Virginia Tech made headlines for its offseason additions after a difficult 2024-25 campaign. However, Mike Young and his staff returned the four players he deemed most impactful from last year’s roster: Ben Hammond, Jaden Schutt, Tyler Johnson and Tobi Lawal. All four have played important roles in the Hokies 12-2 start, culminating in a 95-85 triple overtime win over No. 21 Virginia on New Year’s Eve.
Let's take a deeper look at the aforementioned returners and the strides they have made between their first and second seasons in Blacksburg.
PG Ben Hammond
2024 stats: 5.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 19.5 minutes (41.9 FG%, 50.0 3P%, 74.5 FT%)
2025 stats: 11.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 27.9 minutes (40.2 FG%, 31.3 3P%, 84.5 FT%)
After starting at point guard for the second half of the 2024-25 season, Hammond has shown a lot of humility coming off the bench, but is thriving in that role.
“He just fights and he’s (unofficially) a starter for us,” Young said of Hammond. “I haven’t started him much…but I assure you of this: Ben Hammond’s going to play a lot and he’s going to play a lot when it matters.”
When fully healthy, Young believes he has seven “starters” on this roster and Hammond is undoubtedly one of them.
Hammond just played the best game of his career, dropping 30 points, five rebounds and five assists in the resume-boosting win over No. 21 Virginia. He also didn't record a single turnover in 42 minutes.
In a game where points were hard to come by, the Hokies rallied behind Hammond as the primary ball-handler during the overtimes, where he scored 20 of his 30 points. He did so by knocking down clutch free throws and using screens to weave through the paint and find his spots in the mid-range.
Prior to Wednesday night, Hammond hadn’t shot the ball particularly well, but was still finding ways to impact the game.
Hammond is fifth in the ACC in steals with 1.8 per game. He deflects far more than that, using his twitchy hands to poke the ball away from ball-handlers or jump passing lanes.
At a generous 5-foot-11, he makes up for his limited size with incredible speed. It seems almost impossible to screen Hammond as he just slithers between the screener and the ball-handler. He is tied with Amani Hansberry with the highest defensive box plus/minus (an advanced stat rating a players defensive impact) on the team.
Offensively, Hammond has taken on a larger usage rate than the year prior, but is doing a better job taking care of the ball with just 1.4 turnovers per game. Virginia Tech as a whole is No. 20 in the nation at just 9.6 turnovers per game. That number may even be a bit inflated by four overtime games.
Hammond gets an opportunity to operate as the primary ball-handler when Avdalas is out of the game, while typically moving off the ball when they share the floor.
Chances are, Avdalas will bolt for the NBA following the season, meaning Hammond will likely run the show for the next two years of Virginia Tech basketball. In the meantime, he’ll serve as one of the best sixth men in the ACC and one of the most impactful players on a tournament-level team.
