In the ACC, nearly nothing is guaranteed. The conference is one of the deepest across the country when it comes to basketball, where any team can lose on any given occasion.
Over the past three games for the Virginia Tech Hokies, one thing has been sure - Sean Pedulla will score at will.
The Hokies six-foot-one junior point guard has shined of late despite Tech’s 2-3 start to ACC play, averaging over 30 points per game across his past three games.
On Monday, the Edmond, Oklahoma native received recognition for his stellar play, as he was received his first ACC Player of the Week award of his career.
The announcement came following Pedulla’s performance in an upset victory over then No. 21 Clemson last Wednesday, in which the Tech point guard set a new career-high in points with 32 on a 9-for-16 shooting night including 6-for-10 from three-point range to go along with seven assists, four rebounds, and four steals. VT’s top scorer also went a perfect 8-of-8 from the line.
Pedulla’s career high in points lasted all but three days, as the point guard notched a 33 point, ten rebound double-double on Saturday against Miami, where the Hokies fell just short in a 75-71 loss.
The success of Pedulla came following a foot injury at the tail end of a 75-68 win over Louisville that left him in a boot, sidelined for victories over Valparaiso and American. However, Pedulla has overcome a lot going from struggling at Wake Forest to that injury due to a lack of physicality to putting in the work to get his game back in rhythm in a way that we haven't seen at any point in his career to date.
"It’s such a fine game. It’s hard to come through an injury, a foot injury, and not have the contact. It’s such a fine motor skill game, the passing and the physicality of it all. He’s a physical dude now. He’s not afraid of it. Rusty is not the word I’m looking for, but he missed the things necessary, that’s part of it. But he continued to work at it,” said Tech head coach Mike Young following the Clemson game.
Pedulla’s strong bounce back has very much been welcomed for the Hokies, who lost fifth year leader Hunter Cattoor to a head injury early on against the Tigers and has since been unavailable.
Pedulla paces the team in points, assists, and steals at 16.1, 4.1, and 1.0 respectively. The junior also grabs 4.1 boards a night, while shooting 43.1%/38.9%/80% splits.
Pedulla and the Hokies return to action Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena for the Commonwealth Clash against Virginia, with both squads neck-and-neck in ACC standings at 2-3 in conference play.
