David Cunningham.
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Bottom line is that I trust CMY when it comes to all things Hokie basketball including roster management. Me? I thought N’Guessan was a decent player but if we are ever going to be more than an afterthought at the NCAA Tournament, we will have to have more players better than him.
People posted links to the NCAA Transfer Portal and the vast majority of players either had not landed somewhere else or were going to a mid-major or lower. Very few like Alleyne who went to UConn. I don’t know any player’s motivation for entering the transfer portal but I suspect it is one – or combination – of three things – i.e. 1) want more playing time, 2) don’t feel they are getting the coaching needed to get to the next level or 3) they want to get away from what they perceive is a bad situation (LSU comes to mind here…).
I think overall that I support the portal. Coaches move all the time, players should have the same right. Again, i believe strongly in CMY’s ability to manage his roster.
What BS. The transfer portal has ruined college sports. How pathetic. Own your commitment.
Observing VT’s comings and goings through the portal and now the Miami Wong situation >>>>> college athletics as we know them may be a thing of the past !!!!!
What is the, “Miami Wong,” situation?
agreed
Exactly. We need committed guys like Murphy, Alum, Mutts, Camden etc
David made a big jump in improving from his freshman year to his sophomore year. I was looking forward to his next year. I hope we don’t end up regretting we could have influenced him more to stay and find a better involvement for his 6′ 9″ talents next year.
Agree. I thought he steadily improved.
This is hard to figure as he steadily improved over the season and his PT increased. By the end of the season he was making significant contributions. However, a starter? I think not which is what might be driving his decision. That said, maybe he will start somewhere, like Joe Bamisile @ GWU but the A-10 is not the ACC – or any other power conference. The ACC Championship may prove to be the highlight of his college career. That said, going forward, we wish him well.
Worried about our depth and the unknowns aren’t necessarily going to be better than what we have now. I doubt CMY is discouraging guys like N’Guessan & Ojiako to leave. He knows we’ve got to have quality backups if we’re going to be a contender year in and year out. The jury is still out on how he handled the Storm Murphy/Sean Padilla rotation. Took him half the season to get that right.
Or maybe it just took half a season for the two players you mentioned to mature to the point he could do what he did. I find it amazing that people that have no earthly idea what goes on except for the actual game time think they are qualified to make these kinds of proclamations.
Spot on HokiePilot!
And you have these earthly ideas of what actually goes on? Please enlighten us. Otherwise you are unqualified to make these kinds of proclamations yourself. You do realize the irony of your post, don’t you?
Sean Pedulla looked lost for much of the first half of the season, which is not unusual for a freshman. I think that Coach handled the rotation between Sean and Storm very well.
This is a gift for us. He was not an ACC player but saw time. This tells me we have some tricks up our sleeves for a big. I am fine with this….thankful for D.N being a Hokie..he is a mid major player
Not sure about that. He has a high ceiling IMO. He has elite athleticism for a 6’9” guy. If he develops a shot, he could be excellent
Soft, very little control of his body (foul machine), no handles, no shot, weak around rim…7th man best..mid major guy..trust CMY telling him the truth here for the transfer. Not a fit
That’s funny. People seem to think we will be a squad of all starring / elite level players. Not possible. If you don’t think he’s a serviceable player in the ACC I don’t know what you’re watching.
If he hasn’t “developed a shot” by now, that ain’t gonna happen.
Wrong. As an example, Aluma improved his outside shooting dramatically in his last 2 seasons.
I was looking forward to David’s number vastly improving this year. The portal gives and the portal takes. I wish him well.
This is a big surprise to me. I really like David and he was doing so well as the year progress. I wish him well. Can’t help but wonder how the long term supporters will respond to this circus.
Circus? This is disciplined and honest roster management from where I sit.
You must sit at a circus
^^^
That’s a clown post Mr Ringling
Don’t know what is going on behind scenes, BUT this is a big head scratcher. He would have easily started next year if Mutts is gone. Not sure what kind of counsel these guys are getting??
Well the article suggested VT might have two upgrades at forward albeit one being a freshman. Mike had the hard conversation with Dave? It does seem like he would have played this coming year but might be out of a job his senior year, Sophomore year is often a year to set your course for the remainder of a career, so maybe’s he’s done the math ie sit out a year then hopefully be the guy for Jr-Sr year somewhere else.
They are getting the truth. Young and his coaches don’t sugar coat it. If Hokie alum want a championship contender then you can expect turnover every season. Recruiting over your current talent level is the only way to win in competitive conferences.
Tallahassee is right. We all hate to lose good players, but if we aspire to be an elite team the talent level needs to improve. DNG was not an all-conference level player.
Maybe he has some reason to think Mutts isn’t gone?
Wish David the best.
A little concerning that 4 players enter portal. But it’s the season I guess.
Yeah, it no longer means anything to say “only two are graduating, we’ll nearly have the whole team back next year!” I find it frustrating. I thought DN really improved and was ready to be a starter. I’ll understand more when I see where he lands.
Freaks me out that Hunter Cattoor will be a senior next year. Team is leaning young again.
Pretty good spread of players though despite 3 open schollies.