It has finally arrived. The official start of the 2008-09 season begins tonight with “Late Night with the Hokies.”

A night like this was not possible when I arrived six years ago. It’s a credit to the players, the administration and the tremendous fan base we have here at Virginia Tech. They have helped to change the culture of this program and tonight’s festivities are a result of the ownership they have invested into this program.

The players have worked very hard, since they walked off the court for the final time during the 2007-08 season. It’s been a productive summer and they are anxious to start another season.

Sophomore Jeff Allen worked on his strength and is now a solid 250 pounds. Another second-year player, Malcolm Delaney has focused on his leadership role, while Terrell Bell and Dorenzo Hudson learned a lot in their first seasons and have done a nice job of growing as players heading into year two.

We have great leadership and experience in junior Lewis Witcher and seniors Cheick Diakite and A.D. Vassallo, but this team is still relatively young. Eight of our twelve scholarship players are freshmen and sophomores. And they will be put to the test early on, as our schedule presents many challenges.

We open the season with home games against Gardner-Webb and Mount St. Mary’s. All you need to know about Gardner-Webb is that they went into Rupp Arena last season and beat Kentucky. Coach Rick Scruggs does an outstanding job so we know that we will have our hands full in the season-opener. And three days later we face Mount St. Mary’s, which went to the NCAA Tournament last season and Coach Milan Brown’s team is the prohibitive favorite to win the Northeast Conference this season.

We will also be participating in the Puerto Rico Tip-off, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the BB&T Classic and the Aeropostale Holiday Festival before facing Charleston Southern in the final non-conference game on Dec. 29. There is no question that we will learn a lot about our team before we begin ACC play.

It all begins tonight with the first-ever “Late Night with the Hokies,” which coincides with the Women’s Volleyball team taking on Wake Forest. Head coach Chris Riley has done a tremendous job. His team is 15-3 overall and 6-1 in the ACC so I hope that everyone comes out early to support Virginia Tech Volleyball.

I look forward to seeing you tonight and all season long at the Cassell.

MARCH 18, 2008

We are very excited to have an opportunity to be a part of the National Invitational Tournament. The field is loaded with great teams and great tradition and tradition is what this tournament is all about.

We were obviously disappointed that we did not receive an invite to the NCAA Tournament, but we understand the process and the difficult task assigned to the selection committee.

Inevitably every year there are a number of teams that are extremely disappointed that they were not selected, but to belabor the point takes away from those teams that did make the NCAA tournament. And that’s not fair to those coaches, players and fans.

It is important to understand that not making the NCAA tournament does not in any way diminish what this team accomplished to date. This group practiced hard and played hard throughout the entire season. There were some growing pains through November and December, but this team greatly improved in the months of January, February and March. They have a lot to feel good about.

Now, as has been the case all season long, it’s all about the next 40 minutes. This team has done a great job of forgetting yesterday and focusing on today in preparation for the next opponent and our next opponent is the regular season champion from the MEAC.

Wednesday evening we will play host to the Morgan State Bears. They had an outstanding season, spending much of the final two months ranked in the Mid-Major Top 25. They are big, physical and athletic and they play an efficient and effective matchup zone.

Make no mistake, Morgan State is a very dangerous team fully capable of getting to New York for the NIT finals. We will have to play extremely well if we are to advance to the second round.

It will be a great environment at the Cassell on Wednesday evening. We have already sold 7,500 tickets and we may end up being the only team in the NIT field to be playing in front of a sold-out audience.

MARCH 11, 2008

It’s been an exciting and rewarding year for this basketball team. This group has grown and matured over the course of the season. I am very proud of their effort and their attitude this season.

This is the third time in four seasons that we will have a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament. That’s a great accomplishment for a program trying to establish itself in the tradition-rich ACC. We feel very good about that fact, but we understand that we still have some work left to do.

There is a lot of talk about whether or not the Virginia Tech Hokies deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament. But such are matters beyond our control. We can only concern ourselves with what we can control. For us it’s all about effort, attitude and how we play.

