A Big Thanks to Hokie Fans
I just wanted to take a minute and thank all of our outstanding Hokie fans for the support they showed our team Monday night and throughout the early part of the season. The Cassell was rocking and you created the energy that put us in a position to have a chance to win. We are getting better. It is a long season and your continued support and ownership in this program are needed each and every night.

The season is still young. No one gets eliminated this early and no one makes the tournament on December 1st. This tough early season schedule will pay dividends for our team later in the year. We're going to play numerous games against top 50 teams in our league. We will get more chances and together we will seize the opportunities.

I am excited about this team and our prospects. We can see Victor Davila improving right in front of our eyes. J.T. Thompson is beginning to get ready to return and, when he does, he will play a major role on this team. This is still a very young team and they have a chance to be special. We're going to continue to get better. Three of our top four scorers are either sophomores or freshmen and 67.6 percent of our minutes are being played by either freshmen or sophomores.

The players had Monday off, before we begin preparations on Wednesday for the game in Washington, D.C. against Navy on Sunday. These days off are important to the players, to allow them to be focused on the academic demands. The exam period is quickly approaching and this continues to be an extremely busy time of year for our program.

I look forward to seeing many of our fans in D.C. this weekend and until next time, Go Hokies!

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The season opener is here
After four solid weeks of practice, it's time to play some games. It is the only way you can really find out about your team. When the lights go on for real. there is always some anxiety. I hope, although we are still a very young team with eight freshman and sophomores, last year's experience will pay huge dividends.

I am very disappointed for J.T. He has worked extremely hard in the spring, summer, and preseason to ready him for a special sophomore campaign. J.T. is a very big part of what we do. He brings toughness, energy, and he has the ability to play more than one position. In his absence, we will need a number of different players to step up and be that much more productive. J.T.'s versatility allows us to go small and still rebound the ball.

For all interested parties, J.T. is not related to coach John Thompson.

Gardner-Webb is a team that enjoys the challenge of playing up and they have proven that they can get people to react to them. They push the ball up the floor with great pace and can really shoot the basketball. It will not be uncommon for them to have four guards in at any given time. This will put a lot of pressure on our front court players to get in a stance and defend. They are called the Running Bulldogs for a reason. They attack you and shoot the three. Flittner and Linn from an outstanding back court. Both can score the ball and shoot it with range. Up front, MacMillan is a physical presence, an active rebounder, and an accomplished shot blocker. We need our student body, community, and alumni there early and ready as we kick off the season.

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Final week of preparations begins
We are in our final week of preparation for the start of the season. It has been a long, but productive first three weeks. I feel our players now have a better understanding of what each needs to accomplish individually, and what we need to accomplish collectively for us to have a successful season.

Our two scrimmages were both valuable and productive. This past weekend, we played without J.T. and A.D. This gave Terrell, Dorenzo, and our other perimeter players extended minutes. I was extremely pleased with Dorenzo's play. He had better pace to his offense and more consistent commitment to the defensive side of the ball.

Jeff Allen has put together his two best practices this past week. He is shooting the ball with tremendous confidence, but we need to make sure he has outstanding balance between the post and perimeter and continues to rebound the ball.

Opening nights are always special. We have one chance to make a first impression. I expect our players to come out with a great deal of intensity and a sense of purpose. Everyone remembers Gardner-Webb's upset win over Kentucky last season, it is a constant reminder of the games we have given away in years past. Every year you see upsets and we need to break that trend. I will use this week to continue to develop our defensive culture and refine what we are doing offensively.

We once again need the student body and community to come out and support our team. It is a full day of Virginia Tech athletics in the Cassell on Friday, women's volleyball, women's basketball, and men's basketball.

I would also like to congratulate the women's soccer team for their success in the ACC Tournament. Getting to the championship game is a tremendous accomplishment.

Check back on Wednesday as we prepare for what should be an exciting season.

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Wrapping up the Georgetown scrimmage

We learned a lot about ourselves in our scrimmage vs. Georgetown. Georgetown is a terrific opponent in that they create numerous situations on their offense that are difficult to defend. I thought at times our defensive intensity was outstanding, but we were not as consistent as we need to be.

Offensively, I was extremely disappointed in our flow from our secondary break into our offense. This is an area we need to address in the next two weeks. It is my goal for us to attack in transition, read our secondary opportunities, then finally flow into offense. This is not easy, but, once learned, will enable us to put greater pressure on defense.

Malcolm, once again, played at a very high level. It is still important for him to not only make plays, but make plays for his teammates as well.

Jeff and AD were solid. A big positive was that our big thee (Jeff, AD, and Malcolm) lead us in shot attempts.

Dorenzo, JT, and Terrell all had their moments, JT being the most productive of the group.

In the front court, Cheick has been the most consistent as long as he plays to his strengths.

One of the highlights of the day was when I asked big John Thompson, (JT's father) former Georgetown coach and Hall of Famer, to address our team. He was very clear and to the point. Sometimes a different messenger sending the same message is helpful in getting the point across.

We have another big week ahead of us, as we are only eight practice days away from playing. Just a reminder, Hokies on Fire will have a pep rally tomorrow on the steps of Cassell at 6 pm. Coach Dunkenberger and myself will be the opening act. Coach Beamer and his team will also be in attendance before departing to the hotel in preparation of their game versus Maryland.

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Tip-Off Banquet a rousing success
Last night's Tip-Off Banquet was a tremendous success. We couldn't have done it without the support of the National Bank of Blacksburg and our friends at Outback. It's hard to believe NBB has been the title sponsor for the last fifteen years. Their generosity and commitment to the university and community is sincerely appreciated. I would also like the thank all those who participated in our silent and live auctions, as the money raised will be used to supplement our budget and continue to update our video equipment.

I got a pleasant surprise this morning when former Hokie great Brittany Anderson came to visit. She will be departing for Israel at the end of the week to visit her significant other, Deron Washington. Brittany is one of my all time favorite Hokies. She is a Blacksburg High School graduate, a terrific player, and an outstanding teammate. On the flip side, we are still stuck with her brother, Jerran, as one of our managers.

We are preparing for our first scrimmage versus Georgetown this Saturday. The NCAA allows us to conduct two scrimmages as opposed to exhibition games. I find these scrimmages extremely valuable because they are not limited to just forty minutes. The level of competition is far superior to any team we could play in an exhibition game. This is the fifth consecutive tear we have scrimmaged the Hoyas and each year we look back on a tremendous learning experience.

Now that A.D. is back in practice full time, we are at full strength. We need to get him up to speed in terms of what we are doing offensively and more importantly; he needs to get back in playing shape.

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The banquet and Operation Basketball
First, we will start with the National Bank of Blacksburg Tip-Off Banquet, presented by Outback tomorrow. I look forward to the banquet, as it has become a tradition the past five years. There are still spaces available, anyone interested can call our office and Sharon will handle the details.

Sunday's ACC Operation Basketball, the league's media day, was no different than I expected. Everyone gets so caught up in where the media selects them. Truth be told, it has nothing to do with how the season may play out. It's all about what you get done between the lines. It makes for good conversation, but in reality it has no substance.

The ACC this year is the deepest it has been since we have joined. There will be a very fine line between wining and losing. It won't be about the talent, it will be about the chemistry. Talent without chemistry is a losing proposition.

Developing team trust, toughness, and an agenda is the key to any team's success. Mike Singletary, interim coach for the San Francisco 49ers, put it best this weekend, "It is more about them that it is about the team. Cannot play them, you cannot win with them, cannot coach them. Can't do it. I want winners. I want people that want to win." I totally agree.

We have a tough week ahead and a lot to accomplish. I hope to have our team at full strength, as AD was held out last week for a reoccurring ankle injury.

Check back Wednesday, we will begin to update more frequently.

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Back after a day off
After a day off, we are back at it for our second segment. It's hard to believe we only have seventeen practices before we play our first game. One might think that having so many players returning you would not have to tweak or make many changes, but we are still trying to find and develop this specific teams' identity. I'm interested to see how our guys respond after their day off; many times the first part of practice is difficult, we don't have anytime to waste and we need to move forward.

On my day off of practice I was able to spend the afternoon recruiting and the evening being entertained at Alpha Chi Omega's Mock Rock Talent Show. I would like to congratulate Delta Gamma and Delta Sigma Phi for winning the talent aspect of the competition. The biggest winner of all was bringing awareness to domestic abuse. Congrats to the girls of Alpha Chi Omega for putting on a tremendous event for a great cause.

This weekend I have ACC media day in Atlanta. It gives us on opportunity to all lie about our teams and answer the same question for four straight hours. I will be bringing Malcolm Delaney and A.D. Vassallo along with me for the festivities.

One last thing, my thoughts and prayers go out to D'Andre Bell from Georgia Tech who had a season-ending surgery to correct a spinal condition. Bell was injured while diving for a loose ball in practice October 10th. I've always had the utmost respect for D'Andre's competitive spirit and toughness. I wish him a speedy recovery.

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Practice has started
I'm really pleased with the turnout at Late Night with the Hokies. I thought our marketing staff did a great job of putting the event together in such short time. I hope all in attendance enjoyed their first experience with Late Night.

The entertainment was a surprise to say the least; in fact I might take a day off and let Paul coach the team, (If you weren't in attendance, Paul Debnam did a dead on interpretation of me in practice). Once again I would like to thank University Bookstore and ISP, and I hope we can build on it in the future.

