The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team will open their 2014-2015 season this Friday, November 14, in Cassell Coliseum.

The team will host Maryland-Eastern Shore at 7 p.m. under new head coach, Buzz Williams.The Hokies were picked to finish 15^th in the ACC this season. Duke was picked as the ACC basketball favorite this year. North Carolina finished second in the voting followed by Louisville.

Although the team was predicted to finish last, Buzz and his players aren’t worrying about that.

Buzz stated in ACC Media Day that he still isn’t 100 percent sure what type of team he has but that he does see plenty of positive traits.

"They're working incredibly hard, they want to work. Their expectation is to work with energy every day. They've been phenomenal in their ability to listen, to execute what we're trying to teach them,” said Buzz.

The team looks to start off the year with a victory.

      The Virginia Tech Hokies lost to Maryland 27-24 after the Terrapins quarterback, C.J. Brown score on a 3-yard touchdown run in OT.

     This marks the first time the Hokies have lost when Thomas did not throw an interception. The Hokies were 15-0 prior to this game.

     The Hokies jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the game when a 76-yard drive ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Trey Edmunds.

     Virginia Tech continued to struggle with their special teams giving up a punt return for a touchdown and missing a field goal.

     Eric Kristensen, the freshman walk-on who filled in for dismissed kicker Cody Journell had a chance to add to the lead in the first quarter but pulled it left.  

     Maryland later came back strong scoring 14 unanswered points in the second quarter.

     Tech rallied from a 14-point deficit to force overtime.

     The Hokies lost the coin toss and Maryland elected to play defense, so the Hokies took over on the Maryland 25.

     The Hokies got to the Maryland 6 but Thomas was later sacked for a 7-yard loss – one of seven sacks on the day by the Terrapins – and the Hokies settled for a 31-yard field goal by Kristensen.

     The Hokies lost their final home game of the season for the first time since 2003.

     The Hokies are now 7-4 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. The Hokies however do remain alive for the ACC’s Coastal Division crown but will need help. 

     Tech will close the regular season and look for a win against in-state rival Virginia on November 30. 

     The 19th ranked Hokies have won six straight games after losing their season opener to Alabama. Tech defeated the Pittsburg Panthers 19-9, Saturday.

     Quarterback, Logan Thomas, completed 19 out of his 34 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown for the Hokies. He led Tech in rushing, running for 27 yards on 16 carries. Tech only rushed for 76 yards. 

     Thomas hasn’t turned the ball over in the pass three games making the future for the Hokies bright.

    The defense did a great job holding the Pitt offense. The defense recorded eight sacks.

    James Gayle, Dadi Nicolas, and Derrick Hopkins had six of the eight sacks for the Hokies.

    Cody Journell hit four field goals to help the Hokies to a victory including a career long 48-yard field goal.

    Tom Savage completed 13 of 28 for 187 yards but not enough to help Pitt keep up with Tech.

     The Hokies enter their bye week and resume action Saturday, October 26, 2013, as they take on Duke at Lane Stadium. 

         This weekend the Hokies will open the NCAA Championship to Michigan. Virginia Tech Men’s tennis team will travel to Lexington, Ky. to open up the Championship.

         The Lexington, Ky. Regional teams are Kentucky (1), Michigan (2), Virginia Tech (3), and Western Michigan (4).

         Virginia Tech enters the NCAA Championship ranked 41st in the ITA standings. It marks the highest ranking for the Hokies this season. With this year’s at-large bid, the Hokies will make their seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, according to HokieSports.

         The Hokies will play Michigan at noon and Kentucky will play Western Michigan after 3:00 p.m. at UK’s Hilary J. Boone Varsity Tennis Center. The winner of the opening round will advance to play Saturday, at 2 p.m.

Many agree and disagree that NCAA Division I athletes should be paid for their collegiate contributions.

People have accepted that a college athlete receives a scholarship to play a sport, but have you ever thought about an athlete receiving a scholarship and a salary?

