Photo Credit: Liam Sment
Virginia Tech has seen plenty of roster change in recent weeks as the Hokies have added Kansas State grad transfer Cartier Diarra and three-star PF David N'Guessan while Landers Nolley and Isaiah Wilkins have both entered the transfer portal. For now, that has left the Hokies with no open scholarships though there are signs that Tech may be anticipating a scholarship opening as they continue to show interest in new transfers including Rice's Drew Peterson.
Unsurprisingly, the Hokies aren't the only school interested in Peterson.
Peterson told us that the following schools have shown interest in him as of Tuesday night.
- Virginia Tech
- Creighton
- Stanford
- Minnesota
- Oregon State
- Cincinnati
- Tulane
- Colorado State
- UC Santa Barbara
- San Diego
The fact that Peterson is receiving this type of interest shouldn't be surprising given his strong sophomore season.
The 6'8'' Rice wing averaged 11 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 steals in 32.2 minutes per game during the 2019-20 season. Peterson's shooting numbers weren't too bad either as he made 40.8% of his field goal attempts including 32.6% of his threes and 82.2% of his free-throw attempts. Peterson will have two years of eligibility after sitting out next season if current NCAA transfer rules remain in place (a vote to modify those rules is expected this summer).
Assistant coach Antwon Jackson was the coach from Virginia Tech who reached out to Drew Peterson with the conversation and interaction between the two going well.
"It was great. He asked me a little about myself and what I'm looking for. He started sending me stuff about the arena, facilities, and campus," Peterson said.
Peterson has somewhat of an idea of the baseline things he is looking for, but also is still figuring out what he is looking for the most as he gets going in this process.
"I'm looking for a great environment and a team I can help get to the tourney with. Nothing too specific as it’s early in the process. Listening to everything," Peterson said.
It is definitely early in the process for all parties with Drew Peterson not having a timeline for making a decision at the moment. Peterson also appears interested in trying to take visits, but is uncertain if he will before making a decision due to the current situation of life in America with the coronavirus pandemic.
For Virginia Tech, Peterson would be an intriguing fit as he would add lots of size while also bringing plenty of versatility as someone who proved he's more than comfortable working on the ball. Peterson may project long term as a 3 in the professional ranks but in the college game, his best fit may be at the 4 though despite his great length at 6'8''.
Tech's system may also be a good fit for him in that regard given the shooting range he brings to the floor. If he is to be a 4 at his next stop, he would need to bulk up some more largely for the toll that a power conference schedule could have if he had to regularly defend bigs, similar to what many suspect about Landers Nolley this past season for VT.
Keep an eye on Drew Peterson as Virginia Tech continues to keep an eye on some of the top transfers available who could also fit Mike Young's system.
