Tech Talk Live Notes: Hunter Cattoor and Mike Young Preview Oklahoma State

On Thursday night, Virginia Tech basketball head coach Mike Young and Virginia Tech guard Hunter Cattoor joined Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop on Tech Talk Live at McClain’s at First & Main. They discussed the previous weeks games, player improvements, and the upcoming game in New York.

Hunter Cattoor

What is your mindset after the last couple of games?

I think we’ve taken a step up as a team, offensively and defensively. A lot of games – when we went to Charleston, we got up a good amount and let teams back in it, so I think last night was good for us to have that lead and keep it the whole game.

You committed to Wofford when Coach Young was there, but came to Virginia Tech once he accepted the job here:

I committed early my senior year, I think it was in September, to Wofford. I went through the whole year thinking I was going to Wofford, and then come April he got the job at Virginia Tech, called me and said, “Hey, like I believe in you I want to bring you with me.” So I got out of that, came on a visit here, and committed on my visit.

There weren’t many players here then:

I think there were three or four people on the roster at the time, so it was different for me, especially coming from Florida and living there my whole life and then coming to Blacksburg. I had no idea about Blacksburg so it was a risk, but it ended up working out well.

What’s special about this team this year?

The team chemistry. I think each year our team has been well connected, but I think this year is a little bit different. Everyone loves everyone. There are no cliques. Sometimes you’ll get in a locker room and you have two guys grouped over here, four guys over there. I think we all like each other. I know we have me, Justyn [Mutts], and Grant [Basile], the older guys, and then we have a bunch of younger guys, but I think in the locker room in really doesn’t seem like there’s much difference between us all.

Did you ever imagine you could be the MVP of the ACC Basketball tournament?

I mean, that’s always a goal coming in, watching it on TV growing up, you see the ACC championship, stuff like that. So you always have that in your mind, “I want to do that.” You actually get in the moment and you’re like, “I’m actually doing it,” so I don’t think it’s still hit me playing now. I think when I’m done playing, I look back on my career here, it’ll hit me more.

Take us through your big dunk vs. Dayton:

I haven’t dunked like this since high school. I don’t know where it came from either. People keep asking me where, I have no explanation. It was kind of just heat of the moment in the game. I don’t know, I don’t dunk in practice much. But I do have balance – people think I don’t have balance, but I do. I have old legs now, don’t use them as much. But it was cool to do that.

There was a lot on social media, the game before against North Carolina you drove in and was it a dunk? Was it a layup? People were going back and forth:

Yeah. I saw a tweet where people on our team were like, “Did you dunk it?” I think I dunked it. My fingertips touched the rim, so I count that as a dunk. People were talking about was it a layup or a dunk? I was just saying like, I know this doesn’t happen often, why don’t we all just say it’s a dunk and it’d be a good time? I guess as soon as I dunked it the second game, I went and checked my phone and my brother was like, “You have to tweet back at that person and say layup we’re done.” So that was pretty funny.

How about the Florida State game last year?

You can’t really explain it. I remember I missed my first two shots in that game. I’m thinking like, it’s the first time I go back home, I had all my friends at the game, that’s the first time they see me in a college game. I’m thinking this isn’t going to turn out well, and then I hit a couple more after that, went into to halftime. When we came out in the second half, I just felt like every time I touched the ball, the ball was going to go in.

How about the crowd at Cassell Coliseum?

Yeah, it’s a big impact. I don’t know if people actually realize having a packed Cassell, what it does. I think even having Cassell half-packed has an impact more than some arenas. So having our fans, the student section, just seeing everyone fill it up. It’s a cool thing for us because you know that they’re supporting us and they’re there. I also know it’s difficult for the opponents. I wouldn’t want to go to Cassell and play against us.

How comforting was it for you guys to pound Dayton even after some early foul troubles?

I think it just goes to show how we can score as a team. It doesn’t have to just be one person. I think each and every night, we could have someone else step up. Last night was Grant [Basile], Sean [Pedulla], but that just shows no one’s going to have to be perfect for us to win. We’re not going to have to be perfect to win. We have good players and we stick together. Justyn [Mutts] was still on the bench with his two fouls, he had great energy. So even when he’s not scoring, he’s still making an impact on the game.

