Following a tough 2022-2023 Virginia Tech basketball season in which the Hokies were eliminated in the first round of the NIT to Cincinnati, there was a need for versatile big men in Blacksburg.
Mike Young’s team had lost Justyn Mutts, a staple to the new era of basketball for the Hokies, to graduation. Additionally, Grant Basile, Tech's leading scorer, signed with Italian basketball team Bertram Derthona
Enter Robbie Beran, a four-year player for the Northwestern Wildcats, who was a key contributor for Chris Collins’ round of 32 NCAA tournament team a season ago, averaging 7.5 points per game and 4.5 rebounds per game in 26 minutes of action while starting all of the Wildcats' 34 games.
Expectations were high for Beran given the production that he had at the power conference from his time as a multi-year starter for the Wildcats.
However, Beran didn't get off to a great start this season, at least offensively, showing how difficult it can be for transfers to go from one system into a completely different one. In his first 14 games of the season, Beran had 8+ points twice providing some quality defense and rebounding, but struggling with inconsistency.
Things have changed lately though, both for Beran and Virginia Tech.
