Photo courtesy of Wofford athletics
Another member of the Wofford Terriers is coming to Blacksburg.
It may be Selection Sunday, and Virginia Tech’s 2020-21 season may still be ongoing, but head coach Mike Young is already gearing up for a potentially magical 2021-22 campaign.
On Saturday evening, Young and his staff received a pretty exciting phone call from one of his former players. Guard Storm Murphy announced his intentions to transfer to Virginia Tech. He’ll reunite with the former Wofford head coach and become yet another Terrier to eventually make his way to Blacksburg.
The list includes Young, assistant coach Kevin Giltner, breakout star Keve Aluma, and Hunter Cattoor. Cattoor originally committed to Wofford out of high school.
This move was highly-speculated to take place the moment Murphy entered his name in the transfer portal just a few days ago. The Wisconsin native will bring one year of eligibility and a huge scoring threat to Cassell Coliseum.
This is a big get for the Hokies. Murphy led the Terriers in scoring this past season with 17.8 points per game. He was fourth in the Southern Conference in that particular category and named to the conference’s first team.
The move can somewhat be compared to Carlik Jones transferring from Radford to Louisville prior to this past season. If the Hokies get that kind of production out of the fifth-year senior. They may be the sneaky favorites to win the ACC.
A Dream Team
This Virginia Tech team is going to be absolutely loaded next season.
Assuming guard Wabissa Bede leaves following the conclusion of the 20-21 season, Young will have to divide out significant minutes to Murphy, Aluma, Justyn Mutts, Tyrece Radford, Naheim Alleyne, Cattoor, Jalen Cone, Joe Bamisile, Darius Maddox, David N’Guessan, John Ojiako, and incoming standout guard Sean Pedulla.
Yeah, good luck with that.
It’s a good problem to have, though. Virginia Tech may have to move to the North Carolina or Florida State model, where the Hokies play 10 or 11 guys rather than the typical eight or nine. Dividing minutes evenly though will be a challenge, but something the then-third-year head man will be smiling about as he pencils in his everyday rotation when gearing up for the season.
All those guys mentioned are presumed to come back. If they do as expected, that team may be better than the 2018-19 team that lost to Duke in a heartbreaker in the Sweet 16.
It makes you sleep well at night if you’re a Virginia Tech fan. Until then, grab some popcorn and enjoy this Selection Sunday.
It’s one many thought we’d never get to. Many of those who did expect a Selection Sunday to take place did not foresee the Hokies being part of it.
