Virginia Tech is one of the surprises of the ACC this season.

The Hokies were projected to be one of the worst teams in the league after a massive transition that occurred after head coach Buzz Williams left VT to become the coach at Texas A&M. Virginia Tech hired Mike Young of Wofford, and he has worked wonders to have the Hokies at 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the ACC.

NC State (11-4 overall, 2-2 ACC) travels to Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. Saturday on Regional Sports Networks.

Don't miss out on any of our exclusive football, basketball and recruiting coverage. Click here to get your 30-day free trial!

Virginia Tech had three seniors move on, plus wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker turned pro, center Kerry Blackshear transferred to Florida and suspended power forward Chris Clarke transferred to Texas Tech.

That left three players returning and redshirt freshman small forward Landers Nolley, who flirted with leaving. Young filled up the roster last spring, but expectations were low, that is until the season opener occurred.

Nolley scored 30 points to lead the Hokies to a 67-60 win over Clemson on Nov. 5. VT then followed with a shocking 71-66 victory over Michigan State on Nov. 25, and expectations have shifted.

Rankings

In the NET rankings done by the NCAA, Virginia Tech is currently No. 49 in the country. KenPom.com has Virginia Tech at No. 61, and ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Hokies at No. 50.

The Hokies are ranked No. 99 in the old RPI formula used by the NCAA — according to RealTimeRPI.com.

Shooting

The Hokies shoot the three-point shot like few other teams in the ACC. Virginia Tech is second in the league behind Virginia at 39.4 percent from beyond the arc, with seven different players trying at least 30 three-point field-goal attempts. The two-point shooting isn’t bad either, and the Hokies are third in the ACC at 47.0 percent overall.

Freshman point guard Jalen Cone leads the way at 55.8 percent on three-pointers, with freshman guard Hunter Cattoor at 41.3 percent. Nolley is third on the squad at 39.4 percent, but has made the most on the team (41 three-pointers).

Rebounding

The Hokies might be able to bomb away from the perimeter, but the rebounding has suffered. That also is due to the roster turnover last spring. VT is last in the ACC with 32.6 rebounds per game and ninth in rebounding margin (2.4).

Freshman wing Tyrece Radford, who is 6-2 and 195 pounds, actually leads Virginia Tech at 5.9 rebounds per game. Nolley is right behind at 5.7 boards a contest, but he hasn’t been a threat on the offensive boards like Radford has been (36 offensive rebounds).

Defense

Virginia Tech is tied for seventh in the ACC in allowing opposing teams to shoot 40.8 percent from the field, and seventh with opponents shooting 32.7 percent on three-pointers.

The Hokies don’t have a shot-blocker, with 6-10, 240-pound backup freshman center John Ojiako having 10 blocks. Five players have at least 10 steals this season, with junior guard Wabissa Bede leading the way with 16.

Depth

Virginia Tech went four-deep off the bench in the 67-63 road win over Syracuse this past week, with three players playing at least 14 minutes.

Cone was the big star in that win. The former Walkertown (N.C.) High standout, who earned an NC State offer after switching to the class of 2019, went 5 of 7 on three-pointers for 19 points in 19 minutes. He is averaging 6.5 points in 13.0 minutes per game.

Sophomore forward Isaiah Wilkins, who played for Mount Tabor High in Winston-Salem, N.C., and Cattoor are also trusted reserves. Wilkins is averaging 5.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 16.4 minutes per game, and Cattoor is shooting 41.3 percent on three-pointers and averaging 7.6 points a contest. Ojiako chips in 3.6 points and 2.7 rebounds a contest.

Redshirt freshman small forward Landers Nolley has taken advantage of his opportunities this season at Virginia Tech.

For two different reasons, he almost wasn’t part of the program. The first came last year when he didn’t quality academically, but the Hokies took him anyway and he redshirted. The second scenario came when Nolley entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal, but because he wasn’t an academic qualifier out of high school, it affected his transfer options. He returned to Virginia Tech, and it has worked out beautifully for Coach Young.

The 6-7, 230-pound Nolley blew up the spring and summer going into his senior year, while playing for Team Loaded NC. NC State offered him and were positioned well, but then he first picked Georgia before switching to Virginia Tech. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 49 overall player in the class of 2018 out of Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes High.

Nolley announced his presence in a big way when he had 30 points in the season opener against Clemson. He has scored at least 20 points in five games this season and leads the Hokies with 17.1 points per game.

Nolley has the green light from deep and has made at least three three-pointers in nine games, including making 7 of 12 in a 79-53 win over Lehigh on Nov. 16. He is shooting 42.5 percent from the field and more than respectable 39.4 percent on three-pointers.

NC State

PG — 11 Markell Johnson (6-1, 175, Sr., 13.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 6.9 apg, 1.8 spg)

SG — 24 Devon Daniels (6-5, 205, R-Jr., 11.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.7 spg)

G — 10 Braxton Beverly (6-0, 180, Jr., 8.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 1.6 apg)

PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 205, Soph., 10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 0.7 apg)

C — 15 Manny Bates (6-11, 230, R-Fr., 6.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 0.3 apg, 3.2 bpg)

Virginia Tech

PG — 3 Wabissa Bede (6-1, 195, Jr., 5.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.1 spg)

SG — 4 Nahiem Alleyne (6-3, 195, Fr., 9.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)

G — 23 Tyrece Radford (6-2, 195, Fr., 7.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.3 apg)

SF — 2 Landers Nolley II (6-7, 230, Fr., 17.1 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 2.6 apg)

PF — 14 P.J. Horne (6-5, 230, Jr., 8.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 0.5 apg)

3 Third place or better nationally for Virginia Tech with 9.8 turnovers per game (first), fouls committed per game with 12.3 (second) and 1.61 assist-to-turnover ratio (third).

4 Times VT freshman small forward Landers Nolley has been named the ACC freshman of the week. Duke’s Zion Williamson and UNC’s Coby White won it five times apiece last year.

24 Points scored last year by NC State against Virginia Tech last year in a 47-24 Hokies win Feb. 2, 2019, in Raleigh. VT has two players remaining who played in that game, and NCSU has six.

Junior point guard Wabissa Bede looked like he was on the way out last spring following the coaching change. Instead, Young convinced him to return and he’s the floor general for the Hokies.

Bede went 3 of 4 on three-pointers for nine points, plus three rebounds, two assists and four steals in last year’s 47-24 win over NC State.

The physical 6-0, 200-pounder from North Andover, Mass., brings defense and toughness to the court. He is third in the assists per game (6.2) and first in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.72) this season.

Bede was able to get experience last year when point guard Justin Robinson missed time with an injury. He averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 assists in 25.3 minutes per game for a Hokies squad that reached the Sweet 16, before falling 75-73 to Duke.

In the rematch this season against the Blue Devils, Bede had a season-high 12 points, four rebounds and five assists in the 77-63 loss Dec. 6.

NC State senior point guard Markell Johnson is coming off one of his best games of the season in leading the Wolfpack to a 73-68 win over Notre Dame on Wednesday. He had 27 points and dished out seven assists.

——

• Talk about it inside The State of Basketball

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook