Takeaways from Men's Basketball Media Day

Hokies meet the media prior to the opening of practice

October 10, 2017

BLACKSBURG, Va. – On Monday, Oct. 9, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team met with the media for the annual Media Day, at Cassell Coliseum and the Hahn Hurst Basketball Practice Center.

The 2017-18 Virginia Tech men’s basketball team 👊#getBETTER pic.twitter.com/W2lhBfIx8O

— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) October 9, 2017

The activities began at 2 p.m., in the Cassell Media Interview Room, as Head Coach Buzz Williams addressed the media on a wide array of topics. A couple of the key points he touched on were:

On losing the valuable players of Seth Allen and Zach LeDay:

“It is so hard to quantify what those guys gave us, particularly offensively. They bailed us out, they covered up some issues – both inside and outside. I miss them, our team misses them. But, there will be guys on our team, I don’t know exactly who that will be, that will have to eat some of that prowess that those two guys gave us. We will have to be a lot better defensively than we’ve ever been. Last year, we didn’t mind if it turned into a scoring contest. I don’t know if we will be able to score the ball as well as we did last year, but it’s still early. So we will see, but we will for sure miss Seth and Zach.”

On having a more traditional sized center this year in Kerry Blackshear Jr. and if that changes the offense or defense:
“KJ could arguably be the most skilled guy in our program. He does have traditional size, though. He did have a typical freshman year. We need him to stay healthy, that would be the first thing, we don’t have any other choice. The next thing is, how can we utilize his skillset, not only to his back to the basket but facing up, where it can take some pressure off some of the guys who are on the floor with him. I think he is a really good player, I like him.”

On the mic @TeamCoachBuzz preview the upcoming @VT_MBBall season @GTurnerWFXR @abrookeleonard @SWaddellTV @mcclung97 @WFXRsports @accmbb pic.twitter.com/UTNQwCj6B6

— Jermaine Ferrell (@JermaineFerrell) October 9, 2017

Following the press conference, action was shifted to Hahn Hurst for the team photo. After the photo was taken, players were available to the media in informal one-on-one sessions. Players were asked about the upcoming season, the hard work of the off-season and reflections on the 2016-17 season and NCAA Tournament trip, among other things. Players also took part in various social media hits, including an engaging look at Media Day on Snapchat by Chris Clarke.

NOTES

A new event, Hokies Hoops Madness, will take place Friday, Oct. 20 at 9 p.m., to celebrate last season’s successes and bring basketball entertainment to Blacksburg before the start of the regular season. The event will take place at the Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum and is open to the general public.

Also on Friday, Oct. 20 is the annual men’s basketball Tip Off Banquet in Hahn Hurst. For details pertaining to that event which will be held prior to Hokie Hoops Madness, please visit https://vtmbbtipoff2017.eventbrite.com.

Season tickets for men’s basketball are on sale to the general public. Please visit HokieTickets.com for more information.

Head Coach Buzz Williams, Devin Wilson and Justin Bibbs will meet the media again on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at the Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, North Carolina at the 2017 ACC Operation Basketball. Both players and coaches will spend half the day at ESPN’s Charlotte studios.

For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_MBBall