New Frontcourt Pieces Could Propel Virginia Tech Even Further In 2022-23

At the ACC Tipoff in Charlotte on Wednesday, Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young said his current roster is as deep as it’s ever been.

Despite losing three starters — Keve Aluma, Storm Murphy and Nahiem Alleyne — in the offseason, the defending ACC Champions are back, and they have depth, particularly in the frontcourt.

ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year Justyn Mutts, who averaged 10 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists last season, returns. However, four of the other five bigs departed, including Aluma. The other three transferred to Kansas State, George Mason and East Tennessee State. Tech’s lone remaining contributor, Lynn Kidd, played sparingly in 2021-22.

But Young & Co. reloaded. There are five new faces on the inside, three via the transfer portal.

Grant Basile (Wright State), John Camden (Memphis) and Mylyjael Poteat (Rice) found new homes in Blacksburg. Darren Buchanan Jr. and Patrick Wessler were recruited out of high school.

“We’re deeper on the frontline than we’ve ever been,” Young told the media. “Fellas, we were as thin as nickel soup last year in the frontcourt after Mutts and Aluma. But I am comfortable with Darren Buchanan, John Camden, who has some versatility at the three spot, at the four spot, and Mylyjael [Poteat] and Lynn Kidd, are going to help our team.

“[They’re] big, strong, athletic people. Lynn Kidd’s an amazing athlete. Mylyjael Poteat is just a physical person that can run, and he’s got exceptional hands. I think we can come at you from different ways this coming year.”

Young said one of the biggest factors in Basile joining the Hokies was the opportunity for him to play with Mutts. That will likely be the starting frontcourt duo.

Hunter Cattoor was Basile’s host on his visit to Blacksburg and said the fifth-year player is a great addition to the locker room. On the court, he can do it all. The Pewaukee, Wisconsin native averaged 18 points and 8.5 rebounds last season, and his 307 boards ranked 22nd in the country.

“He can shoot the ball from the outside, he can put it on the deck and get to the basket,” Cattoor said of Basile. “He also can post up and score there too. I’m very excited to see how people are going to guard him because I think it’s very tough when you spread the defense out with the way we can shoot, but also if you come and bring your five out, he can blow by them and put it on the floor, too.”

Meanwhile, Poteat’s been a good addition. Young said the 6-9, 265-pound junior from Reidsville, N.C. has been a pleasant surprise.

He’s burly and a brute force — which is what was expected — though he also has the ability to finish around the rim. According to Mutts, Poteat adds the strength the Hokies were missing but is also able to catch a pass and be under control without rushing.

“He’s got unbelievable hands,” Young said of Poteat. “Much, much better feet. I liked him coming out of high school and I called him three or four times. … He’s gonna help us win. He’s big and he’s physical and he’s not afraid of contact.

“He knows who he is as a player, and I think that’s a benefit of playing college basketball for two years.”

The third transfer, Camden, might be Tech’s most lethal weapon this season. Mutts called him a “sniper” and joked that he’s likely a top-three shooter on the team.

That leaves Kidd, the other returnee in the frontcourt. According to Cattoor, he put in a lot of work in the offseason and realized he needed to change his body to take his game to the next level.

How does that all shake out, especially when attempting to replace the production of Aluma (16 points, 6.5 rebounds, 31 minutes per game)? When you’re as flexible as Virginia Tech is going to be, there are many combinations.

“Lynn Kidd’s going to play, as will Mylyjael Poteat,” Young said. “We can play Grant at the four and the five. We can play Mutts, not a lot at the five, but he can and will play some five. Now we can mix and match Lynn Kidd.”

But the place where Virginia Tech might miss Aluma the most is defensively. He blocked 33 shots last year, good for 12th in the conference, an aspect that Mutts said often went unnoticed. Young mentioned that Aluma could cover up some things that he would miss on that end of the floor and had a good basketball IQ.

What will that aspect of the Hokies look like come November?

“You’ve got Lynn and Mylyjael, two super athletes,” Mutts said. “Lynn, you can’t put a floater over him, he’s going to go get it. And Grant, I think he does a great job being versatile on the defensive end as well, being able to guard multiple positions so we can switch easily.”

One major takeaway from interacting with Virginia Tech in Charlotte: it’s going to be difficult for Young to find ways to mix up the playing time with such a talented group of players. That goes for the backcourt, too. But it’s a good problem to have.

True freshman Rodney Rice had ankle surgery and Young wouldn’t speculate on his status for the season-opener on Nov. 7. But he did note that the DeMatha product is more of a point guard than he originally suspected.

“When we recruited Rodney, I thought he was more of a two guard,” Young said. “The kid wanted to play some at point, I assured him that he would play some back there.

“I thought he was a 2-1 coming in. Being around him for the summer, he’s more point guard than he is two-guard. He’s really good with the ball in his hands.”

When fully healthy, Rice’s addition could take some pressure off starting point guard Sean Pedulla. In a similar sense, Cattoor may find himself strictly on the wing. He helped handle the ball in the past for the Hokies.

Then there’s Darius Maddox, the fifth starter alongside Pedulla, Cattoor, Mutts and Basile. It hasn’t been an easy path for the Oak Hill product — his playing time was scarce as a freshman and he didn’t see consistent minutes last year until late January. However, he “scores like he breathes,” and he’s taken the next step in his career.

“It hasn’t been all rosy for him,” Young said of Maddox. “Probably felt like he should have played more. But he stayed the course, he hung in there and hit one of the biggest shots in Virginia Tech history [vs. Clemson]. I can guarantee you he hit one of the biggest shots for Mike Young in his history.”

Young, in his 21st season as a college basketball head coach, described this group as “intelligent.” Built on the culture created by his first recruiting class in Blacksburg — of which only Cattoor remains — the Radford native has slowly taken the Hokies from a challenger brand to that of a champion. The unforgettable week last March is a perfect example.

So while the 2022-23 version of the Hokies is much different than those previously — it features seven new faces — it still embodies the principles Young built the program on.

“There is no ceiling,” Mutts said. “I think our team is so diverse and so talented and so dynamic that if we really start to click the way I feel we can, it’ll be scary. Just the way we defend, the way we can make shots, the way we can get to the basket or space it out or our pace of offense.

“I think once we really start clicking on all cylinders with the relationships that we have as people off the court, it’ll be it’ll be a lot of fun.”