Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 2 | October 2017

11 / 52

9
by
Jimmy
Robertson
Magical season over,
Williams now figuring out 2017-18 squad
Like most head coaches, Buzz Williams isn’t
much for self-pity. He astutely knows that his
fellow ACC colleagues and their teams feel no
mercy toward him or the Hokies.
And with that in mind, he and his staff
are well into the task of molding the 2017-18
squad without a couple of prominent pieces,
as they gear up for the season opener that tips
off in roughly a month.
A brief recap: in year No. 3 of Williams’
tenure, the Hokies enjoyed an incredible
and thrilling end-of-the-season run, one
which ended with a bid and subsequent loss
to Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA appearance truly was a stunning
accomplishment that happened two years
after the program finished in last place in the
ACC for the fourth straight season.
This spring, Williams probably felt pretty
good about the possibilities for this season.
Yes, Zach LeDay and Seth Allen graduated,
but a talented core of players returned. Plus,
Kerry Blackshear Jr. returned from an injury,
and Williams and his assistants signed their
best recruiting class, a trio led by forward
Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
But then, the Hokies’ horrible luck with
injuries reared itself yet again. Ty Outlaw
tore his ACL, marking the third straight year
in which the Hokies have lost a player for the
season (Ahmed Hill, Blackshear). And then
Khadim Sy inexplicably transferred—after
starting 28 games as a freshman. Also, Chris
Clarke continues to rehab from a torn ACL
suffered last February, and Williams remains
unsure of his status for the coming season.
Now Williams and his staff find themselves
in a familiar position—trying to cobble
together yet another winner.
“We’re so depleted so early in the year that
we’ve been doing [preseason] workouts of
three kids at a time,” Williams said. “That’s
the first time that’s happened in my career.
I think there are going to be a lot of moving
parts, not only from figuring it out, but like
every year, every team is new.”
The good news is that, well, Williams and
his staff have been in this position. Last year,
in fact.
Clarke tore his ACL in the second overtime
of a Feb. 12 game against Virginia. Tech
entered the game with a 16-7 record, including
a 5-6 mark in the ACC—hardly NCAA
Tournament locks. Clarke’s injury took away
the Hokies’ best rebounder and most versatile
player, and yet the Hokies won that game and
won four of six to close the regular season.
They won a game in the ACC tournament, and
with 22 wins, received the NCAA bid.
Williams and his staff deserve an
unbelievable amount of credit. He warranted
being named the ACC Coach of the Year, an
honor that understandably went to Georgia
Tech’s Josh Pastner. Williams and the
assistants embraced the midseason challenge
of finding a way for the Hokies to win, and
more importantly, got the players to buy into
that way.
Williams himself loves guards and
interchangeable parts, so you get the feeling
he almost relished making Tech a perimeter-
oriented bunch, as the Hokies launched and
made 3’s at an incredible rate. They led the
ACC—the best conference in the nation—in
field-goal percentage and 3-point field-goal
percentage. Let that sink in.
Now they face another monumental task,
molding a teamwithout Allen and his multiple
game-winning shots, and LeDay, the heart
and soul of the team. There is no Outlaw, no
Sy and no opportunity to replace them.
Tech will be perimeter-oriented again,
almost by default. Fans may expect similar
outcomes to those at the end of last season,
but Williams believes that last season’s late-
season run is unsustainable. The Hokies need
to be better at rebounding and defending.
His biggest concern may be getting his
players to believe just that and not look at the
last 10 games of last season as the blueprint
for future successes. That is tough because the
Hokies won with that blueprint.
“I think failure is much easier to work
through than success,” Williams admitted. “I
think failure tends to make you stronger, and
success tends to make you weaker, and I don’t
know that ‘weaker’ is the exact word. I think
it’s content—and that’s dangerous.”
Even with all these challenges, Williams
and the assistants aren’t feeling sorry for
themselves. They all hug the opportunity with
both arms.
Tech fans can have confidence in knowing
that these guys will figure out what works
for the 2017-18 Hokies to be successful.
They usually do—and their track record has
proven it.