Virginia Tech To Compete In ESPN Events Invitational In Orlando

ESPN announced details Thursday for the 2023 ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, which includes Virginia Tech.

The tournament, which will take place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort, is on Nov. 23, 24 and 26. Boise State, Butler, Florida Atlantic, Iowa State, Penn State, Texas A&M and VCU round out the field.

It’s a competitive group that features six NCAA tournament teams. The Broncos, Cyclones, Aggies and Rams all ended their seasons in the first round of the tournament, while the Nittany Lions were bounced in the second round. Fresh off a Final Four in just its second trip to the Big Dance, Florida Atlantic is the event’s crown jewel.

Butler was the only squad to miss out on the postseason entirely, while the Hokies fell in the first round of the NIT to Cincinnati.

Outside of Tech, the teams averaged a record of 24-11 in 2022-23 with average rankings of 47.3 (KenPom) and 45.7 (NET). Remove the Bulldogs and the ratings shift to 35.3 and 32.5, respectively.

Here’s an in-depth breakdown of the ESPN Events Invitational field:

While the tournament bracket has yet to be determined, there are plenty of storylines. Former Hokies head coach Buzz Williams is now at Texas A&M. After Micah Shrewsberry left Penn State for Notre Dame, Mike Rhoades departed VCU for Happy Valley. His former assistant, J.D. Byers, is now on Tech’s staff. And Ryan Odom — once a VT assistant under Seth Greenberg — took the head job in Richmond.

On top of that, there’s some familiarity on the court. Penn State ousted Texas A&M in the NCAA tournament. Newly added Tech forward Robbie Beran, formerly of Northwestern, ended Boise State’s season in the round of 64. The Hokies beat the Nittany Lions in the Charleston Classic last November. And in the 2022-23 non-conference slate, Penn State and Boise State knocked off Butler and Texas A&M, respectively.

All signs point to this tournament being more competitive than anything Virginia Tech has seen in the non-conference in the past few years. Five teams — Boise State, Florida Atlantic, Iowa State, Penn State and Texas A&M — finished in the top 40 last season.

For comparison, here’s a breakdown of Tech’s top-40 non-conference opponents in the regular season since 2019:

You have to go back to Mike Young’s first season in Blacksburg to find a non-conference schedule of that caliber. The Hokies don’t see that level of competition very often. Whether or not those opponents pan out like expected — think Maryland in 2021-22 — is another story.

Young continues to test his program, though. Virginia Tech was, in essence, the big dog in the Charleston Classic last season, especially after an ACC championship the year prior. Only Penn State, College of Charleston and Furman finished in the top 100 from that event’s field.

Looking back at 2021-22, Memphis was the only NCAA tournament foe Tech faced. The year prior, it was just Villanova in a shortened season due to COVID.

The trip to Orlando will put the Hokies in the national spotlight and give folks an early glimpse of what to expect in 2023-24. And it’s also a homecoming for Hunter Cattoor.

Though he prefers Universal over Disney — in part because his mom works for Universal — it’s an opportunity for him to return to his roots. The closest he played to home since arriving at Virginia Tech with Young in 2019 was at Florida State in 2021, but Tallahassee is a four-hour drive from Orlando. Come November, the former ACC tournament MVP will get to play in his backyard again.

“I grew up playing at Disney in basketball tournaments, AAU tournaments, so it’ll be cool to be back there,” Cattoor said in mid-April. “Hopefully, I have a lot of friends and family that come out. It’ll be warm weather, so I’m excited for that.”

Virginia Tech is no stranger to Orlando either. It’s played five games in two trips there, most recently in 2006-07 under Seth Greenberg, leaving with a 2-3 record. Here’s a complete breakdown:

The ESPN Events Invitational is the second piece to Tech’s non-conference puzzle. In February, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports announced Young & Co. will play South Carolina in a Veteran’s Day doubleheader at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Nov. 10.