BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech’s biggest fix for 2026-27 may not be drawing up a new play so much as finding the right player to trust when the clock gets tight.
Last season, the Hokies had trouble finishing games. In 2025-26, they lost nine games by single digits, four by one possession and three by one point. Now, with the roster once again reshaped through the transfer portal, the question hanging over Mike Young’s team is simple: who gets the ball when Virginia Tech needs a bucket late?
The Hokies return five players from that group, though only three saw action in more than 30% of the games. Senior forward Amani Hansberry and junior guards Ben Hammond and Tyler Johnson form that core. Then-freshman forward Sin'Cere Jones appeared in 10 games before a season-ending lower-body injury, while then-freshman center Solomon Davis never got into a game.
Among the returners, Hammond looks like the cleanest fit to manage those closing possessions. The junior guard already has two years in Young’s system, and that kind of comfort matters when the pressure spikes and every possession turns into a grind.
His scoring jump also makes him hard to ignore. Hammond went from 5.3 points per game as a freshman to 13.2 last season, then pushed that number to 14.9 in ACC play.
He hit 20 or more points five times and posted a career-high 30 against then-No. 21 Virginia on
His value goes beyond the scoring column, too. As one of Virginia Tech’s primary ball handlers, Hammond can set the tone, control the pace and either create his own look or get someone else cleanly involved. Young also said at ACC Tipoff in October that Hammond will spend more time off the ball this season, which could open up more ways to use him offensively.
Still, running an offense and finishing a game are not the same job.
That’s where Hansberry comes in. The senior forward gives Tech a different kind of late-game answer, one built around size and interior pressure instead of backcourt creation.
He was the Hokies’ top scorer and rebounder a season ago, averaging 14.3 points and 7.4 boards per game in 2025-26. In January 2026, he became the first Hokie since Jeff Allen to put together four straight double-doubles.
If Virginia Tech wants to lean inside at the end of games, Hansberry gives it that option. And if defenses collapse on him, that can open things up somewhere else. The challenge, of course, is getting the ball to a post player when everyone in the building knows that’s where it’s going.
Johnson deserves a place in the conversation as well. Like Hammond, he enters the season with experience in Young’s system, and that familiarity could matter early while the newcomers settle in. He averaged 8.0 points per game in 2025-26 and put up 9.5 per game across his first 13 appearances before an ankle injury cost him 15 games.
There’s also a real chance Virginia Tech’s closer isn’t a returner at all. The staff has leaned heavily on the portal again, and several newcomers will get chances to prove they can handle late-game offense - and defend it, too.
That makes the answer harder to pin down before the season starts. For now, the best guess points to Hammond handling the ball and Hansberry offering the frontcourt presence. My preseason picks would be Hammond, Hansberry, Oklahoma transfer Kuol Atak, Florida Atlantic transfer Isaiah Elohim and San Diego State transfer Miles Heide.
In the end, Virginia Tech may not need one single player to own every final possession. If the Hokies can stack a few trustworthy scoring options, they’ll be a lot tougher to guard when the game is on the line.
Virginia Tech opens the season Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 7 p.m. ET against Coppin State on ACC Network Extra.
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