What makes a good defender in your mind?

I actually do want to talk about that, because [Mike Young] makes me seem like I was an awful defender my freshman year, I wasn’t that bad. He loves to say that. He says I couldn’t guard him. I’ve seen him play, so I’m not worried about that. I think it’s just hard, defense. A lot of it you can go into knowing the person’s tendencies and what they’d like to do, this and that. My freshman year, I got caught in the speed of the game and not realizing how fast it was, and then kind of growing and with more experience, just understanding angles, and you don’t have to be so far into the person. I think just working out each and every day and going against good competition, it’s just gotten me better over the years.

Another thing you’ve improved is your shot. Release, catch and shoot is so much better:

Yeah. I mean being 6-3 isn’t like the biggest person in the ACC on a basketball court. I’m just working on ways to get my shot off and not getting blocked and keeping it the same form if it was a low shot too.

How special is it to be going back to Barclays Center after what you guys accomplished there last year?

It’ll be cool to go back. I don’t know if they have our name on that banner up already or if they’ll release it for the game, but it’ll be exciting to see that. We spent a whole week up there, it was a long week, so being back there, hopefully we find some more confetti.

You guys just kept finding an extra gear up there in the ACC Tournament:

I think that just spoke to our team last year, going through the highs and lows. Even when we were on that losing streak we stuck together, and I think it helped us in the long run.

How about Oklahoma State: you’re playing a Power Five opponent in a place like that, it’s a big game:

I don’t know much about Oklahoma State, I’m sure we’ll watch them tomorrow. I know they’ve been a good team for a couple of years. Power Five like you said, in the Big 12, those are always good competition. They’re going to be tough; it’s not going to be easy game. We’re going to have to play a good basketball game to win.

How has Sean Pedulla been so far this year?

He’s been great for us as a point guard. Being his first year starting now, he’s playing a lot. He’s not just coming in playing 25, 30 minutes; he’s playing 35, 40 minutes. Sean’s been good for us, just running the team, running the show, he can score the ball really well.

Tell us about Rodney Rice:

I’m excited for him. He’s a very mature freshman, from what I’ve seen with freshmen coming in. He’s really not sped up well, I tried to speed him up in summer practices and he really doesn’t get sped up. I’m excited for him to come back and show people what he’s capable of.

You talk about wanting to coach basketball once you’re done playing. What draws you to being a basketball coach?

It was just always something I’d planned growing up. Playing football and basketball, I always wanted to be a coach, I always had a whiteboard. I’d go and draw plays and give it to my brother and be like, “How would you beat this?” and he would beat it, and I’d get mad and go try to draw something else. It’s just always something I’ve had an interest in. My brother-in-law’s a football coach, and I always tell Coach Young I’m going to take his job when I’m done.

Which moment stands out more than others in your career?

I would have to say Florida State game, it meant a lot because it was being back home. It was the first game my friends got to see me play in college. I think it was just cool. I had some high school friends there too, my high school coach, that was good. Then obviously the ACC championship game, just all the emotion of that whole week and how we came out against Duke, it was just a good team effort. We all played well. I would say either of those two.

How has your role changed now that you are one of the senior leaders?

I think it’s just trying to teach the younger guys what this program is and the culture we’ve built up here. Coach Young always tells us, “You become us, we don’t become you,” so giving them that standard of getting in the gym, working hard. Nothing’s easy here. This is ACC basketball. Just teaching them, and they’ve been good too. A lot of them have been coachable, asking questions and stuff like that. It makes it easier.

MJ Collins had five offensive rebounds against North Carolina:

He’s grown a lot these past couple of weeks. I’m excited for him. He’s been doing really well. He’s a hard worker, he’s a competitor and he’s been good for us.

What is it like being a guard when you have a guy like Justyn Mutts, one of the best passers in the country?

On a lot of teams, you throw it into the big and it’s just never coming back out. With Justyn, you throw it in, you’re trying to find an open spot because he’s looking for you. It’s always good to play with someone like that. He’s unselfish, always trying to make the right play.

