Virginia Tech opens its 2009-2010 campaign this Sunday when Brown comes into Cassell Coliseum. With four freshmen and a new offensive attack, the Hokies needed an effective preseason to get ready for a season that Coach Seth Greenberg hopes will end in Virginia Tech’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2006-2007.
Unfortunately, there have been bumps (and bruises) in the road as the Hokies have dealt with their fair share of health issues. Freshman forward Cadarian Raines fractured his left foot in practice on September 22nd and was said to be out eight to ten weeks. Sophomore Allan Chaney, who transferred from Florida and is not eligible to play this season, suffered a torn labrum in practice and underwent season ending surgery on October 23. Junior forward J.T. Thompson has been dealing with a high left ankle sprain. Sophomore forward Victor Davila recently battled the flu, and junior forward Jeff Allen has had a variety of health issues throughout the preseason.
“In a perfect world, we would have been a little healthier the last three weeks than we have been,” Greenberg said when addressing the media on Tuesday. “But, you know, it is what it is.”
Barring any further setbacks, Thompson and Davila will play for the Hokies on Sunday, but Jeff Allen’s status is not as clear.
“Between his thumb, his knee, and his wrist, he’s practiced only about seven days,” Greenberg said of Allen. “We’re going to hold him out of practice (Wednesday) and partially limited contact (today), but we hope he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
It seems as if this is going to be the norm for the junior forward in the immediate future. While being limited in practice, Allen will stay in shape running on the team’s Alter-G, a treadmill that has the ability to determine how much weight can be placed on a lower extremity.
Perhaps the most ill-timed health issue was Davila’s bout with the flu. Davila lost twelve pounds in a matter of days following an encouraging performance in the team’s first preseason scrimmage. Among the questions surrounding this Virginia Tech team, the one that keeps coming up is the need for a third scorer to step up to help out Allen and junior guard Malcolm Delaney. Davila is one of the candidates who figures to help fill that void.
“It bothered me losing (Davila) for that period because you could see the light bulb go on,” Greenberg said. “You could see him say, ‘I can score. I don’t care who’s guarding me, I can score.’ It would have been great to have him in that second scrimmage, but I wasn’t going to rush him back in the least bit.”
Raines will not play Sunday, and Greenberg is hopeful that he will return by the time the Hokies welcome Georgia into Cassell Coliseum on December 6th.
“It’s real important now that (Raines) is able to move more, being in the seventh week of his rehab, that he really starts to learn what we’re doing,” Greenberg said of Raines. “We’re really putting a lot of pressure on our staff to get him in here each and everyday to get him up to speed. Now, will he be ready for the speed of the game? I don’t know. Physically, he’s ready. He’s a legitimate 6’9″, 246 (pounds), and he’s got an ACC body.”
Sean Bielawski