Alex Perez is an athlete at Virginia Tech. Perez plays baseball for the Hokies. Perez believes that college athletes should be paid. However he states, “I believe that the only athletes that should be paid are the athletes that are in the highest money earning sports like basketball and football.”

One would agree that you would pay the quarterback of the football team but would you pay the women’s water polo player?

Perez says that the NFL should pay into the NCAA. All MLB teams have set up minor league teams to develop players but the NFL gets the NCAA to develop the players and puts no money into the Division.

The NFL should pay the NCAA and that is the money that should be used to pay the players.

Katelyn Powell, a student at Tech, says that student athletes should not be paid. “Athletes are already paid through education,” states Powell. She believes that only professional athletes should be paid when they are at the highest level.

Many have an opinion on this subject and think they are right but until a decision is made on whether to pay athletes, no one will ever know whether it would have positive or negative consequences.

Virginia Tech and Coca-Cola announced a new attendance promotion at home baseball games for all Virginia Tech students.

The promotion, which ran through April 26, rewarded one lucky student with an all-expense paid trip to the Atlanta Braves game of choice and a tour of The World of Coca-Cola.

To win, students had to first purchase a Coca-Cola product at English Field and receive their punch cards by showing their Hokie Passport at the concession stand. They were to attend at least six home games, getting their card punched at the marketing gazebo at each game.

Three finalists were randomly selected in April 26 game versus Virginia. The finalists were then asked to select a base they thought the grand prize was under.

Anailis Diaz selected the winning base. Diaz will be traveling to Atlanta during the summer to watch the Braves play.

This weekend the Hokies hosted another top five ranked opponent in Blacksburg. Tech defeat UVA 2 of the 3 games played.

The Hokies lost the home opener on Friday night.

Due to inclement weather coming into the New River Valley on Sunday the teams played a day-night double header to wrap up the series.

The Hokies swept the doubleheader to go on and win the series against the Wahoos’.  

The team was led by the starting pitchers for both games who shut down UVA’s high potent offense. Joe Mantiply improved to 4-0 after tossing seven strong innings, allowing only 3 runs. Clark Labitan later came in for the five-out save.

Devin Burke got the start for the Hokies in the rubber game of the series. Burke pitched 7.1 innings, allowing four runs. Burke improved his record to 7-3 on the season.

Andrew Rash had a perfect day at the dish going 3-3 with a triple, a homerun, and 2 RBIs. Jack Joyce came in for the final inning to shut the door on the Hoos.

The Hokies will next play Boston College in Chestnut Hill. The next two ACC weekends will be critical for the Hokies’ ACC tournament hopes. 

This draft was one like no other. Many players went too early while others went too late.

Virginia Tech football players Corey Fuller and Vinston Painter were selected in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Fuller, a receiver, went to the Detroit Lions, who selected him 171 overall. Fuller was the second member of his family to get drafted. His older brother Vinnie went in the fourth round of the 2005 draft to the Tennessee Titans.

Fuller played in 13 games this past season and caught 43 passes for 814 yards and six touchdowns according to HokieSports.

Painter, an offensive tackle, went to the Denver Broncos, who selected him 173 overall. He started all 13 games at right tackle this season for Tech according to HokieSports.

The Hokies have now had 158 players drafted.

Logan Thomas was supposed to be the Hokies Top Prospect this spring for the NFL draft, but a down year resulted in him returning to the Hokies for his senior season.

Taking Thomas’s spot as the top prospect from Virginia Tech this year is wide receiver Corey Fuller who is projected to go in the top five rounds and is ranked the 21st best receiver in the draft.

Another draft hopeful Marcus Davis is also a wide receiver from Tech projected to be drafted in the 6th round.

Vinston Painter, offensive tackle, has flashed his skills in the NFL combine and has come out of nowhere to now be drafted as high as in the third round according to cbssports.com.

Draft hopeful offensive tackle Nick Becton, is hoping he will hear his name called this upcoming weekend in the later rounds of the draft. It has become clear that if he doesn’t get drafted he will be picked up through free agency.

Whether or not these players get drafted, they will be picked up through free agency and they will compete for a roster spot in 2013.