Mike Young

Great victory last night:

I was impressed with our team. I told them as much. We’re far from a finished product, we’ve still got a lot of growing to do. More challenges, a lot more challenges ahead. I told you after the North Carolina game, we needed a game like that. We needed to sit down and defend, show a level of competitiveness and toughness. We did it, we come right back. I was a little concerned about a possible letdown coming off such a big win, a significant win, and Dayton’s very good. I was very pleased with our preparation. When it was time to go, they certainly played well.

The defense played outstanding against Dayton:

They’ve got a good outfit too, Mike. Now they’re missing a couple of guards. But [DaRon] Holmes is such a dominant player in there. He’s so aggressive and he’s awkward. I don’t say that in a derogatory sense, he just gets fouled a lot. We fouled the kid eight times. It gives me the opportunity gives us the opportunity to play Lynn Kidd, Mylyjael [Poteat], Grant Basile, and Mutts can guard the five. So that’s a lot of bodies. Thank goodness we have the depth that we do in the frontcourt. That’s certainly proven to be quite beneficial here through 10 games.

How about only allowing 49 points?

We needed to take a step defensively. Last night, to limit them to 30% or 31% from the field and 20% from three, we’ll stress again tomorrow the need to rebound night in, night out. But I’m also aware we guarded well, there were a lot of missed shots and they came up with some of them. Looking ahead now to Sunday, Oklahoma State, they don’t shoot it any better than Dayton. Goodness gracious, they look like NFL players, they’re so big and strong. They’ve got some kid in there, Moussa Cisse, I’ve never seen anything look like a man like him. 7-1, he can run. We have our work cut out for us in Brooklyn.

It was a slow start, but in the blink of an eye you took over the game:

We watched it this morning. We were playing fine. Darius Maddox had a shot that he typically gets down. Cattoor had a three that didn’t go down. Mutts had 2 fouls in the first six minutes, I have to take him out and I’m trying to manage that for the rest of the night. From that point on, Basile went crazy. They all played well. I thought Lynn Kidd was just a special player in the first half and continues to do it night in and night out. Very impressed with our team.

Grant Basile, coming from Wright State, he hadn’t played Dayton before:

I didn’t know all that. He came by the office today. I said, “You guys don’t like Dayton?” He said, “No, they wouldn’t play us. Come on man, we’re in Dayton. Wright State, Dayton, what’s the big deal?” He had a bit of a spark in his eye, he wanted to get after those flyers. We have to concoct some story with everybody we play if you shoot it like that, goodness gracious. He was great.

A know a defensive stalwart, I’m not ready to call him yet, but he’s making strides. It’s very important to him. He’s getting better and better. We needed him to guard Holmes last night, I thought he did a pretty good job on Holmes. Holmes is that good. I saw him whip NC State, I saw him whip BYU, and he’ll guard the Cisse kid. When he does that, it gives us the opportunity and the flexibility to guard Mutts on the four, which gives us the opportunity to switch some things and stay out of rotation.

Mutts mentioned Virginia Tech was difficult for teams to prepare for because of scouting so many different options:

It’s quite the luxury. One of those guards or two of those guards are going to ring the bell every night. Mutts has 27 against North Carolina, he’s the best player on the floor, he’s the ACC Player the Week. Comes back against Dayton and saddled with fouls, scores two points, two foul shots late in the game. Basile’s really, really good. We’re typically getting ten and six from Mylyjael and Lynn every single night. A lot of great contributions from a number of places. Quite fun to see.

Speaking of Carolina, you were up by 18, they cut it to three, but you guys made an incredible run:

That was an emphasis last night at halftime, we’re up 20. We had North Carolina, we were hair away from being up 16, 18 against North Carolina and botched a couple of things down the stretch. But up 20, we referenced the North Carolina game, “You’ve got an opportunity to knock somebody in the next week. You have to play, you can’t get bored with winning, you can’t get bored with playing good basketball. And when you do and your shot selection plummets, your defensive focus and intensity plummets.” Good teams get back and then I got to sit over there and squirm and sweat like a farm animal for the rest of the game. Instead of over there relaxed, and we were more relaxed last night. I needed it, I’ve got to be honest with you.

