CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It was supposed to be a day when Mike Young could talk about all that is well with the Virginia Tech men’s basketball program.
But the news deprived Young of that pleasure Wednesday.
The first question — and a healthy portion of the other questions posed to Young on ACC basketball media day — surrounded the abrupt departure of sophomore point guard Rodney Rice just 24 hours earlier.
How will the Hokies fare without Rice, who had been expected to start or play a sixth-man role this season?
“Fine … fine,” Young said. “We have quality of depth. Nothing has changed. We can play as many as six in the backcourt.”
Virginia Tech announced Tuesday that Rice had decided to step away from the program. No reason was given.
“The decision to leave was the best for him,” Hunter Cattoor, a senior starting guard and the most experienced player on the Virginia Tech roster, said of Rice. “We support him. But we try not to make it a bigger deal than it is.”
Added Young, “We have more than enough depth and talent in that (locker) room to win.”
To be sure, the Hokies have plenty of backcourt talent and enough newcomers in the frontcourt to give fans hope of repeating the 2021-22 season, when Virginia Tech rode to a surprising ACC Tournament championship.
“I like the people we have this season,” Young said.
Cattoor was a first-team All-ACC Tournament selection last season. He averaged 10.8 points a game, is No. 5 all-time in 3-point field goals at Virginia Tech and is likely to break the school record this season.
Another backcourt returnee is 6-1 junior Sean Pedulla, who averaged 15 points a contest and scored in double figures 31 times.
The newcomers include a pair of graduate transfers — 6-9 center Robbie Beran from Northwestern and 6-7 Mekhi Long, who averaged 10.7 points and 8.7 rebounds last year at Old Dominion.
“I like the players in our frontcourt,” Young said, “but we’re still coming together.”
He said 7-foot center Patrick Wessler, a redshirt freshman, “has made great progress.”
“His core strength is better, and he’s rebounding outside his immediate area,” Young said.
What will it take?: Virginia Tech got off to an 11-1 start, but Cattoor suffered a broken bone in his left elbow in a Dec. 21 game at Boston College. The Hokies lost that game and the next seven. They scrambled to stay above .500 for the rest of the season.
“We have to be more efficient offensively,” Young said when asked what it would take for his team to win another ACC crown. “And we need more physicality. We also have to take care of the November and December schedule because it really gets tough after that, when we’re playing an ACC team every game.”
Pedulla pointed to defense as a problem last year.
“We just didn’t get the job done, especially defensively,” he said. “My freshman year, we played well in most aspects of the game. We’ve got to get back to that.”
Two other players to watch are sophomore M.J. Collins and freshman Brandon Rechsteiner, both guards.
Young said he was forced by injuries and other factors to play Collins much more than he intended last season.
“I thought he handled himself very well,” Young said. “He played 28, 32, 36 minutes in some games. I know that every rep this kid gets will help him later in his career.”
Young said he has challenged Collins to improve his defense and perimeter shooting.
“He is working hard on that,” he said.
Rechsteiner was an all-state player in his junior and senior high school seasons in Georgia. He got the seal of approval from Pedulla.
“You’ll see how good of a shooter he is,” Pedulla said. “And his competitive nature gives me flashbacks to my freshman year. He is really competitive.”
After dealing with various versions of the what-happened-to-Rodney-Rice situation, Young was asked what Hokie fans can expect from their team this season.
“I would think fans will appreciate a unit that has great teamwork, good passing, a low number of turnovers, a high number of assists and a stingy defense,” he said. “There’s a lot to like about this team.”
