With four starters returning from team that finished with an 8-8 conference record, and a 16-14 mark overall that included post-season play in the NIT, the basketball future for Virginia Tech appears to be a reasonably bright one, over the next couple of years at least. What can we really expect though from the individual members of the team, and will the team be one that we recognize from this year with the main components back, or will it be another changing-of-the-guard?

First and foremost, one thing that is becoming clear is that Seth Greenberg appears to be returning for his third season in charge, and that is very good news for Hokie Nation. Greenberg was selected ACC Coach of the Year, quite a feat considering the caliber of coaches that reside in the conference. It was a well-earned acknowledgement of his crafting of the program this year, and the job that he did was nothing less than splendid.

What coach has the temerity and the cajones to redeal the cards in the middle of the season like Greenberg did this past year? That is what we saw with Greenberg when he thought long and hard during the Holiday season, perhaps after more than a few egg nogs laced with his favorite adult beverage, and came upon a plan for success during the second half of the season.

'Why not take the one thing that we are doing well,' he thought, 'eliminate it and throw it in the recycle bin, and start from scratch, right when we are entering our most challenging phase of the season?' That's what Greenberg did when he decided to cast aside his 1-3-1 half court trapping defense that had been so successful at creating turnovers during the out-of-conference portion of the schedule, and reinvent the team on the fly just in time for ACC play.

It just shows how very sure and confident Greenberg is, not to mention how willing he is to take risks. That decision might have been the single biggest decision and most important factor in the Hokies’ excellent conference record. It also was a decision that was fraught with a high degree of risk and potential failure.

Greenberg decided that the best chance that this team had for success was to slow the pace of the game with conference foes and try and keep the scores lower than people wanted them to be. The ACC proved to be a very high scoring conference, and many of the teams wanted the score to be in the 80’s or even 90’s (Wake Forest and North Carolina). Utilizing the 1-3-1 half-court trap in conference games would have ensured that the pace of the games stayed at a faster speed than Greenberg was willing to allow.

So he eliminated the 1-3-1, gave his guards great decision-making responsibilities in the half court offense, and generally won games by seeing a rejuvenated home court advantage combined with keeping scores lower than his opponents wanted. Greenberg found a style of play that afforded his team the best chance of winning basketball games, something that is called being a good coach.

Greenberg's skills and deft touch will be required next year as well. Losing Dixon to graduation will be a significant blow to the team. Dixon was the team’s second leading scorer; he was a sound defender and four-year starter. On a team that is perimeter-challenged, Dixon represented one of the two most trusted threats from behind the arc, along with sophomore Zabian Dowdell.

The immediate question becomes who will step in and garner those minutes at the small forward position that Dixon leaves behind. Deron Washington is a definite possibility, and his size and athleticism are more conducive to playing on the perimeter. However, Washington also seems to be more naturally suited to play inside than on the perimeter, so Greenberg’s first challenge will be addressing which position Washington will play next season. We witnessed how tough it was for him to consistently guard power forwards in the conference. He found himself in foul trouble on more than a few occasions. Washington was usually at a height and significant weight disadvantage, and that probably won’t be fully remedied with off-season workouts.

On the other hand, Washington will need to quickly upgrade his perimeter shooting and ball handling to be able to play large minutes at the small forward position. In addition, his deep stroke isn’t anywhere close to that of the departing Dixon and the Hokies need all the help they can get there. The best way to characterize Washington now is to say he really isn’t a true three-man (small forward), and he really isn’t a legitimate four-man (power forward) either. Instead, Washington is probably closer to a three-and-a-half, and that is why the tilting of the balance on that see-saw should be very closely monitored to see which direction he falls in.

Probably the biggest variable that could go a long way toward a successful season next year is the continued development of freshman center Robert Krabbendam. The 6-11 post player struggled to adjust to the high caliber basketball that he saw this year, as well as the cultural adjustments off the court. But people close to the program swear that Krabbendam was a vastly improved player during the last two to three weeks of the season. You could see that his upper body added some much-needed definition during the course of the season. Krabbendam also gained about 15 pounds during the year, finishing somewhere between 220 and 225 pounds.