MJ Collins had a big game against North Carolina and another nice game against Dayton.

He’s coming into his own a little bit. Not a minute too soon. Here we are, we’re playing okay, we’re getting better. We have three games before the Christmas break and then into the ACC play. We’re going to get Rodney Rice [back]. Our numbers and our depth on the perimeter will equal our depth and numbers in the post. I think that bodes quite well for league play and everybody continues to get better, it’s going to take Rodney a little time to get up to speed. He’s missed a lot of reps. But as Hunter said, he’s a basketball player. He’s very serious about he’s chomping at the bit. We got a chance to stay healthy, continue to hang in there and get better. We have a chance to have another very good basketball team.

You brought Hunter Cattoor from Wofford to here. What did you see in him?

I have two or three every summer that I fall in love with as players. He’s a really good athlete. I don’t think he gets nearly the credit for the athleticism that he possesses. I’ve always really liked, and some of my best players were, football players. Hunter Cattoor was a heck of a football player. He was a football quarterback, his dad’s a football guy. I think it broke his dad’s heart. I don’t think his dad spoke to him three months when he came in after his sophomore year and said, “I want to spend his time in basketball. That’s his passion.” He’s a heck of an athlete. I told my staff when we got him, and we got him in September of 2018, I said, “Fellas, that guy right there, he can play anywhere.” So when this transpired, I thought to myself, “Well, I did say that I thought that kid could play anywhere.” I called him the night before I was announced and told him what had happened and that I wanted him to come.

There were no assurances. Thankfully he came up the next week, literally came up the next week and visited Virginia Tech. I had developed a great relationship with his family and it all worked out. I’m thankful. We as coaches have some that you’re a little more partial to, I love that kid. Here’s who he is as a human being, as a person, he’s very comfortable around adults. Sometimes, kids, they don’t want to come up, they’re afraid somebody will get mad at them for missing the play last night or that guy might ask me to watch a little film, I don’t want to do that. Cattoor comes by the office and sits down and has lunch every day. I think the guy’s comfortable. I’ve come in before several times this fall and he’s sitting in my desk, eating lunch at my desk. It’s Cattoor, he can do whatever he wants. He’s a rockstar.

He says he thinks you underplay his defense and said he could guard you. Any comments on that?

Maybe he couldn’t have guarded Z-man. No, he couldn’t guard anything. He was terrible. He couldn’t keep the ball in front of him. But he’s just worked. He’s a serious-minded basketball player. He’s been a great player, the ACC Tournament most valuable player for crying out loud. That’ll never be taken away from him. He’s been a part of a lot of winning. He’s been a part of the creation of a great culture within our program. I know what’s being communicated in that locker room, when things are going well, when things are not going so well. A lot of that is Mutts and Cattoor keeping their thumb on it. Great people.

Last night, you coached you’re 100th game at Virginia Tech, winning 63 of those. When you first got here, you had maybe one player, Wabissa Bede?

No, he was in the portal. I had to recruit the fire out of Bede. I had to go to Boston to see his mom. We’re thankful that we got him back. Those are dark times, it was scary, nervous. Great luck and many blessings and really good players, be worthy of a couple of short stories when my career has ended. I’m thrilled to have been here for 100 games, and I’m looking forward to the next 800.

What can you tell us about the health of the team?

John [Camden] is 100%, he’s ready to go and ready to help us win. Rodney is getting closer. I think realistically, full disclosure, I think it’s fair to all involved and maybe I won’t have to answer that kind of question anymore, I think he’ll play at Wake Forest on New Year’s Eve. If not Wake Forest, we’ve got a little cluster of games at home following that, I think Clemson and NC State. I think there’s a chance that he would need through the Wake Forest game just to get the contact and get the timing, the stuff that matters, but he’s getting close. He is about ready to play.

You talk about how rebounding is such a key thing, and you dominated North Carolina. How important is that?

That’s huge. When you can have an MJ Collins corral eight, five of those were offensive. I mean, that’s a big deal. That offensive rebound is another shot, is another opportunity to score. There’s an old saying in basketball, “We’ve got to get better shots than our opponent, we’ve got to get more shots than our opponent.”

