Virginia Tech men’s basketball signed two prospects in the early period (Nov. 8-15) for the class of 2024.
Both previously committed recruits — Tyler Johnson and Ryan Jones — signed with the Hokies.
Per 247Sports, the class is the 10th-best in the ACC and 46th in the country. Tech is one of eight teams in the conference with two 2024 commits; four schools — Notre Dame, Clemson, Miami and North Carolina — have three each, while Duke has five.
Here’s a look at the two signees:
Tyler Johnson
6-5, 190, G
Orlando, Fla.
Commitment date: Aug. 30, 2023
High school: Oak Ridge
Stars: 3
Quick facts: Johnson visited Blacksburg in late August and committed soon after. He’s a top-200 prospect, according to 247Sports, and a top-20 player in the Sunshine State. He held offers from Appalachian State, Clemson, Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Louisiana Tech, Texas Tech and UCF, among others.
Johnson is a player of a mold similar to John Camden and Tyler Nickel, though he’s not as lengthy; those two are 6-8 and 6-7, respectively. He’s bigger than current Hokies guards Jaydon Young and MJ Collins, too, who are each 6-4. As a junior, he averaged 17 points and nine rebounds per game and guided the Pioneers to a regional title.
Ryan Jones
6-8, 225, F/C
Gainesville, Fla.
Commitment date: Oct. 2, 2023
High school: The Rock School
Stars: 4
Quick facts: The fourth-highest-rated recruit in program history, Jones picked Virginia Tech over Florida, though he had a plethora of offers, ranging from LSU, Miami, NC State and Illinois to Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Louisville and Xavier. The three Tech prospects with higher ratings: Dorian Finney-Smith, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Landers Nolley.
Jones is a consensus four-star and top-100 talent by recruiting services. He’s the third top-100 signee for the Hokies in the Mike Young era, joining Joe Bamisile and Rodney Rice. Though he’s only 6-8, he’s a big, physical body inside and will mainly play the five, and he can stretch the floor. He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Championship
Transfer Portal Needs
Here’s the roster breakdown for Virginia Tech with the two 2024 signees:
How the Hokies attack the portal — or even try to add another high school player — depends on how Young views the strengths and weaknesses of his group. They’ve currently used up nine scholarships. Lynn Kidd and Mylyjael Poteat each have the option to return too.
Do they need another point guard? Not necessarily, but there may be some situations where another ballhandler would be nice to provide Sean Pedulla and Brandon Rechsteiner with some help. Bringing an old head into the fold who can provide some veteran wisdom could be beneficial to that duo.
Amazingly, next season will be Young’s first at Tech without Hunter Cattoor. It’s shaping up for Tech to have three options in the backcourt next year with MJ Collins, Jaydon Young and Johnson. Adding an experienced guard out of the portal to complement Pedulla would be helpful.
After that, there’s a gap in the roster between Camden and Nickel, who can play the three and four (but aren’t exactly suited to guarding bigger forwards), and the fives — Kidd, Poteat, Patrick Wessler and Jones. If there was any position where the Hokies were going to add multiple players from the portal, logically, it would be at the four.
The two currently on the roster — Robbie Beran and Mekhi Long — are in their last year of eligibility. They were brought in to replace Justyn Mutts, who was a crucial cog in Tech’s machine for three seasons. Can the staff find someone similar?
While the program is set at center, especially with the addition of Jones, the biggest question for next season is at forward. The Hokies need to hit on one or two players out of the portal that can have an immediate impact.
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I officially vote that we stop including Camden in previews, analyses, etc. He isn’t contributing. I don’t see that changing. And we need another PG. PEdulla will be gone soon. I don’t know if Rechsteiner is the next coming or just a short PG in leggings.
This gave me a chuckle, I too always laugh when I see Camden’s name too because he’s literally like our 11th or 12th best guy and has really never done anything for us. I’m sure he was great in high school and could play in a lower league but for us and to me he seems more like a team manager kind of guy.
Man I hope they make a difference this team this year is hard to watch! They ran Rodney rice off. Players are regressing. MJ Collin’s can’t even make a layup. The rotation makes no sense! Has Mike young ran Tyler nickel off too? They missed on their transfers beran is not good at all long may be an okay rotational piece at best. Idk what is going on with this program but it is not good I will be surprised if they win more than 12 games this year! I hope I am wrong and everything works out and but I just don’t see it. I love Mike young but at some point it seems like we need to put our scorers on the floor I know he only plays players who play good d but what good is 30 minutes of good defense when you score 4 points and shoot 20% from the floor. Hopefully things improve but I’m definitely super deflated at the moment
I’m sure you’ll get blasted for the negativity but there is some truth to your comments.
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying; seems MJ only starts for his defense. He boxes out well too. But for a starter in the ACC his offensive production is terrible. Saw he’s averaging 4 pts on 18% for the year. The sad part is he probably starts still because there’s no better option. Agree Beran looks really slow and bad and not very impressed with Long thus far either although I more blame the media for hyping those guys coming out of Northwestern and ODU…not exactly basketball powerhouses so expectations were set a bit too high imo.
Good grief!! Ran off Rice? LMAO Ran off Nickel too? This comment is too ridiculous to further go over.
This is just NAW’s 5th year in the league
Weak class. Mike Young continues to be the most overrated coach at VT.
Bring back Buzz!
Sheesh. Another joke post.
Boo! You suck.
I hope we can find someone that can break the defense by penetrating and dishing. I know this is an unrealistic comparison. Both of my kids graduated from Kentucky so my mine bled blue. I watched Wagner consistently break down the D with the dribble drive. I know we can’t get get someone like him but having someone to free up our shooters would be great.
Money bled blue.
Need an athletic defender at the 3/4.
I know you briefly mentioned this toward the end of your article, but I want to dig in a little…Any chance we add another HS prospect to the class, or are we just looking to the portal at this point? If so, who are we looking at and where do we stand?
You omitted numbers 8,9 and 10 in the left column.
Ha, second time I’ve done that today. Thanks for catching it. It’s fixed. Appreciate you reading.
Glad to help!