Our first four days of practice have been spirited and intense with a focus on defending. We have been spending more time going up and down the court than usual, as we want to get our players in the mindset of playing with a full court mentality.

My main concern the first four days has been turnovers; we must be stronger with the ball and have better decisions to make the simple play.

Victor Davila has had a good first four days; I think the repetition of being in the gym with the coaching staff has helped him. We still need to get his intensity up to an ACC level. Lewis and Cheick have been solid.

On the perimeter, there is a healthy competition going on with the small forward position. I expect all of our wing players to contribute to be part of the solution to help us win games.

I would like to give a shout out to Grandma Posh Spice Margie. Check back on Thursday for more updates.

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Cleaning off the desk
I'd like to touch on several different events taking place in the Hokie basketball world within the next few weeks. The season is just about to begin and there are several events I hope we have people take ownership in.

Tomorrow, I'm heading to Richmond for the 11th annual Basketball Tip-Off Dinner, sponsored by the Richmond Hokie Club. It begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and program. I would like to thank Clement Carter and the other members of the Richmond Hokie Club for putting together such a great event, year after year. The featured speaker this year is Lefty Driesell. It is always a treat to hear his stories.

We are also putting the finishing touches on "Late Night with the Hokies", taking place Friday, Oct. 17th following the women's volleyball match vs. Wake Forest. There are many different types of events including: a half-court shot for $10,000, a knock-out contest, and skits put on by the men's and women's teams. Beth and I will also be introducing our roster for the upcoming season. We will conclude the night with a 10-15 minute scrimmage. This event is a great way to involve the students, and it is the next step in forming greater ownership of passion and culture.

The National Bank of Blacksburg Tip-off Banquet presented by Outback is taking place October 28th at the German Club. The night will include an introduction of the 2008-2009 team, a highlight video of the 2007-2008 season, and a silent and live auction. I will be addressing the state of the program, including where we are going, our goals, and how we are going to get there. There is still room available, please contact Sharon Spradlin in the basketball office at 540-231-6725. Tickets are $150 each and corporate tables are $1200 for a table of eight. Each corporate group will also have a player or coach at their table.

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Two weeks until the coaches clinic
Two weeks from tomorrow, on Oct. 25th, our staff will be hosting a coaches clinic. This will be the fifth year we will be running our clinic and this year, it's open to all coaches, from high school coaches to youth coaches. It will be unique hear three successful coaches in Mike Jones, Brad Greenberg and Michael Allen

This group features two very successful high school coaches and a coach that has been involved in basketball at every level. Along with the lectures, participants will spend time watching our defensive breakdown drills and practice. I think this clinic will benefit any coach trying to stimulate his thinking as he prepares for the upcoming season.

Registration will begin at 8 a.m., and the first portion of our practice will go from 9-10 a.m. Then, from 10:30 a.m., until 12:45 p.m., will be the three lectures, followed by a lunch from 12:45 p.m., until the main section of our practice begins at 1:30 p.m. The fee for the clinic will be $50 and that price includes a clipboard and a lunch in Cassell Coliseum.

Anyone interested in attending should click the link on Hokiesports.com on the basketball page or call our office at 540-231-6735.

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There are several different topics I want to hit today, but first off, I want to congratulate the football and volleyball teams on their early season successes. As a coach, I appreciate how well these young teams are competing and playing. Some people play the game and find reason why not to win; these kids have found reasons why they should win.

If you look, especially in college football, you're seeing traditional teams stumble. But the consistency of what our football team has been able to do in the first six weeks has really been extremely impressive. Our volleyball team, with such a young group, can play at the level they are playing, is really exciting and a testament to Chris and his staff.

Madness is just around the corner. The night of October 17 will mark a new event for Hokies Basketball. Late Night with the Hokies is just a week and a half away. It's going to be an exciting night, as we kick off our basketball season.

We really appreciate the support of the University Bookstore, ISP and the university community. There will be 4,000 free t-shirts given away; there will be unique skits performed by both the men's and women's team, as well as opportunities for students to shoot against both the men's and women's team.

We'll have a slam dunk contest and a short scrimmage and it will be a great way to start the weekend. We hope that the student body gets there early and supports the volleyball team and then gets caught up in the spirit of the college basketball season.

We will have more details in the coming days, as we finalize other things that will truly make this a night to remember in Cassell Coliseum. I know the team and the staff are really getting excited about this night and I hope you are too.

Another event coming soon is the coaches clinic at Cassell Coliseum, which is open to coaches at all levels. We have a great group of lecturers and coaches will have the opportunity to watch practice and take part in a Q & A with our staff. Check hokiesports.com for an application, or call the men's basketball office for more information.

One final topic for today, prior to the football game against Maryland on Nov. 6, we are going to have and Orange and Maroon Scrimmage at 5:30 p.m., in Cassell Coliseum. More details will be coming on that scrimmage.

That's enough for today, but check back in the coming days at Seth's Hoops du Jour, as I will be posting more information on the clinic, Late Night with the Hokies and the scrimmage, plus other things that are happening around the program. Once again, thanks for reading and Go Hokies!

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There is a lot of preparation in the fall
I couldn't be more pleased, right now, with the progress the team is making. Our guys are working hard, both on the court and the weight room. We are getting into world-class condition in preparation for the season. The competition has been fierce, but in a very positive way. I think our young players are beginning to understand the demands of being a collegiate student-athlete.

Last week was the first week that we had our team together, being as the NCAA allows us to condition and work our guys out as a group. We are still going to work at least one day a week on individual skills and bring our team together for our other two workouts, comprising two hours.

The attitude of the team is good and I think our guys are energized and excited. We have to understand it is a marathon and not a sprint, no different than in years past. We just want to work and improve each and every day.

It's nice to see A.D. on the cover of Athlon Magazine, as a fourth year senior. We expect him to have a tremendous senior season. Our staff has another two weeks of recruiting and then we will turn all of our attention to our team, as we prepare for our preseason camp.

I am excited about a big announcement we will make in the next week or so. I don't want to go into here now, but check with Hokiesports.com in the coming days for some big news for our fans.

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One Month to Go
It seems hard to believe, but the official start of practice is exactly one month away. I like the place that we are in. It's a big difference having six sophomores, as opposed to the six freshmen last year. Victor and Gene are making steady progress.

Our coaching staff has been extremely busy over the past several weeks, scouring the Northeastern United States, visiting with coaches and evaluating players in the classes of '09 and '10. Next week, we are back on the road and then have another big recruiting weekend coming up on Oct. 4.

We are really excited about the addition of Adrian Autry. He brings a wealth of experience and was an outstanding player. In talking with Jim Boeheim, he felt that Adrian possessed every single trait to make an outstanding coach. Although he is in an administrative position at this time, his desire in the future is to get on the floor. We think he is going to be a great addition, as he is a terrific communicator and has a great passion for the game.

Our guys have gotten off to a great start in the first three weeks. Our intensity and focus have been truly outstanding. It's encouraging to see the transition that our freshman class from last year has made, in terms of their commitment to conditioning, their daily preparation and their focus. Jeff Allen is in, by far, the best condition I can ever remember him in, having known him now for four years. Dorenzo, J.T. and Terrell have all worked and are competing at a high level in the individual workouts.

This is the first week we can bring our team together and workout as a team and we will be doing that two days a week for 40 minutes each time. We are going to use that time to put in our baseline defense, our transition game and introduce some new concepts.

The Georgia Tech football weekend was a great weekend, as we had a number of high-profile prospects that saw just a terrific football game that really represented what Virginia Tech football is all about. They fought and competed to find a way to win. As hard as they play, it definitely sets a tone for our players to watch a team compete at that level.

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A new academic year begins
After reviewing the schedule, I am more convinced than ever that it is both challenging and fair. If you look at our league schedule, there are no rocking chair games. I'm not a big believer in balanced or un-balanced schedules; to be successful in the ACC, you need to play at an extremely high schedule each and every night. We have a couple of more-difficult stretches during the course of the schedule, but we are no different than anyone else in our conference.

It's interesting that we finish the home regular season with back-to-back games against Duke and Carolina. As I evaluate that, I believe it is a sign of progress, as the league and television are always looking for ratings at the end of the season. It is a sign that Virginia Tech basketball has arrived as a media property.

Our non-conference schedule will be extremely challenging. Wisconsin is a unique basketball team that is poised, physical, mature and executes at the highest level. The defending Big Ten champion is poised for a run in the NCAA Tournament.

The trip to Puerto Rico will enable us to really learn about our basketball team. Fairfield, a team that won seven of its last eight games, is an extremely well-balanced basketball team. They play a very similar style to Boston College, as Ed Cooley, their head coach, is a former BC assistant. They have excellent guard play. The remainder of the field all expect to play in the NCAA Tournament. Memphis is a team that is coming off an national championship game performance this past season.

On the road at Georgia, one of last year's hottest teams, will, once again, challenge our young basketball team. We have to understand that eight of our 12 scholarship players are freshmen and sophomores, although the sophomores are extremely experienced.

A.D. Vassallo should be getting back to school on Saturday, after playing for the Puerto Rico team in Centrobasket Tournament 2008 in Mexico. This is a great experience for A.D., and bodes well for the potential of him being a member of their Olympic team in 2012.

