Virginia Tech and Mike Young picked up a commitment Friday in VCU forward Toibu “Tobi” Lawal.
VCU forward Toibu Lawal officially announced his commitment to #Hokies and Mike Young. pic.twitter.com/bLFtB2T13c
— David Cunningham (@therealdcunna) April 26, 2024
He’s the fifth transfer portal commitment of the offseason, joining UTSA guard Jordan Ivy-Curry, Charleston forward Ben Burnham, Cal guard Rodney Brown Jr. and Temple guard Hysier Miller.
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound forward averaged 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game this year while shooting 66.7 percent from the field. He played in 63 games over two seasons with the Rams and has two years of eligibility remaining.
A native of London, England, Lawal is an athletic freak who can jump out of the gym. He recorded a 49.5-inch vertical jump in 2023 at preseason combine testing. For context, the NBA record for vertical leap is Michael Jordan’s 48 inches, which he set in 1984.
His conference-only numbers with VCU in the Atlantic 10 last season were impressive. According to Ken Pomeroy, he ranked second in the league in offensive rebounding percentage (13.1%) and fourth in defensive rebounding percentage (23.4%). His 63.9 percent clip from 2-point range was fifth, too.
Lawal also had an offensive rating of 117.3 in A-10 play last season, good for 18th in the league. Some of his other ranks:
- Block percentage: 6.1% — 12th in A-10
- Steal percentage: 2.7% — 16th
- Fouls drawn per 40 minutes: 4.5 — 16th
In 16 games against Tier A and B opponents last season —top-50 and top-100 foes, as defined by Ken Pomeroy — he shot 66.1 percent from the field (39-of-59) and made 31 of his 47 free throws (71.7%).
Lawal left England to play his senior year of high school basketball at Lee Academy in Maine, where he averaged 14.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.0 blocks and 2.0 steals per game.
With the addition of Lawal, the Hokies have 11 scholarship players for the 2024-25 season, which leaves two open scholarship spots. Here’s a breakdown:
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@David Cunningham, maybe it it willful optimism, but would really like to know your thoughts/analysis on how the Hokies fair in both football/mbb compared to the field. It just seems like Young and Pry have done really well adapting to the current state of play. Is it NIL, is it coaching, marketing, staff? I’m leaving WBB out of my thought only because of the recent coaching change so perhaps that has different influencing factors. I just seem to recall the mass exodus on MBB, and Mike Young seems (so far) to just be able to reload with equal or better potential talent. Not saying it isn’t disruptive to the program to have so much volatility but it sure seems like they can still get really good talent to commit. I’m sure we are always one player away from this comment being untrue but right now this feels more positive than negative.
Hell yea!! Now we’re talking. Two great shooters around this crop and we’re back in business.
Maybe I think this every year, but this current roster looks like it has 11 guys who can seriously contribute. It should at least be a competitive squad… right???
might be that it has 11 guys without any stars…. all love tho!
Hokies are definitely going to be more athletic next season.
What a huge pickup!!
the next deron washington? want to see him jump over someone….
Great job Coach Young and staff. The team is filling in nicely. I hope they gel together and become a competitive group. I like the addition of an athletic forward. Hoping for improvement on the defensive end from this 2024 squad.
Surprised that Spud Webb or even Vince Carter didn’t have bigger vert than MJ.
Spud 46
VC 43
MJ was just absurd. The further away we get from his career the less people understand
Darrell Griffith’s was 48
Two years remaining. I like.
But with the portal these days, you never know what you have in hand.
I like this pickup. Saw him play at VCU. Athletic freak. Deron 2.0