Virginia Tech Makes The Top Ten For Top 2026 Forward Jalan Wingfield
The Hokies are hard at work bringing in talented players for the 2026 recruiting class and they made the cut for one of the top forwards in the country. Jalan Wingfield, who plays at Tri-Cities in Atlanta (GA), announced his top ten schools on social media today and the Hokies were among them. The other schools included Georgia Tech, Georgia, Auburn, Cincinnati, Florida State, South Carolina, Alabama, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.
According to 247Sports, Wingfield (6'8 225 LBS) is the No. 51 player in the country, the No. 10 power forward in the country, and the No. 5 player in the state of Georgia. Virginia Tech currently does not have a player committed for the 2026 class, but Wingfield would be a great addition to the roster.
Right now, Virginia Tech is hoping they can get their third ACC win of the year tomorrow night when they host NC State.
Virginia Tech has claimed five of the last eight matchups but trails in the all-time series with NC State, 43-20. Four of the past five meetings have been decided by six points or less. VT prevailed 84-78 in the last season’s lone matchup in Raleigh. Behind Hunter Cattoor’s team-high 19 points, the Hokies shot 53.1% to earn the road victory. The Wolfpack won both meetings during the 2022- 23 season after splitting the season series in 2021-22, with each side winning on the road. Tech is 10-14 all-time against NC State in Blacksburg, but has lost the last two in Cassell. We have to go back to Jan. 11, 2020 (Mike Young’s first season), to find the Hokies’ last win over the Wolfpack in Blacksburg. Tech defeated NC State 72-58. Tech will be searching for back-to-back wins against the Wolfpack for the first time since 2019-20. Wednesday’s game features two of the previous three ACC tournament champions, with Tech winning in 2022 and NC State prevailing in 2024.
Tech freshman guard Tyler Johnson notched the first double-double of his college career in Saturday’s 71-68 win at Cal. The Orlando, Fla., native recorded 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds to help the Hokies hold on for their first road win of the season. He also logged a career-high 35 minutes, while guarding the ACC’s second-leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic. “He did an exceptional job,” Young said of Johnson’s defense on Stojakovic. “He let him get back to his left hand a couple times in the second half, but take not one thing away from Tyler and his work. He was on point, he did a great job on the glass and we needed it.”
VT ranked 10th in the ACC and 191st nationally in rebound margin last season. Most of the rebounding struggles were on the offensive side where the Hokies grabbed just 25% of their offensive rebound opportunities, which ranked 298th out of 362 programs per Ken Pomeroy. In 13 of its 21 games against ACC, foes last season, Tech lost the battle of the boards, including double-digit margins against Duke (-18), Pitt (-14), Boston College (-13) and North Carolina (-12).
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