Cheick Diakite will be returning to campus this weekend after visiting home for the first time in four years. His delay was due to problems securing his visa. Both seniors are in outstanding academic standing and are ahead of track to graduate. Both have been in communications with their professors and we are excited to have them back next week.

Jeff Allen has returned to campus in magnificent condition with a great energy and terrific work ethic. He really has set the tone in the first two days of conditioning and individual workouts.

This team has a great sense of purpose and I feel they will buy into the concept of commitment to team. Our staff is preparing to get on the road beginning Sept. 9, for the fall contact period, as well as readying our team for the start of practice in October.

Just a reminder, the Richmond Tip-Off dinner will be Oct. 16, with a social hour from 5:30 - 7 p.m., prior to the event beginning at 7 p.m., at Toad's Place in the Shockoe Slip. The keynote speaker will be Charles "Lefty" Dreisell. Tickets can be purchased by Paypal on www.richmondhokieclub.org or by mailing a check to Shane Caudill. 14912 Walnut Bend Road Midlothian Va., 23112.

The people in Richmond have always done such a magnificent job with this event and it compliments our own tip-off dinner, which is scheduled for Oct. 28. Contact the basketball office to reserve a spot.

Also, we will have a meeting of our booster club at 9 a.m. in the Bowman Room prior to the football game with Furman on Saturday, Sept. 6.

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End of Summer Update
It has been a productive summer for our basketball program. I could not be more pleased with the player's effort, both on and off the court. Our players attempted 87 hours and earned higher than a 3.0 composite GPA.

David Jackson reports all players made significant strides in the weight room and conditioning. Coach Jackson is a valuable asset to our basketball program. The consistency of the work, the attention to detail and his relationship with the players makes our strength and conditioning program second to none.

Personally, I am very excited with the work of Lewis Witcher. He took the freshmen under his wing and educated them on what it takes to work at the collegiate level. His commitment to his teammates, along with his renewed energy and confidence bodes well for him having a terrific junior campaign.

Our staff has had a productive month of July evaluating prospects for the class of 2010 and 2011. It is important we get a good handle on the future as the recruiting calendar has changed and prospects are making decisions earlier.

I have returned from a week's vacation in Europe and have spent the last week getting organized for the coming year. We will be getting our practice calendar together and setting up individual workouts and reviewing film during this time. I like to use August to refocus on what we are doing, why we are doing it and how we are doing it.

I also have my self-help clinic this week. This is when I get together with other head coaches to discuss philosophy, system and program building. This year I have eight Division I head coaches and one NBA assistant from the New Jersey Nets for a day and a half seminar. This is a great tool and learning experience.

Finally our players return on Saturday, Aug. 23rd. We will have a barbeque that night and an organizational meeting on Sunday afternoon.

Just a few reminders - we will have a meeting of our booster club at 9 a.m. in the Bowman Room prior to the football game with Furman on Saturday, Sept. 6. And our Tip-Off Banquet is set for Oct. 28. Please call the office to reserve your place.

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Summer is Here
The guys are in their third week of summer school and everything is going well. Their commitment in the weight room and their conditioning has been second to none. We have been able to use the summer to create a closer bond and develop greater team chemistry. That is very important as we continue to try and improve in the ACC.

The finishing touches are being put on our schedule, which will be one of the toughest in school history. Beside the always tough ACC slate, the tournament in Puerto Rico looks like it might be one of the elite tournaments this season, with Memphis, Xavier, Southern Cal, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, Missouri and Hofstra, to name a few.

Also, we are putting the finishing plans on our orientation program for our incoming freshmen, who will arrive on campus June 29th.

We are very fortunate that a number of our current players have been invited to participate in elite camps this summer. This weekend, Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen and Dorenzo Hudson are working the Chris Paul camp. Later in the summer, Jeff will be working the Amare Stoudemire camp and A.D. Vassallo got invited to the Vince Carter camp. Those are all great opportunities for our guys to work on their games and gain valuable exposure and experience.

This weekend kicks of our camp schedule, with the post and perimeter camp. We have a number of terrific camping opportunities for young people. There is also an offensive skills camp, an overnight camp and our day camps. We take great pride in running a great program for the young people, to give them the opportunity to experience what Virginia Tech basketball is all about and get a chance to play on the same court that the Hokies compete on in ACC play.

Our staff is busy putting the final touches on our recruiting schedule for July. July is extremely demanding, but is an imperative part of the recruiting process. It gives us an opportunity to evaluate a number of different prospects and, as recruiting has gone recently, the earlier you can evaluate and identify talent, the better off you are in the long term.

I expect to be on the road 19 out of 20 days during this period and our staff will do the same. We feel that summer evaluations is something that we need to be good at, so we can project players up. The summer is used to evaluate underclassmen and have a clearer picture of the classes of 09 and 10.

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Summer is Here
It's been a while since my last posting, so now is a good time to catch everyone up on happenings around the program.

The staff is off the road right now and the players are finishing up exams and starting to head for home to recharge their batteries. We are preparing for the first session of summer school. Before everyone took off, we had three good weeks of off-season workouts.

When the team reassembles for the second session of summer school, all of our freshmen will join us. We will have a six week session. This time is invaluable in building trust and team chemistry. It also allows for our players to get ahead academically and prepare for the upcoming school year. Our players had a good semester academically this spring.

The staff and I are preparing for our summer camps. The camps begin June 6-8 with our post and perimeter camp, followed on June 23-25 by our Offensive Skills day camp. July 6-9 will be the Hokie Hoops Individual overnight camp and the final session will be the Hokie Hoops Individual day camp July 14-17.

We are also in the process of finishing our schedule for the 2008-09 season. We still have a couple of games to firm up, but this year should be another challenging schedule. It's too early to make any announcements on opponents and dates, but we can say that the defending Big Ten Champion, Wisconsin will come to Cassell Coliseum on Dec. 1 to open the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Until next time, Go Hokies!

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Happenings on the Basketball Front
I thought I'd catch you up on some happenings around the basketball program.

We will host defending Big Ten Champion Wisconsin in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in Cassell Coliseum on Monday, Dec. 1. Wisconsin is one of the elite programs in college basketball. They are a team that challenges, not only for a Big Ten Championship, but a national championship, each and every year. To have them come to the Cassell will obviously enhance our home schedule. It will be a tremendous challenge but a great opportunity for our basketball team. It's another one of the great benefits of playing in the ACC.

We are continuing to work on our schedule. We are looking at a number of different made-for-television events to put our program on a national stage.

Our off-season has gone extremely well. Our guys have lifted hard and are working hard at their games. I challenged our guys at our post-season meeting not to surrender to a new expectation, but to embrace the expectations that they have created. Our core group has done an outstanding job of working and understanding that it is important for us to improve, because in this league, if you're standing still, you're falling behind.

We need to keep that chip on our shoulders. We need to stay with the mentality that we are not going to be an opponent, but compete to win. We need to be hungry. That has been our theme throughout our off-season and we will continue with that. This team needs to be hungry to be effective. If we keep that mindset, we can continue to improve.

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An Energetic Cassell
Duracell might have the energizer bunny but the Hokies have the best fans in the ACC! You were our energizer bunny and with your continued support, we hope to keep going and going!

Thanks once again for creating a winning atmosphere in the Cassell. Every time I think it can't get any better, you take it to another level! The Cassell rocks because you rock! Hokies don't watch a game; Hokies are a part of the game! Some programs have the 6th man, we have the whole Nation!

Once again, we are going to offer 3,000 free student tickets. If you are unable to get one on our dime, I hope you would invest $5 in your program. During the course of the season we have tried to challenge and motivate our players by defining how hard we would like them to play and compete. We have asked them for CBE (Career Best Effort), we have had each of them sign a contract on the responsibility and accountability needed to win at this level..... My challenge to you is simply show up early, be vocal and proud, as this is your team and program. Together we can do something special.

Thanks as always for making a difference!!!

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UAB Game Day
We have had a solid three days of practice in preparation for our game vs. UAB. It has been our usual mid-week preparation. As well as we have been playing, it would have been nice to play a little sooner. One of the advantages of the NIT is not only additional practice time but the opportunity to play on ESPN. When we tip off today, we will be the only college game on national TV. Playing on ESPN is a great marketing tool for recruiting. The nation will see the tremendous atmosphere that Cassell Coliseum provides. We are also only one of two teams from the ACC that are still playing.

UAB is an athletic and deep basketball team with excellent quickness and size. They have a "go-to" player in Robert Vaden (one of the nation's premier shooting guards). They defend hard and have the capability to change defenses and extend their defensive pressure. We must contain their starting point guard Aaron Johnson, rebound the ball, limit Vaden and do a good job on Lawrence Kinnard to have a chance to move on.

I was happy to see Stephen Curry and Davidson College advance this weekend to the Sweet Sixteen. He is a very talented young person and I root for him every time he takes the floor. To end the speculation on his recruitment, here is the real story. The summer of Stephen's junior year, he played for his dad during the summer AAU circuit. He had a very good summer. At that time Nigel Munson had already committed, Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon were going into their senior years, and AD Vassallo was a rising sophomore. I felt Stephen was a very good prospect, but thought he should red-shirt. At the time, he was about 6'0 tall and weighed only 150 lbs. We were going to play Jamon Gordon and Zabian Dowdell 32+ minutes a game and I didn't think he should waste a year. I offered him a walk-on for a year and then a four-year scholarship. Stephen wanted to play right away and made a great decision to attend Davidson College, where he could have an immediate impact. Recruiting is an inexact science and it is difficult to predict the future. I could have lied and told the Curry family he would have been in the rotation and that I was going to cut Zabian and Jamon's minutes and Nigel was not that good a prospect, but I don't work that way. I have always tried to be upfront and honest in recruiting. I am very happy for Stephen and his family. They are great people and he is having a great college experience. He made a great choice, although I wish he was with us. I have enjoyed watching him grow, develop and succeed.