We are not traveling to Charlotte with a mindset that we need to win a certain number of games. All that concerns this group is its first opponent. Anything beyond that would be losing touch with our approach throughout the season.

Once again we got a tremendous lift from Hokie Nation in 2007-08. We have gotten great passion, energy and ownership from our fans. They have been and will continue to be a major part of our success.

Outside of Hokie Nation, many believed that this group would not enjoy much success this season. To finish fourth (9-7) in the ACC is quite a tribute to the players. They really did an outstanding job. Most important is the fact that they trust and respect one another. Playing hard and being committed to one another has produced some very good results.

Those efforts did not go unnoticed by the ACC.

A.D. Vassallo earned Second Team All-ACC honors.

Deron Washington was an Honorable Mention All-ACC selection.

Jeff Allen was named to the ACC All-Freshmen team.

This group has helped to continue the process of changing the culture here at Virginia Tech. We are starting to create a winning culture.

DECEMBER 26, 2007

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. It’s a great time of year to spend with family and friends. There is nothing quite like the holidays.

We went into the Christmas break with a 6-5 record. We had a tough hard-fought loss at Wake Forest (77-75). Obviously we would like to have a better record after eleven games and we are not going to celebrate moral victories, but I do believe this group continues to make strides.

It’s important to remember how young this team is. The 2006-07 Hokies were a veteran group. The 2007-08 group is talented, but young. Six of our ten-man rotation are freshmen. For them every drill in practice is a learning experience. It takes time to understand and embrace the fact that the college game is much different than anything they have previously experienced.

Winning is a learning process and despite our inconsistent play I believe this group is beginning to understand that process. One of the biggest things a young player must understand is shot selection. One bad shot often leads to another.

At our level games are often decided by a mere handful of possessions. Each possession is crucial. At season’s end it could be the difference between a 20-plus-win team and a sub-500 team. Our young players are learning the value of shot selection, as it relates to time and score. This can be challenging, without the wealth of experience we have had in year’s past.

All things considered I believe the team has done a nice job. They work hard in practice and more importantly they have a great attitude. Part of the learning process is a willingness to learn and this group wants to become a better team.

We still have four non-league games before the start of ACC competition, beginning with Hofstra on Friday evening at Madison Square Garden in New York. Each of the final four pre-conference games will provide us with a stern test.

As we finish up the calendar year many of you will be ringing in the New Year. Remember to be responsible this New Year’s Eve. Have a great time with friends and loved ones, but be smart and be responsible.

Happy New Year!

NOVEMBER 8, 2007

The 2007-08 season has arrived. We open the new season tomorrow night against Elon and everyone is excited for the start of another new chapter in Virginia Tech basketball.

It will be strange not having Coleman Collins, Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon. They were such a major part of the helping to create a new attitude for this program. That group truly represented what the college basketball experience is all about. They will certainly be missed. Now it is up to the 2007-08 Hokies to continue building on the foundation left by Coleman, Zabian and Jamon.

Our recent trip to Canada really helped us in many ways. Aside from the fact that we were able to win three games in two days, the team learned a lot about each other and got a better understanding of what it will take to be successful this season.

We have a lot of new faces this season. With five freshmen and two walk-ons, 7-of-13 are first year players. For them it’s a process of learning how to practice, how to prepare and how to be successful at the college level. Add to that the fact that many of our returning players now must take on new roles.

It’s all about making progress on a daily basis and while we have a long way to go, I do like the attitude of this group. It’s an over used cliché’, but it certainly applies --- We will take it one day at a time. In fact, we want to take it one possession at a time.

We have a very challenging schedule this season, which I hope will make us a better team as the season unfolds. Following our season-opener against Elon we will travel to north for the Great Alaska Shootout. We then return home to face Penn State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. And all that happens before December.

The team looks forward to another season with the support of the great Hokie Nation. The fans and the community have really made The Cassell a difficult venue for visiting teams. We need that enthusiasm again during the 2007-08 season.