Virginia Tech
(2005-06 season: 4-12 ACC, 14-16 overall; lost in first round of the ACC Tournament to Virginia 60-56)

Coleman Collins may have made second-team All-ACC this preseason and be a candidate for the Wooden Award given to the country’s best player, but Seth Greenberg almost sounded like he was giving a warning to his star player.

Last season Collins’ father lost a battle with lung cancer, one of several tragedies on the Hokies team. Another player, Wynton Witherspoon, learned that his mother had breast cancer. And a third Hokie, Allen Calloway, started his own battle with a soft-tissue cancer in his calf. Meanwhile, two other players lost loved ones during a season that no one in Blacksburg wants to relive.

Greenberg said the fallout from those tragedies isn’t necessarily behind the team as the 2006-07 season gets ready to start. He noted that, in Collins’ instance, just because it’s a new season doesn’t mean the player doesn’t still hurt from the loss of his father. And the pain of last season still remains with the team.

“Our team last year, we were scarred, there’s no doubt about it,” Greenberg said. “There were other kids on our campus who, I’m sure, had the same type of tragedy. I’m sure there’s a young person on campus who lost a parent to cancer. I’m sure there’s a student on our campus who has cancer. The difference is our guys had to live it a very public forum called the ACC right in front of all of America, and that’s difficult. Is it done with? No, I think that … do we have a clean slate? Yes, we have a clean slate. Are there still issues? Sure, there’s still issues. You can’t replace some of the things we had to deal with, but we have to move on. Easier said than done, but we need to move on.”

That’s when the warning to Collins entered the discussion.

“Coleman, in particular, he needs to produce,” Greenberg said. “We’re in a situation right now – I love him to death, but if he doesn’t produce we need to give someone else an opportunity because we have other people to give an opportunity to.”

Of course, Coleman did produce last year despite his personal loss. He led the team with 6.8 rebounds a game, and was second with 14.5 points per contest. And, chances are, he will produce again this season.

While Coleman has an assignment from his coach now, most everyone, including Greenberg, knows that it’s the backcourt, Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon, that will most likely carry this team. Dowdell led the team in scoring with 15.3 points a game last year, while Gordon was, among other things, the defensive stopper. He also had six rebounds a game, second only to Collins.

But while the focus will be on the backcourt, Gordon said he’s not worried about the pressure.

“It’s about time we got some pressure,” Gordon said. “We needed this. We always wanted the pressure. You get what you ask for. We always used to be mad that no one would pay us any attention at the beginning of the year. If we don’t play too good, our team ain’t going to go too far. We’re the engine in the car.”

With Collins, Dowdell and Gordon starting, perhaps the unknown player, and maybe the wildcard, is Deron Washington.

“He’s the most improved player on our team,” Greenberg said. “The guy’s a genetic freak right now. Athletically, he’s really, really special. He’s really improved his ability to score the basketball. He’s a guy who’s hopefully a tough matchup. We can run him off some back screens, some post-ups. He’s quick off the dribble. He’s shooting the ball pretty consistently. Deron and A.D. (Vassallo) – that position (small forward) in particular which we struggled at last year, that’s a position, I think, we can make take a step forward this year. Both of those guys should contribute in a big way.”

If they do - and if Collins, Dowdell and Gordon live up to their preseason hype -Virginia Tech should be better than the 10th-place team it was last year.