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Filling the Cassell on Wednesday
By now you all know that Virginia Tech has been selected to participate in the 2008 NIT. While we are disappointed that we were not selected to the NCAA, that does not diminish what this team has accomplished this season. We had a great year and the NIT will allow us the opportunity to continue to play.

A number of teams that deserved the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament were left out due to the limited number of at-large bids available. We are not alone; it is hard to get into the NCAAs.

We need a good team effort on Wednesday night. The players, the coaches, the student body and the community need to come together to make this a special night.

As a thank you to all the students, I have gotten together with several of my friends and purchased 3,000 tickets that will be given free to students. After these tickets have been given out, all other students may purchase a ticket for just five dollars. All tickets will be general admission, so students will have the opportunity to get courtside seats for the game.

I hope we can get at least 5,000 students into the game. We need to create the best atmosphere so we can become the best team in the NIT. Our home crowds have been invaluable in this outstanding season. I hope to see everyone in the Cassell on Wednesday night. As I always say, we are in this together.

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A Good First Day
We arrived in Charlotte yesterday afternoon and had a very good, short 55 minute practice on the game floor at the arena. This is an outstanding facility that will be a great venue for this event. As usual, everyone involved in this tournament have been great to work with.

Our players have been very focused during our preparations for this tournament and the team appears to be loose at this point.

We are going to use today to get in a brisk, no contact practice at a gym. We will have study hall today, as Katie Ammons is on the trip and will work with the players both in groups and individually to assure that we keep up with the academics, even though we are away from campus.

Following the 2 p.m. game this afternoon, we will do our film work on our next opponent and prepare ourselves for tomorrow morning's walk through away from the arena. Our assistant coaches have been working hard on preparing for both Miami and NC State and when we know who the opponent will be, we will be ready to prepare the team in the 24 hours we have available.

Go Hokies!

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Hokies have developed collective responsibility
When you are playing games of significance in March, you need to do all the little things to finish the deal. You need to make big free throws, be strong with the ball, secure the 50/50 opportunities, and get that last stop. We did a lot of great things Sunday afternoon, we just didn't do enough to beat a talented and experienced Clemson team.

I am extremely proud of our team, their effort, resiliency, and spirit. They have matured, learned to compete, trust each other, and play to win. They have grown individually and collectively. They have developed a collective responsibility that is unusual in such a young team. We will take today to learn from our mistakes, wipe the slate clean, and get ready for a run in the ACC Tournament.

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What a Special Senior Night!
I could not have scripted a more special Senior Night than the one we had last night. The formula was simple: special seniors playing with great purpose, committed focused teammates, and a great home crowd. I am as proud of our team as any I have ever been associated with.

On behalf of our players and coaches, I want to thank everyone for their support and passion. I can say without hesitation that we would not be where we are at this point of the season without you! You have created an atmosphere that is second to none! You have partnered with us to make Virginia Tech Basketball relevant and exciting! I think back to where we were when we arrived five years ago and reflect on where we are today and the one word that comes to mind is ownership! You have taken a Lane Stadium energy and moved it to Cassell. I can't thank you enough. Now it is time to prepare for the Tigers!

Go Hokies,

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Preparing for the Demon Deacons
We have had a good couple of days of practice as we prepare for our final home game vs. Wake Forest. Our guys have been both focused and relaxed. You always wonder if a week off helps this time of year.....only time will tell. Our points of emphasis for the week have been defensive transition, defending the ball, and ball screens. We also spent a good amount of time attacking zones as Wake Forest has been effective switching to an active 2-3 to change the tempo of the game and protect people from getting in foul trouble.

One of the toughest things about college basketball is it is a two semester sport. Our players, most times, lose Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring Break. That is not easy for any team but extremely difficult for a team comprised of seven freshmen.

Playing games of significance in March is the goal of every team when they begin practice in October. We have reached that goal. A long time ago a good friend told me that first you need to:

1. Have a winning season

2. Have a .500 record in your league

3. Have a winning record in your league

If you do that you will play games of significance in March.

We need to embrace this opportunity. We need to enjoy what we have accomplished thus far. We need to play hard the next 40 minutes.

Once again I appeal to you to get there early as we celebrate senior day. Please come and show your appreciation and support for both Deron and Marcus as they have worked extremely hard and been great ambassadors for our University the past four years.

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Certain Things are not Optional
There are certain things I feel are not optional when it comes to winning a basketball game.

1. Playing hard and competing.

2. Winning the 50/50 ball (being first to the floor).

3. Making the extra pass.

4. Rebounding on both ends of the floor..........

and finally having enthusiastic and passionate fans that are with you for the full 40 minutes. I can say, without a doubt, I know each and every time we take the floor we have the best fans in the ACC.

Thank you for all you do to help us find a way to win. Thank you for wearing the black and red t-shirts in honor and support of our friends at Northern Illinois University. I always tell my fellow coaches what makes Virginia Tech different is the people (community, alumni, and the best student body). The uniqueness is that both the community and university co-exist in support of each other. Both have a bond that makes the other stronger and better! It was never more evident than this past Saturday.

Saturday's win was step one, it guaranteed us a winning season, now step two is to guarantee a .500 record in the ACC. We all have to take it 40 minutes at a time. Tuesday, I need your best 40 minutes. You need to be ready early and be consistent throughout. You need to seize this opportunity that presents itself. I know that I can count on you. See you Tuesday! Go Hokies,

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Big Win in College Park
I cannot describe how angry and embarrassed I was with our play versus North Carolina... Now, having said that, I can express how proud I was with our resiliency to bounce back, go on the road, get down early and grind our way to a win against a very good Maryland team.

The win at Maryland puts us at "plus 1" with three home games remaining. The road to the NCAA Tournament might have hit a detour in Chapel Hill, but the win at College Park has given us a new direction, energy and enthusiasm.

During the next two weeks, we have an opportunity to improve ourselves in regards to the league. It starts Saturday at 2 o'clock versus a very talented Georgia Tech team. This is a team that has lost four home games by a total of six points.

We need Cassell at its very best on Saturday. Please remember to wear your Black and Red in support of our friends at Northern Illinois University. This display will be another example of how we can support them in their healing process by our actions and also show how we have persevered.

If you are a season-ticket holder and cannot make the game due to other commitments, please get your tickets into someone else's hands. Even though you can't be there, that act will be another example of your support. This weekend is Hokie Celebration Weekend and we have had great success on this weekend in recent years. I would like to express my appreciation to everyone that makes Hokie Celebration such a tremendous success.

Please remember it's all about our working together to build a program. It's about passion. It's about creating a winning culture, attitude and atmosphere. You are difference-makers for our team. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

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Recharging the Batteries
Following our game Saturday afternoon, I gave the team two days off to get their legs back, take care of their academic responsibilities, and recharge their batteries. To my delight, many of them still came to the arena and got a workout in. This is a positive sign for a young team. They want to be good and are willing to work to improve on their game. The player who I have seen the greatest commitment to work hard has been Jeff Allen. He has put in extra work every day since the game Saturday. Actually, his preparation, his focus, and commitment to working on his game have been tremendous. We have used this week to work on the big picture: reviewing defensive concepts, working on handling pressure, spacing, and feeding the post. Today we will turn our full attention to UNC. We are at a push 10 games into ACC play, five home, five away, and a 5-5 record. We need to try to get back on the plus side. Tomorrow I will outline the keys to playing UNC.

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If We Play Hard, We Will Find A Way
At the start of the season, I said we would play out the season and then evaluate where we are and what we need to do to improve. Just because we have won five of our first eight league games does not change our approach. What that means is that we have been fortunate and tough enough to make plays and win close games. The residual effect of winning does have a very positive effect on your team in so many ways. There is a confidence and a belief that if we play hard, we will find a way. There is a bounce in our step. Our guys are buying into and better understanding the importance of not taking a play off and owning the 50/50 game. We are learning that one play could be the difference between winning and losing. Winning is a by-product of how hard you play. You can do a lot of things wrong and still find a way to win, if you play harder than your opponent. So........ what does 5-3 mean? Nothing, it just means we have a big game Tuesday vs. NC State. That is the next game.

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Hokie Fans Make it Happen
It's time to get ready for the Cavaliers, but I'd like to start off and once again by thanking all the fans who created an electric atmosphere on Tuesday night. Our fast early start was directly attributable to the passion and excitement you created in Cassell Coliseum from the opening tip. Your support throughout the game helped us in this very important victory.

I would also like to thank all the fans that helped get their tickets into the hands of others for the Florida State game. I realize that not every ticket holder can attend every game and the numbers of Hokie fans that called our office and allowed us to get unused tickets into the hands of fans wanting to attend the game was unselfish and reflective of what Virginia Tech stands for. We need to have ALL the seats filled in Cassell Coliseum to make the Cassell rock to its potential.

