Virginia Tech paid the price for injuries that decimated the roster last season, forcing coach Seth Greenberg to play with a short bench and to rush some young players into bigger roles. The Hokies missed the NCAA tournament for the fourth year in a row.
The reward comes this season, with scoring guard Dorenzo Hudson and forward JT Thompson rejoining the Hokies and bringing some welcome experience and leadership to a young squad.
''I feel like I'm like BYU, getting guys off a mission,'' Greenberg joked.
Hudson was a third-team All-ACC selection two seasons ago, then missed most of last year with a foot injury that required surgery. Thompson missed the entire year after knee surgery.
Greenberg likes what he's seen of both so far.
''I think Dorenzo is in a really good place,'' he said of the shooting guard, who scored 41 points in an overtime victory against Seton Hall two years ago, and averaged 15.2 points. He was averaging 10.4 points last season before being shelved by the injury.
''I think he's confident, he's got a bounce to his step, he's quick and he's in great shape,'' Greenberg said. ''JT isn't where we'd like him to be, but he's closer to getting there.''
Thompson calling card has always been toughness, but he has struggled with trusting his knee to hold up, the coach said.
''But the one thing we know about JT is that when the lights go on and the ball goes up, he's going to compete,'' Greenberg said.
The pair joins lowpost player Victor Davila as the three seniors on the team, and their experience will help soften the blow of losing two-time All-ACC guard Malcolm Delaney, enigmatic but explosive forward Jeff Allen and defensive stopper Terrell Bell of last year's team.
Delaney and Allen were both capable of carrying the team.
Guard Erick Green, who figures to shoulder a large part of the on-court leadership this season, welcomes the help both will provide on a roster that has nine freshmen and sophomores.
Green was the chief benefactor of Hudson's absence last season. He started 26 games, averaged 11.6 points overall, and his average was nearly 13 points once he became a starter.
''Zo is a great leader,'' he said, ''and having him in the backcourt with me is going to be great. I think we're going to have the best backcourt in the ACC, or at least one of them.''
That might be a bit optimistic, but if Hudson returns to the form of two years ago, and Green continues his rapid development from last season, it will be formidable for sure.
Up front is a greater unknown.
Davila has shown flashes of ability, but tends to disappear from games and miss easy shots. Thompson has always specialized in coming off the bench, and redshirt sophomore Cadarian Raines can't be considered as more than a wild card because he's never stayed healthy for very long.
Raines is massive at 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, and has been expected to become a defensive and rebounding force, and the Hokies will surely need someone to replace Allen's rebounding.
Greenberg will look to Thompson to show them all the way.
''JT is our energizer bunny,'' he said. ''He's always been that.''
Scoring doesn't figure to be as much of a challenge with the additions of 6-8 forward Dorian Finney-Smith from Norcom High School in Portsmouth and 6-5 sharpshooter Robert Brown from Hargrave Military Academy among the five freshmen on the roster, and the return of forward Jarell Eddie from an NCAA suspension after he was arrested last season on a marijuana charge.
Finney-Smith averaged 18 points as a senior, but his strength is his all-around game.
''He's a guy who makes other players better,'' Greenberg said. ''He gets deflections and he comes back and rebounds. He can initiate a fast break and get in the lane and get the ball to other people. He's a poor man's Magic Johnson in that he can enhance other people's games.''
The Hokies can only hope that Finney-Smith proves Greenberg right.
As they have in the past three seasons, Virginia Tech will begin with a goal of making it to the NCAA tournament, something they have failed to achieve in the past four seasons.
Green saw Delaney, the No. 3 scorer in school history, go his entire career without ever making it to the NCAA tournament, and the junior is determined it won't also happen to him.
''Our goal is to not have the committee have to decide on it,'' he said.
