Virginia Tech’s men’s basketball team hit a bit of a wall in the second half of their ACC schedule.  However, I want to look at a few numbers today and point out exactly how ahead of schedule the Hokies are with this current crop of freshmen.

It’s easy to forget that past great Virginia Tech players struggled as freshmen.  We all remember Erick Green leading the country in scoring as a senior.  Armed with that knowledge, it’s easy to forget that he couldn’t hit a semi truck from the shoulder of the road as a freshman.  Dorian Finney-Smith missed 25 consecutive shots as a freshman at Virginia Tech…and he now plays in the NBA. As good as Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon were as freshmen, they still shot under 40% from the field.

For whatever struggles they had towards the end of this season, it’s important to remember that Tech’s freshmen will get better.  Check out the six guys below and the difference between their freshman shooting numbers and their senior numbers…

Zabian Dowdell (Fr.): 37.5% FG, 30.5% 3-Pt.
Zabian Dowdell (Sr.): 46.2% FG, 38.6% 3-Pt.

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