Virginia poses a formidable challenge for our team on Saturday. They are a veteran team with one of the best guards in the nation. Sean Singletary is a fierce competitor who is constantly attacking the basket. We will need a loud Cassell Coliseum to help us defeat the Wahoos.

We had a very good practice yesterday in preparation for Virginia. I thought Lewis Witcher had a strong practice and our freshmen continue to improve daily.

The Hokies and the Cavaliers have met in many big games throughout the years and since we joined the ACC, the importance of each game has risen tremendously. I look forward to seeing a full house of loud and proud Hokies in Cassell tomorrow for the 1 p.m. tip-off.

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Florida State was a true team win
Last night's win was satisfying in a lot of different ways. Playing our third game in six days, we had the energy and focus to defeat an extremely athletic and experienced Florida State team. The development of our bench is a key factor in our recent success. Lewis Witcher, Terrell Bell, Hank Thorns, and Dorenzo Hudson all gave us quality minutes, not to mention the return of Jeff Allen and the energetic play of J.T. Thompson. J.T. has given us an attitude and attacking nature that we needed. He has come up with big plays on both ends of the court.

As we begin our preparation for UVa, we need to focus and improve our on ball defense. We need to defend ball screens more consistently and defend the post earlier. I am pleased with our recent decision making. Reading advantage/disadvantage secondary set has been a difference in our team the past two games. Thanks to all in attendance for the Florida State game. You certainly made a difference!

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Hokie Proud
The character and resiliency of our team was on display in our game vs. Boston College. We have great young people in this program and I was proud in the manner in which they competed and executed at Boston College. Boston College is a touch preparation and their ability to prepare and digest the scouting report was a tribute to their focus. Having said that, our game with FSU will pose another ACC challenge. This is a team with three 1,000-point scorers. They remind me a great deal of our team last season. Three tough talented guards that take great pride on the defensive end. This is a FSU team that has beaten Florida, Georgia Tech, Minnesota, and Virginia. To have a chance to win we must take care of the ball vs. their aggressive man to man defense. We must contain their guards and defend ball screen situations and we must do a good job vs. their versatile inside players - Julian Vaughn and Uche Echefu. We need the Hokie Nation loud and proud for the 9 p.m. tip off. If you can't get there, please get your tickets to someone that can represent. We need the Hokie Nation to help us defend the Home Court!

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Post Duke Post
Both dealing with success and adversity is what ACC basketball is all about. You can learn from both. Last night's game was a physical emotional experience for our team. There is a difference between competing and playing hard. I thought we played hard but did not compete. You compete on offense by getting open, cutting hard, screening people, and making good decisions. You compete on defense by being alert, having an understanding of our defensive game plan, and finishing the possession. At times, we both played hard and competed but we were not consistent enough. We will not use our youth, travel, and a short turnaround as an excuse as we prepare for BC. We all bought into ACC basketball and we need to embrace the opportunity it presents us! Thanks to the students, community, and alumni that were in attendance last night. You created a winning atmosphere. We did not deliver. Stay with us; something special is happening. It just takes time.

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Getting Prepared for Duke
We had an excellent day of practice on Monday in our preparation for the number-four ranked team in the country, the Duke Blue Devils. Duke obviously poses a tremendous challenge, but on the other hand, it is a tremendous opportunity.

Their style of play is college basketball's version of the Phoenix Suns. They do a terrific job of spacing the floor and they have the athletes and the skill level to drive the ball, force help and kick the ball out. What truly makes Duke special is how hard they are defending. Due to their undersized team, they are extremely aggressive and athletic..

In years past, all but one of our Duke games have been extremely competitive, hard-fought and intense. I expect this game to be no different.

Each game is a separate entity and we will approach the Duke game with no different mindset than we will approach our 36-hour turnaround game against Boston College. In the ACC, it's all about match-ups and for us, it's match-ups on the defensive end. If you can't keep Duke in front of you, if you can't guard the ball, it's hard to play in this basketball game. On the offensive end, you need to be able to pass and catch the ball effectively and efficiently, you need to play with great spacing and you need to be able to drive the ball on balance and under control and make good decisions.

That is the focus of what we are trying to do the next two days, as we prepare to play on national television against one of the nation's elite programs.

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Big win in C'ville
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, welcome to a late night post of Hoop du Jour from the comfort of our University Travel bus, headed down I-81 towards Blacksburg.

First of all, I just want to say what a great win the Hokies had tonight in Charlottesville. I'm really proud of our guys and their resiliency, coming back from down nine in regulation and down five in overtime. One thing about having a young team is they don't know any better, they just continue to play hard and compete.

I'm really proud of the job that Malcolm Delaney did on Sean Singletary, one of the toughest match-ups in the league. He controls the ball on offense for UVa and is constantly attacking. I thought we executed extremely well in our half court offense, something we've been working very hard on in practice. But make no mistake, this game was won on the defensive end.

I thought Deron Washington's stop on the last possession of regulation against Singletary was a big play. We switched over to Deron on that possession because we wanted to have a bigger, longer body on him and this proved to be effective.

We had some unsung heroes in tonight's game. I thought Cheick Diakite and Terrell Bell gave us some great minutes and that proved to be pivotal for us, as well as the play of J.T. Thompson in the first half.

Once again, with a young team, we need to understand that ACC basketball is 16 separate entities, with no one game more important than any other. No one game can be allowed to affect the next game. The key is not to get too high or too low, because this league will suffocate you if you do.

As we are heading south on I-81, we are able to watch the North Carolina at Georgia Tech game on the satellite television. With a road trip to Georgia Tech coming on Saturday, we can begin the preparation for the Yellow Jackets. Georgia Tech is an outstanding opponent and always play well on their home court.

Thanks for reading Hoop du Jour and thanks for your support of Virginia Tech basketball. Also, a big thanks to all the Hokie fans in John Paul Jones Arena tonight.

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The Cassell was the Place to be on Saturday
I'd like to open today's blog with my sincere thanks to the crowd that came out to the Cassell on Saturday afternoon and helped the Hokies to the big win over Maryland. As I have said many times in the past, the ownership you, our fans, put into this program is essential to the success of our team. Your passion and energy were evident from the opening tip to the final buzzer. You make the Cassell one of the great home court advantages in college basketball and you proved it on Saturday.

I am extremely pleased with the toughness our players showed on Saturday. This was a game in which two teams competed extremely hard. I tell our players all the time that in the ACC, league play comes down to one play. We've played two conference games and both games have come down to one play. It's about just competing and finding a way to get one more stop and make one more play.

A win over a team like Maryland is huge for our team. The Terrapins are a talented team that plays hard all the time. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greivis Vasquez. We did a good job of keeping him in front of us defensively, which is very hard to do. He is such a good player and such a fierce competitor. James Gist is also a top-level player and they have some outstanding young players. Our series with Maryland has produced tight, exciting games. This is the way it is in the ACC. Every game is an event.

I thought our young players played with focus and determination, especially at the end of yesterday's game. This group has been waiting to get to ACC play. This is why these players come here: first, to get an excellent education and second, to be able to play big games in the best league in college basketball. We played three freshmen most of the second half and those three players scored the last six points of the game, after we trailed by five points with 1:46 to play. Our upperclassmen. A.D. and Deron played well. A.D. made some big shots in the second half and Deron made some big plays on the defensive end of the court. This was truly a team win for these guys.

We play our next two games on the road and three of our next four games on the road. This team is getting better , but we must continue to improve. We had three very good practices leading up to the Maryland game and we must have good practices each day this week and every week.

This week we will play at Virginia on Wednesday night and at Georgia Tech on Saturday afternoon, before returning to the Cassell on Thursday, Jan. 24, for an ESPN game against Duke. I know that our fans will have Cassell Coliseum rocking for that game and all the rest of the games this season. If Saturday was any indication of the Cassell this season, it should be an exciting season. Go Hokies!

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Preparing for the Terrapins
I'm extremely excited that the students will be back on campus this weekend as we get into the meat of league play. We've had three terrific days of practice and our guys are extremely excited and focused about the start of the main part of the ACC season.

Maryland is a very talented basketball team with three veteran players leading the way. Those players are James Gist, a four-year starter, Greivis Vasquez, one of the premier guards in our league and Eric Hayes. They compliment those three players with senior Bambale Osby, who is a physical force inside, as well as a host of freshmen frontcourt players who all contribute.

Maryland and Virginia Tech has turned into a good natural rivalry since our entrance into the ACC due to our proximity. It is extremely important that we are efficient and take care of the basketball, as to not lead to easy opportunities for the Terrapins.

The toughest thing about playing Maryland is defending the flex rollback offense. It's an system that features their big-bodied, frontcourt players and utilizes their quickness and cutting skills. Maryland has always been one of the leading scoring teams in the conference and this season, although not up to par for the Terrapins, they do a tremendous job in transition, stretching the court, posting the ball early and attacking in transition. Vasquez not only can score the ball, but he has the ability to distribute. They take excellent care of the basketball due to the fact that they are basically playing two point guards.

This will be a tremendous opportunity and challenge. WE NEED OUR STUDENT BODY IN THE CASSELL! Classes begin Monday, but we need a loud, proud crowd that has ownership in the Hokie program, packing Cassell and creating a winning atmosphere.

I hope that all that have been reading the Hoop du Jour understand just how important ownership, passion and energy is, as you try and defend your home court, because everywhere you go in league play, you will be dealing with those three traits as a visiting team.

