It was announced this morning that Virginia Tech’s Neoklis Avdalas has entered the transfer portal, and I wish I could tell you I’m surprised.
Something broke in the relationship between Neo and the Hokies in the second half of this season, and you could see it wasn’t going to end well. That became obvious in the last loss of the season against Wake Forest, where Neo sat on the bench unused in the final seven minutes of regulation and the entire overtime.
It was the most critical game of the season for the Hokies, and they chose not to use what at the beginning of the season was the highest ranked recruit they’ve ever had.
In return, Neo this morning made a choice of his own.
I have been a big fan of Neo, and believe he has tremendous potential when it comes to basketball. But college sports in the NIL era is now like sales. You can like someone in sales, and think they’re going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but if they don’t make quota, you will be liked somewhere else. Either you get the job done or you don’t.
Neo showed flashes of what he could be this season. The game he had against Providence where he scored 33 points, hit 5 of 8 from the 3-point line, and almost single-handedly down the stretch pushed the Hokies to a 107-101 overtime win, was a confirmation of what everyone hoped for.
But he did not offer a repeat performance of this throughout the rest of the season. He had games where he had an impressive number of assists, but he slowly seemed to stop looking for shots. When he did, his percentage from the area he was specifically brought in to contribute to – from the 3-point line – steadily dropped.
By the final month of the season, he looked like a young man who was frustrated and not having fun.
I still think he is an excellent player with great potential, and I will not be surprised if he goes somewhere else and thrives, particularly since that seems to be the Hokie way when a highly ranked recruit leaves. But as much as I like Neo, if you asked if he came anywhere close to realizing the potential many thought he had when Virginia Tech offered him a boatload of NIL money last summer, I would honestly have to say no.
You’ve now got a basketball program that took a chance last year and put a lot of its money on an international recruit (which is not the Hokies’ normal M.O.) hoping for big things, and the strategy has seemingly failed. You’ve also got a fanbase that had much higher expectations than reality warranted, and now seems to be frustrated with veteran coach Mike Young, with some calling for his scalp.
On top of that is the matter of money. For all I’ve just mentioned, it’s entirely possible that for next season, all available money is going to football and the Hokies didn’t have the money to bring Neo back anyway while still filling needs at other positions on the court.
It’s not a great situation. The future right now for men’s basketball doesn’t feel so bright, and I have a feeling change – whether you want it or not – may be coming to Cassell Coliseum sooner than later…
Neo was misused by Coach Young as he is not a 1 guard and that job was Hammond’s to run the team. Neo also has a problem of confidence, as he was visibly a head hanger when games were not going his way. Young could have taken Neo out earlier to tune him up, as he was a Freshman and needed to be coached up to keep him going inside is own confidence level. Benching Neo for the last game was utter nonsense and makes Young look like a fool. Young struggled all season with admitting that Hammond is a good to great player and the team needs him on the court the entire game. Neo was not ready for the NBA last year and this year he is still at least one more college year away from getting drafted, which is why he entered the portal and will leave Blacksburg. Neo would be a good fit at Illinois, where he could come off the bench and play long minutes if his mental head space is capable of handling that type of role. I frankly am not sure he can handle not starting in college. Too sensitive.
Agree with all your points. Plus he’s supposedly asking for $3 million, so not only could he not handle not starting, nobody’s going to pay anywhere near that for someone who is not starting…