Krabbendam's confidence on the court seemed to increase during his last several court appearances. Should he continue that development and arrive next fall with another 15 pounds of muscle, and a healthy dose of increased confidence to go along with that, he could be exactly what this team needs, especially if it means a post presence who can rebound and allow Coleman Collins to defend more forwards, rather than centers. It is far too early to write Krabbendam off, and it might be instead that next year will give a much better indication of how much help Krabbendam will be on the court during his remaining three years. There is some offensive ability there to work with, and there are many players his size that lack his mobility.

Speaking of Collins, his season can be divided into two seasons. The one that he had early before he had surgery, and the one afterward, when his health was much different. Collins has improved his game right before our eyes and gives Tech a player who can step out and face the basket, as well as score down inside. When Collins plays well, the team generally does well and it must be remembered that he is a very young sophomore who will continue to improve. Collins will have to hit the weights and become stronger, but his work on the glass during the second half of the season was very encouraging. Collins is also the lone proven scorer among the Tech frontcourt players and has All-ACC type ability if he can stay healthy, continue to get stronger and find some inside help for his large talents.

Rising senior Allen Calloway will have his work cut out for him next year in earning minutes. With incoming freshmen Hyman Taylor, Terrance Vinson, and Cheick Diakate entering the program, Calloway is faced with circumstances that might dictate that he finish his career buried deep on the bench. Calloway's offense has never developed as those close to the program had hoped. While Calloway will provide the occasional highlight reel dunk, and he is arguably one of the two best athletes in the program, he simply hasn’t become a difference maker or the type rebounder many thought he could become.

Speaking of the incoming freshmen, there will be early opportunities for the aforementioned Taylor, Vinson, and Diakate to work their way into the playing rotation.

Taylor is the largest of the three by a small margin at 6-9, 230-odd pounds. Vinson is 6-7, 215, and Diakate is 6-8, 225 pounds. All will have the opportunity to step in and shore up the rebounding deficit that the Hokies often faced this past season. None of them is a polished, developed offensive player, but if any of them can quickly adjust to the speed of the game and college basketball, while showing that they can get on the glass and help Collins, their opportunities for playing time will increase.

There is some consolation in that these post prospects are a larger group than we have witnessed in the recent past. Sophomore Coleman Collins entered Blacksburg as a 205-pound freshman. Current freshman Robert Krabbendam also entered as a 205-pounder, albeit on a 6-11 frame. Junior Allen Calloway was 195 pounds when he arrived as a freshman and fellow classmate at the time, Philip McCandies was even smaller, at 190 pounds.

Diakite, Taylor and Vinson all have a launching point that places them above where the afore-mentioned group started. And, for that, we see some progress as far as front court interior recruiting is concerned. Perhaps the incoming players are not the household names we would like them to be. Perhaps their collective best basketball will be ahead of them down the road, rather than next year as most everyone would ideally wish. But, that can largely be said about the Hokies’ incoming freshmen along the frontline in most every recent recruiting class. The distinction here is that this group comes without the glaring physical disadvantages that characterized the earlier groups and that is a start toward more accomplished and finished products.

Finally, before any analysis of the frontcourt prospects for next year is complete, Chris Tucker must be mentioned. The 6-7 sophomore has worked himself into the equation with hard work, fine interior defensive ability and steady decision-making on the court. Tucker is reputed to be a very reliable perimeter marksman, something that we really didn’t get to see this past season. He did provide valuable minutes in several games, and Greenberg relied on him more during conference play than he did earlier in the out-of-conference games. That probably speaks more than anything to his improvement. An offseason of continued work and development of his inside scoring could put Tucker again squarely in the frontcourt mix.