I'll see you in the Cassell tomorrow afternoon. Remember tip-off is at 2 p.m. Go Hokies!

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Here comes the ACC
Here is your Hoops du Jour for January 8, 2008. It's been a busy last month, but we're back on campus and getting ready for the ACC opener on Saturday.

I'm extremely pleased with our performance on Monday night against Charleston Southern. Not how many we won by or who we played, but, more importantly, how we played. I thought we were very alert and active defensively. Assisting on 25 of our 34 field goals and only committing 10 turnovers, those are numbers that we need to have as goals if we are going to continue to develop.

We continue to get good minutes from our young players and that is extremely encouraging. It's not all about points and assists and minutes, it's more about our approach to the game. I thought Terrell Bell, although he does not have the minutes some of the other freshman have, is improving his ability to handle the ball and be strong with the ball. You have to understand that he is a player that has gone from a power forward, post player to a small forward. That's a difficult transition to make.

This is the time of year that our young players have been looking forward to. They all decided to attend Virginia Tech because it's a opportunity to receive a great education, but let's face it, they all wanted to play in the ACC. And ACC play is upon us.

The next eight weeks will give them an opportunity to play against the best competition in some of the biggest games of their young careers. The ACC grind starts this weekend with Maryland, a team that is rich in tradition and talent and is playing its best basketball of the season.

As I've been watching film on Maryland, the thing that has impressed me the most is how much they have improved defensively. They are extremely difficult to penetrate on and they do a terrific job of contesting shots. They are the ACC leader in field goal percentage defense. Up front, you have to deal with four-year starter, James Gist and on the perimeter, their sophomore tandem of Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez is as good as any in the conference.

I thought two of the last three games Cheick has played in a manner in which we need to become accustomed. His was a physical, low post defender who challenged shots around the basket and rebounded the ball. Those are the things we need from him if we are going to be competitive day-in and day-out in the ACC.

We must take care of the basketball. We must be aggressive and attack. We must understand it is a 40-minute game. We will get into particulars as the week goes on.

I'll see all of you in the Cassell for the Maryland game on Saturday. Remember, tip-off is at 2 p.m.

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Happy New Year!
Welcome to the first post of Hoop du Jour for 2008. It has been a few days since my last post.

I am very pleased with the outcome of the Holiday Festival. I thought coming off the Christmas break, we were focused and we played hard and played together. We weren't as efficient as I would like for us to be, but we found a way to win on St. John's home court.

The Holiday Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious events in college basketball and many of the great teams and great players of the past 50-plus years have appeared in this tournament. Before exempt tournaments, this was THE event on the holiday schedule. It was great for us to be able to continue the great Virginia Tech success in the World's Most Famous Arena.

The best thing about winning the Holiday Festival in Madison Square Garden was that we were able to enjoy the New Year. The way you feel during the season is predicated on winning and it was a rough Christmas for me after the Wake Forest game.

Richmond is always a difficult preparation, not only for of their offensive sets, but because of their match-up zone. We must play with good spacing and we must attack at every opportunity to be able to have success against such a fine team. The Richmond system is very difficult to simulate in just two days of practice.

This is always such a difficult time for the young players on our team, as it is their first holiday season away from their families. Playing on the road over the past several weeks has been good for them, as it has gotten the players off campus and helped take their minds off of being away from their family units.

I hope that all the Hokies in the Richmond area will come out to the Robins Center tomorrow night and support our team. Remember that game time has been moved up to 6 p.m. to allow all our fans to watch this basketball game and still be home in time to watch the football game, which begins after 8 p.m.

Here is wishing all Hokies success, in Blacksburg, Richmond and South Florida.

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Live from New YorkÖ
...It's Hoop du Jour. Bill Dyer here again with the blog from New York City. Here's hoping all of the Hokie Nation is having a great holiday season.

The team took different paths to NYC on Wednesday. Some were on the team bus to Charlotte, some met the team there, some met the team in the airport after flying from other locations, some flew in to LaGuadia and one drove in from home. All roads must really lead to New York.

The Hokies arrived in the Big Apple on Wednesday evening and immediately got to work on preparing for the Aeropostale Holiday Festival. The Holiday Festival is one of the oldest and most prestigious college basketball events. Many of the greats in college basketball history have played in the tournament, which is played annually in Madison Square Garden.

Before the team got settled into the hotel, it was off to John Jay College for a spirited two hour practice session. This is the same location Tech practiced last season when in town to play Seton Hall at the Garden.

Thursday got off to busy start, as the team had a lengthy film session following breakfast and then were off for another practice session, this time at the Reebok Athletics Club near the Kennedy Center. While at Reebok, Tech also got in a lifting session.

Before returning to the hotel, the team went to the south end of Manhattan Island, where a visit to Ground Zero took place. One cannot help but be touched by this site. It is still moving, no matter how often someone has visited the area. The team returned to the hotel to get dressed for a team dinner at the ESPN Zone in Times Square.

Friday will see the Hokies play Hofstra in the first game of the Holiday Festival. Tip off is at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised on the MSG Network, for those of you who get that channel. Of course, all the action will also be on the Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network, with Bill Roth and Mike Burnop on the call.

I'll check back in tomorrow following the game.

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Happy Holidays from Winston-Salem
Hello, this is Bill Dyer, the men's basketball SID and I'm doing today's post for Hoops du Jour. We are less than four hours from game time in Lawrence Joel Coliseum for the Hokies' ACC opener at Wake Forest.

The coaches are in full game-prep mode and I thought I would update you on the happenings around the men's basketball trip to Winston-Salem and the quickly-approaching holidays.

We arrived in Winston-Salem mid-afternoon on Saturday following the short trip from Blacksburg. As soon as we arrived, we went to the Coliseum to shoot free throws. The first thing Coach Greenberg noticed as we walked into the arena was the banner honoring Skip Prosser, the Wake Forest coach who passed away over the summer. Coach and Skip were close and, as he said in Friday's blog, today will be emotional for Coach Greenberg.

Following the shoot around, we checked into our hotel and after our dinner, there was a film session on the Deacs. Then, everyone retired to their rooms for a good night sleep. Coach stresses to the players the importance of keeping their bodies fresh and rested.

This morning, we had a team breakfast and a PowerPoint presentation on Wake. Then it was back to Joel Coliseum for our final walk through. At the walk through, the producer, director and announcers were there and spent time with Coach and several of the players, preparing for the game. Tim Brando, Mike Gminski and Jenn Hildreth will handle the announcing duties for the game. This group is very familiar with the Hokies, so they spent a good deal of the time watching the coaches put the team through the walk through. Jenn got some good insight on some of the players and this nationally-televised game on FoxSportsNet should be a good one for the television viewers.

Following the game, the team will go their separate ways for the next few days, before reconvening on Dec. 26 in New York City for the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 28 and 29. Some players will be leaving directly from the Triad area, while others will head back to Blacksburg before heading home.

Coach did want me to make sure that I wished everyone a very Happy Holidays. To all the Hokie Nation, please have a safe, happy and enjoyable holiday season.

I'll let that do it for now. Be sure to watch the game on FoxSportsNet or listen to it on the Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network. We'll post again once again as soon as we get to NYC on the 26th. Go Hokies!

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Remembering Skip
Welcome to Hoops du Jour for Friday, Dec. 21. I am very pleased with our practice today, as we prepare for our ACC opener at Wake Forest on Sunday. The players had great energy and focus and I felt we accomplished a lot at practice.

We are trying to keep things simple for Sunday's game and are concentrating on five main areas. First, we must contain Wake in transition. Ish Smith is as quick with the ball as any player in the country. Second, we must defend all ball screen sets and third, we must contain the dribble drive, as they will sometimes have five players on the court that can make a play. Fourth, we must finish each of their possessions with a defensive rebound and, fifth, we have to take care of the ball, as they are forcing, on average, more than 20 turnovers per game.

This game will be a very difficult game for me, personally, due to my relationship with Skip Prosser, not just as a coach, but also as a friend. I know that looking up at the banner in the rafters on Sunday will be an emotional experience.

I have no doubt that Skip would be extremely proud of the job that Dino Gaudio and Jeff Battle, his two first lieutenants, are doing at Wake Forest. It is a tremendous reflection of Skip's work ethic and values to see the way this team is going about its season.

We are about to watch film on Wake Forest and then we'll have a team meal at 3 p.m. Saturday morning, we will practice at 10 a.m., and hope to be on the road by 1 p.m., on our way to Winston-Salem. We will shoot free throws at the Joel Coliseum around 5 p.m., and, when we are finished with that, our six freshmen will be less than 24 hours away from making their ACC debuts. I know that is something each of them has been looking forward to for a long time.

I'll wrap this up now and get to the film session. Check back in tomorrow and I'll post again from Winston-Salem.

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Every Win is a Good Win
Last night's win over Liberty was a good win for this team. This is one of the most difficult times of the year for a basketball team, especially for the younger members of the team. There aren't many people on campus and they don't have the rigid regiment of classes, studying, practice and games that get them into a routine during the semesters.

While I wasn't always pleased with the way we played last night, I am very happy with the outcome. Every night in college basketball, there are upsets. In today's game, they aren't even upsets any more. Wofford defeated a very good Purdue team in West Lafayette last night. Every night, there are scores that may surprise the casual fan, but not those who pay close attention to the game. There are very good teams everywhere. All wins are good wins in college basketball.

