Virginia Tech 2017-18 hoops preview: The story

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Previously: Setting the stage, guards, wings, bigs.

Virginia Tech is not known as a basketball school. It's the job of Buzz Williams to change that, and in his third year on campus, took a huge step in that direction.

For the first time in a decade, the Hokies participated in the NCAA Tournament, and although they lost in the first round to Wisconsin, simply making it to The Dance is a big improvement. That they did it primarily on the backs of two seniors - center Zach LeDay and guard Seth Allen - is a heck of a complicating factor for the follow-up campaign. Add in a number of other complicating personnel matters, and it gets even harder. Power forwards Chris Clarke and Ty Outlaw will be limited or out completely (respectively) while recovering from knee injuries. Backup center Khadim Sy left the team in the preseason.

However, the most highly touted recruiting class in recent memory includes a near five-star in wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a very good point guard in Wabissa Bede, and power forward (who will mostly be drawn into the lineup as a center) PJ Horne. With the return of bigman Kerry Blackshear - who couldn't participate on the NCAA Tournament squad as he recovered from a broken leg last year - there should be a suitable replacement for LeDay, if not a straight-up upgrade.

Williams worked magic at Marquette, picking up where Tom Crean left off and making the NCAA Tournament five of his six years in Milwaukee. The task has been completely different as the top Hokie, and that's come with a new set of challenges. The methods of coping have included an unfortunate amount of attrition (including Sy this year), a number of transfers (LeDay came from USF and Allen from Maryland, for example), and some growing pains along the way.

The goal is no longer to make it to some mythical promised land that Hokies are all-but unfamiliar with; it's now on Williams to maintain and build upon last year's success. In the nation's toughest basketball league, with a lot of roster turnover, that may be a tall task. If anybody's up to it, it's him.

The schedule is significantly tougher outside of the ACC slate than last year's Charmin-thin group: the Hokies travel to Ole Miss and Kentucky, and host Iowa, while their lesser opposition isn't going to be a bunch of RPI-crushers (unlike last year). VT will likely continue to bomb it away from deep, even without some of last year's snipers. As soon as tonight, we'll see a Hokie team that is exciting to watch - in sickness and in health, so to speak - and can tear up the nets while taking care of Detroit Mercy.

The season begins now, but the journey has been a long time in the making.