"I'm back."
Those simple two words had Hokie fan ecstatic Sunday afternoon as Virginia Tech star C and two-time ACC Player of the Year Elizabeth Kitley announced that she will be using her COVID year and returning for one more season at Virginia Tech instead of entering the WNBA Draft where she was projected to be a first round pick.
Let’s gooooo pic.twitter.com/3X56E2MHJV
— Liz Kitley (@elizabethkitley) April 2, 2023
Kitley is undoubtedly the greatest player in Virginia Tech Women's Basketball history and is one of the greatest athletes Virginia Tech has ever had male or female. She had the best season of her illustrious career to date averaging a career-best 18.2 points and 10.7 rebounds plus 2.4 blocks and 1.5 assists in 34.8 minutes per game while shooting 55.8% from the field and 72.2% from the free-throw line.
She holds an immense amount of Virginia Tech career records including points, blocks, blocks per game, field goal percentage, field goals made, double-doubles, 30-point games. She will also have the chance to become the fifth ever three-time ACC Player of the Year (men's and women's) and should also be a Preseason All-American as the top returning center in America after being an AP Second Team All-American this past season.
Kitley's return gives the Hokies arguably the best returning 1-2 punch in America with All-ACC First Team and AP Honorable Mention All-American PG Georgia Amoore. Sharpshooter Cayla King seems likely to be back now with Kitley's return while Tech has some promising young players ready to take on larger roles headlined by former top 50 recruit and talented young guard Carleigh Wenzel who redshirted this past season plus Australian wing Charlise Dunn. The Hokies also have a top 15 recruiting class with 4 top 100 recruits coming in this offseason.
Beyond that, the Hokies project to have about 5 open scholarships to use this offseason in the transfer portal. Combine that with the star power that the Hokies offer and Tech should be able to land some big talents in the transfer portal to bolster themselves even further as one of the top 2024 national title contenders.
After a historic 2022-23 season that ended with Virginia Tech's first Final Four appearance, Tech's biggest star Liz Kitley is coming back for one more year with the Hokies instantly becoming a serious national title contender.