I was very pleased with the turnout in the Cassell last night. It just goes to prove what tremendous ownership you have in this program. Your support has grown every year. We have one more non-conference game in January and then its into the heart of the ACC schedule.

I had hoped to use a platoon system in last night's game, but the style of game did not allow for it. I want to get the freshmen more playing time and eventually have all six freshmen play at least 10 minutes per game. I think this will help keep the team fresher as we go through the ACC season. This is a very talented group of freshmen and I would like to get them as much experience and playing time as possible.

Although I don't expect to make major changes in the line-up, don't be surprised to see some tweaks in the line-up in the coming games and as we go through the season. I make a lot of decisions based on situations with each game. I want to make sure I have the best possible line-ups on the floor for each game.

The coaching staff is in preparations for the ACC opener at Wake Forest. The team will lift weights, shoot free throws and watch film today before returning to the court for a full practice on Friday. We need all our players to be as fresh and rested as possible for this outstanding Wake Forest team we face on Sunday.

Wake has a more experienced team than the Hokies, with their young players gaining valuable experience last season. Ish Smith is one of the quickest guards in the country and James Johnson is a freakish athlete that is playing at a very high level. We must defend the ball and get back on defense. Every ACC game is going to be tough. There are so many outstanding teams in this conference that you have to be prepared to play at your best every single minute of every game.

I'll post again before the Wake Forest game, so keep reading.

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Preparing for Liberty
Following the ODU game on Sunday, we made the bus ride back from Norfolk, already preparing for a very good Liberty team to come into Cassell Coliseum on Wednesday night.

We are obviously disappointed with the loss on Sunday, but we are far from discouraged. The team defended very well in the second half and played hard in the comeback attempt. They showed great heart, energy and competitive spirit. The team knows it needs to get better and we are working towards that goal.

As for the dialogue about the ODU series, we play just 14 home games this season, probably the fewest among ACC schools. All of our scheduling decisions will be made in the best interest of our University and our basketball program.

As I said, we are already in preparation for the Liberty game tomorrow night. Liberty is a very capable team. When you connect the dots, their win at East Carolina, who won at North Carolina State and win over Niagara, who defeated St. John's, validates their potential.

We had a good practice yesterday and I think we showed excellent focus and energy. I am very excited and optimistic about our young players and the direction of our program. As I have stated in the past, the season is a journey, not a destination and compared to many other sports, the basketball season is a marathon.

Our goals are simple. We want to get better every day. Our players are learning to trust each other more every day. If we continue to do these things and work hard, winning will take care of itself.

Well, it's time for practice. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night for Faculty and Staff Night in Cassell Coliseum. Go Hokies!

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On the road to Norfolk
Today's edition of Hoops du Jour comes to you from the Waterside Marriott in Norfolk, Va. We just arrived in town following our trip in from Blacksburg.

When we got to town, we went straight to a gym at ODU to shoot some free throws and get in a stretch. After five hours on the bus, it's good to get the muscles moving again.

I got a pleasant surprise on the trip down here today. At first, I couldn't hear very well and the caller told me it was the best Hokie guard that I had coached. Since I hadn't coached Dell Curry or Bimbo Coles, it had to be Jamon Gordon. It was great to hear his voice and get an update on life in Turkey. Jamon has played four games and, as usual, he is the best defender on the court, while shooting a very high percentage from field, three-point range and the free throw line.

Jamon's was not the only call from a former player that I received this week. Early on Friday, Shawn Harris called to fill me in on what he's been doing,

Shawn is teaching and is an assistant coach at his old high school (Matoaca). Unfortunately, Shawn has to work this weekend and he won't be able to make it to Norfolk for the game, but we look forward to seeing him when we play at Richmond on Jan. 3.

We had a good workout this morning and got on the road early due to the possibility of bad weather. The guys are in good spirits and look forward to the challenge of playing Old Dominion in a hostile environment at "The Ted." I'm hoping for a strong Hokie turnout to offset ODU's "Blue Out."

After our team dinner, we talked about ODU. We need to defend Gerald Lee and keep him off the glass. We need to contain Brandon Johnson off the dribble and make sure that their perimeter shooters don't get in a rhythm.

ODU runs their sets with a purpose and do so very efficiently. All of ODU's sets put them in a position to offensive rebound, so we must rebound on defense.

A final thought. I would like to send congratulations to our men's soccer team on a absolutely magnificent year. To make it to the final four is a special accomplishment and one they should be proud of and cherish. Having watched Oliver Weiss and his staff, I have a feeling this won't be the last time they reach this lofty goal.

I hope to see plenty of Hokie fans tomorrow. For those who can't make it to the Constant Center, remember the game will be on the Virginia Tech ISP Sports Network and on television on Comcast SportsNet. Go Hokies!

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Exams are over
Welcome back to Hoops du Jour. When we begin practice this afternoon, things will begin to get back to normal. Our players are happy and relieved that exams ended on Thursday. From all indications, the team had an outstanding semester in the classroom.

Now begins a somewhat difficult time for the players. For the next several weeks, basketball players will be about the only students on campus. The usual bustle of campus life has ended and the normal routine of classes and studying has come to a halt. This time of year is especially trying on the freshmen members of the team. Following the Wake Forest game next Sunday, we will give the team a couple of days off for the holidays, before reconvening in New York City for the Aeropostale Holiday Classic at Madison Square Garden. We hope that this break brings some normalcy to the holiday season.

We are in full preparation mode for the Old Dominion game on Sunday. This is an outstanding team with an exceptional low post player in Gerald Lee. ODU is a strong rebounding team with experienced perimeter players. In order to be successful against the Monarchs, we must defend the post early and contain the dribble on the perimeter.

The team will practice at McComas today, as Cassell Coliseum and the practice gym are being used for graduation exercises. Our own Marcus Travis will be one of the students graduating today and I can't tell you how proud we all are of Marcus. He is an outstanding teammate and a fine young man. We will have our final practice in preparation for ODU tomorrow morning before we make the bus trip over to Norfolk for the game on Sunday.

We will have a new face at practice this afternoon, as Dorenzo Hudson will officially join the team today. We are excited to get Dorenzo into his first practice. There is no denying his talent. It will be interesting to see how soon he will be able to pick up our offensive and defensive philosophies. It takes time for players to learn how different college basketball is from the high school game, but I'm sure Dorenzo will work hard to be able to compete at this high level.

It's time for our meeting to prepare for today's practice, so I'll wrap up the blog now. Be sure to check back in tomorrow for more on the Old Dominion game on Sunday. The game will be televised at 4 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet.

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Exam Week Happenings
Today's blog was written by Katie Ammons, the academic advisor for the men's basketball team. Katie works closely with the team and her posting gives fans a better understanding of this week. Thanks for your post, Katie.

The exam period for the Virginia Tech student body ends Thursday afternoon. As with the rest of the students and student athletes at VT, the members of the basketball team has been preparing for and taking their finals since last Friday.

A typical exam week for the guys consists of meeting with tutors, doing study hall during the day and then either practicing and lifting weights or catching up on some much needed rest. During the school year all the freshmen have study hall in the morning from 8-10am. However, once the exam period starts, study hall changes from a group study hall to individual times that are based around their exam schedule and practice schedule. So basically all of the freshmen and most of the other players will spend a minimum of two hours a day and usually more in the academic center meeting with tutors, studying on their own for finals, attending review sessions and preparing for their tests in general. I must add that our coaching staff is great to work with as they tend to give the team off a few extra days during exams and also work practice around any tutoring appointments or review sessions the guys may have. Coach will also look at each day to see the number of exams coming up and plan practice accordingly.

A typical day during exams for any one of our men's basketball student athletes goes something like this: 7:45-9:45 exam, meet with a tutor to review for their next test from 10-12:30, lunch and relax from 12:30-2, return to the academic center at 2:00 and study until 4, grab a bite to eat and study on their own in the evening. In fact, this was Jeff Allen's day this past Monday as he prepared for his last exam on Tuesday.

As like with most students, the team is ready and looking forward to a break from academics and is looking forward to the holiday where they will get some time away from school. Our large freshmen class is finishing up their first ever final exam experience and learning how to balance finals and basketball while Marcus Travis sits on the other end of the spectrum. A special congratulations goes out to Marcus who will graduate on Friday with a degree in marketing management! Good job and congratulations to Marcus!

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Pinch hitting for Greenberg...
It's Tuesday, Dec. 11. This is Bill Dyer, the men's basketball SID for the Hokies. A lot of the coaches are out on the road recruiting and, so, I thought I'd do today's blog and talk a little about the national television broadcast from Sunday's big win over George Washington. The announcers were Ron Thulin, Dan Bonner and Debbie Antonelli. Joe Vencius was the producer.

Preparations for the broadcast from the media relations standpoints started early. I had been in contact with the television producer for about a week prior to the game, making sure that he had everything he needed, especially in regards to the announcers.

Following the win over UNC Greensboro on the previous Tuesday, my first job was to get the game notes written and to the announcers as soon as possible. We had sent this group media guides and notes from the UNCG game on Monday, just to help them get a little more familiar with the Hokies. Thursday, I e-mailed the updated notes for the GW game to the television people. Hokie fans can download a copy of the same notes the TV folks get on Hokiesports.com.

