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Virginia Tech swept the two schools in the final two rounds last spring at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, winning four games in as many nights to complete one of the most improbable runs in ACC tournament history.
“He’s going to get up a lot, and I want him to get up more,” Young said Wednesday morning at ACC media day. But those wonderful experiences with a group of people I admire the most, with some luck and good health, 10 years from now, 20 years from now will come when we meet together, and that will be a lot of fun. …
“But it’s time to move on. This team has a lot to accomplish.
The most pressing concern going forward is creating a regular rotation without two of the most influential players since the youngster harbored ambitions of launching hockey into the sport’s national scene three seasons ago.
Gone are Kev Alma and Storm Murphy, both at Wofford’s former stop in Blacksburg, Va. They were with Young before he arrived, where he landed what he described as his dream job, just a short distance from his hometown of Radford. .
Alma, a 6-foot-9 forward, finished as Virginia Tech’s leading scorer for the second straight season, averaging 15.8 points and earning second-team All-ACC honors. He was also a defensive center, often pulling teammates out of bounds when assignments went awry.
Aluma’s breakout season in the ACC Tournament championship game against the top-seeded Blue Devils included 19 points and 10 rebounds in an 82-67 win, his second double-double of the tournament.
“I’m not going to sleep at night upset about this,” Young said of how the starting lineup will be formed without Aluma. “This team is different. His personality is different. Aluma was a very talented player, but there has to be – you always hope that other talented people will come up through the ranks.
Also gone is Murphy, who not only handled the ball adeptly as the point guard, but also served as an extension of Young on the court and a steady veteran in the locker room.
Murphy played in 162 games, the most of any player in the NCAA Tournament last season. He started all 36 games in his lone season with the Hokies and was named to the ACC All-Tournament Second Team after 13 assists over just three turnovers in the last two games.
The Hokies got a glimpse of their future guard last season in Sean Pedula. He scored a team-high 19 points in an 81-73 loss to Texas, second in every game in NCAA Tournament 64 Milwaukee.
“We should have an exciting backcourt this year,” Hokies guard Hunter Cattoor said. “I’m excited about Sean and Darius [Maddox] To play a bigger role this year than last year. They have a lot to prove, and I’m excited for them. They’ve been doing well in fitness and training, so it should be an exciting year.”
Kator was instrumental in Virginia Tech’s berth in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth consecutive season last season. The senior came out of the break on an emphatic shooting streak and scored 31 points on 11-of-16 shooting in the ACC Tournament final. That included making 7 of 9 three-point attempts. In the first three games of the ACC Tournament, Cator scored 18 points on 6-for-17 shooting.
The Hokies, according to NCAA Tournament analysts, were the best time to be included in the field of 68 based on their body of work during the regular season.
“It’s crazy,” said Cator. “But that’s a beautiful thing about March and especially the ACC tournament. You’ve got a lot of good players, you’ve got a lot of good teams, and all you have to do is win the tournament, and you’re in the big dance. So I think that was a big feature for us to go do that and really lock it down.
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