Well, the “better shots” is self-explanatory. “More shots” is offensive rebounds, is hustle plays, that sort of thing. Very, very impressive. I thought we were terrific defensively in the first 30 minutes against North Carolina. We were relaxed, I don’t want to use that word, but we weren’t as sharp in the last 10 minutes, could have cost us. Thank goodness it didn’t, but our rebounding numbers were most impressive.

How about walk-on Owyn Dawyot?

Big O. Really good young man. Great family, he’s going to be a heck of a Hokie, helping our scout team and doing a really nice job for us. Good to see him, his first career points here at Virginia Tech. Now we have to get my boy Michael Ward off the snide, we do that and we’re in the money.

How do you feel about Sean Pedulla taking a shot and making it, with 17 on the shot clock at the end of the UNC game?

Yeah, it was tight. It was a five-point game, and if that doesn’t go in, they come down, it’s a one-possession game. I’ve come to the point with him that sometimes, there’s a kid that needs a little more leeway. We talked about picking your spots better. Still not sure that was right shot, but tell you what, he’s fearless. It ended the game, it was over. That shot, it went to eight and it was under two minutes. He’s doing great, he’s playing terrific basketball. I thought his worst game in quite some time was North Carolina. Was still good, don’t get me wrong. He’s doing it consistently night in night out. Really, really good basketball player.

Sports writers are saying Sean Pedulla might be the most improved in the ACC and even the country. Would you agree with those statements?

I don’t know how you would argue that. I think that’s a fair assessment. You look at his offensive numbers, he was 31 and 11 assist-turnover coming into North Carolina. Those are quite impressive for any player, certainly a sophomore. He’s put himself in position to have a breakout year. He’s worked very hard, he’s conscientious. He’s strong as an ox. He looks like a little fella, but he’s tough and he’s stout. We’re thrilled he’s here.

A big part of this team is getting down in the paint and scoring:

If I was a football coach, I’d be three yards and a cloud of dust. Put that thing in the post every single time. Put it down there, don’t you knuckleheads be shooting those outside shots. Throw that thing to Mylyjael, Lynn, Basile is good around the basket, and Mutts. I think we scored 40 points in the paint against North Carolina. Mind you that is without Bacot. But Pete Nance is a big man. He’s a big fella. We thought we had a decided advantage at the four-spot with Puff Johnson, who was a good player. To score 40 with two-feet post-ups is pretty cool for our team.

You’ll be playing against Oklahoma State and coach Mike Boynton, who you spent some time with at Wofford. What will that be like?

I called him today. My how time flies and the twists and turns of your career. Mike was a very good player for a dear friend of mine, the head coach at South Carolina, Eddie Fogler. Coach had retired, Mike had moved on, he was at Coastal Carolina at the time. We had about seven or eight months together. He wasn’t married. We had a great year together. He did a really, really good job for us. He went back to South Carolina when Darren Horn got the South Carolina job. I admire Michael, I went to his wedding, his wife and children are coming to the game. I look forward to seeing them. He’s a really good coach and a very good person and a dear friend.

What will it be like for you going back to the Barclays Center?

I’m really excited for it. For those of you that have never been there, when you drive in, you’re in Brooklyn, New York. I mean, you’re trying to get this bus through the narrow streets, there’s cars parked everywhere. You’re going over and you’re playing Notre Dame and you want to just crawl into a fetal position. You’re so nervous. Then it’s North Carolina, and then you’re going over to play in a championship game on Saturday.

You finally get to the arena, and you literally ride onto the biggest elevator you’ve ever seen in your life. Alright, it’s for buses. That thing takes you down to the floor level. That door opens up, I still get nightmare seeing the door like oh gosh, here we go. You drive the bus off this elevator and it ends up on a diamond, and the diamond moves so the bus doesn’t have to do anything. All it has to do is back into a parking spot. Then you unload. It’s a great facility. I look forward to being back in that city, in the Barclays Center, competing against a another very good basketball team in the in the Cowboys of Oklahoma State.