I spent some time on the phone on Friday with Antonelli, the sideline reporter for the game. A major part of her job is getting feature and special interest information on the players and the program. She's less about the stats and more about the behind the scenes information. We are beginning to see more sideline reporters in basketball these days. She interviewed Coach Greenberg as he came off the floor at the half and reported on anything that came, up during the game, like the cramps that Cheick suffered in the second half.

Sunday morning, the television production truck showed up at the arena and the technical staff got the arena set up. There are too many things going on to talk about now, but that may be a future blog.

Both teams had "Shoot Arounds" on the morning of the game. GW came in at 10 p.m. and did there final, on-court preparations for the game and Tech followed them in at 11:30. During a shoot around, the announcers and the producer spend some time with the coach, meet a few of the players and get to know the team a little better. I sit with the TV people and answer any questions they may have, along with getting them any last-minute information that they may need.

One thing special that did happen was that the TV crew miked Coach Greenberg and film him working at the shoot around. The producer worked parts of that into both the pre-game show and the game telecast.

During the course of the season and from season-to-season, you get to work with the same announcers frequently. This is a group with which we are very familiar. Dan and Ron do a lot of our games, Debbie does a good number of the women's basketball team's games and Joe was just in town, working the Miami football game. He was even on our flight to Atlanta on the first leg of our trip to Alaska.

This is just a small part of what goes on with the television broadcast. We will touch on more of this in future blogs. From here on out, almost all of the Hokies' games will be televised. Keep checking Hokiesports.com for more information. The game this weekend at Old Dominion will be televised by Comcast SportsNet.

Well, it's been fun pinch hitting for Coach today. I hope this has been interesting to everyone, In the future, other people involved with the program will take guest spots in the blog. Expect a blog entry from Katie Ammons, our academic advisor tomorrow, as she helps the team prepare for their exams. Thanks for reading and Go Hokies!

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Cassell was special on Sunday
I can't tell you how pleased I am about the happenings in Cassell Coliseum on Sunday. Our crowd support was outstanding. Everyone that was there helped spark this team and the benefits are more than evident. I know I tell you often how great you are, but, it's true. You really helped make Cassell special on Sunday.

As for the game, obviously, I'm very pleased with the way we went about implementing the game plan. We were active and tough and played defense at an extremely high level. The effort put forth by the team throughout the game was exceptional.

The real unsung heroes of the game were Cheick Diakite, Malcolm Delaney and Hank Thorns. They did a great job of playing tough and smart and the guards put great pressure on the opponents and contained the ball well. Check played strong in the post and really helped take GW out of there game plan.

I would also like to take this time to congratulate Oliver Weiss and his team for their outstanding win at UConn on Saturday. They are off to the College Cup, the Final Four of college soccer. This has been a truly remarkable season for this team and this will be an exciting time in Cary this weekend.

We are now in the middle of exams. With no mid-week game, we have given the players the day off on Monday and will only have a shooting practice on Tuesday, before we return to the court for a full practice on Wednesday. The coaches are in full preparation for the Old Dominion game.

I will be off on the road recruiting for the next two days, so I'm going to hand the blog off to a couple of our staffers for their insights on Hokie Basketball. Bill Dyer will have the honors tomorrow and will discuss some of the things the he does in preparation for a nationally-televised game, like the one we had on Sunday.

I'll be back with you on Thursday and will have more on the end of exams and the upcoming game at ODU on Sunday.

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Good News for the Hokies
We got some really good news this morning, as Dorenzo Hudson has been admitted to Virginia Tech. I am excited and pleased to add Dorenzo to the team and I know that he will embrace this opportunity. Dorenzo is a winning player who is tough and physical. He will add another scorer to our team and depth to our backcourt.

Dorenzo will join the team for practice on Dec. 14 and will be with the team in Norfolk as we play at Old Dominion on Dec. 16.

The 2006-07 recruiting class is extremely talented and I'm excited about developing these players. College basketball players are no different than a fine wine; it takes time. But we will not lower our expectations about this group.

Our players have been preparing for and in some cases, taking exams today. We will use our practice as an escape from the rigors of the academic demands these players are facing this week.

The team will get its first look at George Washington today at practice. At first glance, they are a very talented, quick and athletic team. We must defend against the dribble and contain Rob Diggs on the block. We have to pass and catch the ball well and play with a great deal of energy throughout the game.

Tomorrow, I'll add more about George Washington and maybe some insight into what goes on when a national television crew comes to town.

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Reading Day
This will probably be a rather short post this evening, as there are a lot of things going on today. Some staff members hit the road recruiting following our midday practice.

The staff met this morning to prepare for this afternoon's practice. Ryan Odom presented his scouting report on George Washington and we finalized the areas we wanted to focus on today with the team.

After yesterday's day off, we began to introduce some of the philosophies and concepts that we expect GW to employ on Sunday. Practice went well and we were able to get to everything that we had planned to accomplish.

Today is Reading Day on the Virginia Tech campus, which basically signals the start of the exam period. We have to be careful not to overload the team with too much right now, as they all are focused on performing well on exams.

During a semester, we try and have a routine when it comes to practice times. The times we are able to practice are dictated by the players' academic schedules and we generally practice mid afternoon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and at night on Tuesday and Thursday. All that routine goes out the window during exam week. We compile the players' exam schedules and try and find a time each day that we can practice. Today's 1 p.m. practice was available, since there were no classes. We will practice late afternoon tomorrow, as some players will have exams during the day.

I'll post again tomorrow with more on preparations for George Washington. Go Hokies!

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An Off Day, Well Sort Of
So, what does the head coach of a team do the day after a satisfying victory?

The NCAA requires each team have one "day off" every week. With a game on Tuesday night and the next one scheduled for Sunday evening, Wednesday is our day off. Our players will use this time to get bettered prepared for the upcoming exams, along with other things that every college student needs to accomplish. For the coaching staff, the term day off is a little misleading.

I was in my office early this morning in preparation for Sunday's game against George Washington. Each of our assistant coaches has teams to scout and they have their work on my desk the morning following the preceding game. Stacey Palmore did an outstanding job on the UNCG scout and Ryan Odom has the GW scout. I'll have more on the scouting duties of the assistants and how I utilize their work in future posts.

By the time you read this, I'll be on my way to recruit. I spend plenty of time on the road during the season in addition to the summer recruiting trail. That's another area we will discuss in further detail in the coming months on this blog.

As I mentioned on Tuesday, the coaching staff got together during the day yesterday and finalized our game plans for UNCG. I can't tell you how pleased I was that the team was able to digest what we gave them and translate it to the court in such a short period of time. We were trying to get the Spartans to shoot the ball off the dribble and to really concentrate on Kyle Hines, UNCG's outstanding post player. I believe we were very successful on both fronts.

Putting a game plan into action is never an easy thing to do, especially for a team with five freshmen in the rotation. All five of our freshmen played at least 15 minutes in the game and the entire team was able to carry out our plans. I told the team after the game that it was a true team win. Everyone contributed for this victory, including the fans.

Sunday night is another big game for us in the Cassell. We had a tremendous support last night and we need that each and every game. We are your team and we feed off of your excitement. The national television audience will see what game night in Cassell Coliseum is all about. Help us win this game. Rock the Cassell.

Well, it's time to hit the old recruiting trail. Building a program takes a lot of hard work by a lot of dedicated people. Become part of that group. See you Saturday night and Go Hokies!

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Game Day vs. UNCG
I thought I'd give you a look at what a typical game day involves for the Hokies and, in particular, the coaching staff.

I was in the office this morning before 8:30 a.m., reviewing the last two game films from UNC Greensboro. I then started working on my game card for tonight. Later this morning, the coaching staff will get together for a meeting to finalize the offensive and defensive game plan and make sure everyone is on the same page.

The team will gather in Cassell Coliseum at 2 p.m. for our walk through. During the walk through, we work on a number of important aspects of the game. We make sure the players get in some shooting, both from the field and the free throw line. We will then work on the things we want to do in the game tonight and review what we expect the opponent will do. We will be concerned with UNCG's 1-1-3 zone and the perimeter game of Kendall Toney, Kevin Oleksiak and Mikko Koivisto. We will also prepare the team for their tough post player, Kyle Hines.

Following the walk through, we will return to the locker room for a short film session and then head upstairs for our pre-game meal.

Usually after the meal, I'll head home for a while to clear my head. I'll return to Cassell Coliseum about 5:30 p.m. for my pre-game interview with the Voice of the Hokies, Bill Roth.

This is the toughest hour and a half of the day, waiting for tip-off. We hopefully are prepared for game and can't wait to get started.

I hope this has given all of you some insight into a game day for the Hokies. We try and keep things as routine as possible, both at home and on the road. I'll see you in the Cassell tonight. Go Hokies!

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Hoops du Jour Opening Day
Thank you for coming to our new blog that will be an insider's look at Hokie Basketball.

I'd like to start off by congratulating Coach Beamer and Coach Weiss on their big wins over the weekend. It is a testament to their players, coaches and support staffs for all the hard work and preparations that goes into such big victories.

I would like to thank all the fans who came out and supported us on Saturday night. And you students, you guys were great! You were very important to our victory, as we struggled in the game. I like our team. They are learning what it takes to compete at this high level. When the light bulb goes on, they will be outstanding players.

We have two HUGE games in the Cassell this week We need everyone to come out early and help us set the tone for the game.. Sunday's game will be a national television audience and it will be a good time to once again show the country why the Cassell is