Hudson, Raines injuries dampens this season but boosts 2011-12 outlook for Hokies

Virginia Tech was set to bust the NCAA Tournament’s doors down in 2010-11. Instead, an already disappointing season may have taken a turn for the worse.

Internet rumors began to swirl late Wednesday night that senior guard Dorenzo Hudson might be lost for the season with a foot injury.

This came a day after rumblings that backup center Cadarian Raines may sit out the rest of the season with a foot injury also.

I have confirmed these rumors late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning with a source directly involved with the team.

If the buzz is true, it would mean that the original Hokies’ roster of 15 players would be down to 10 by Christmas.

Key forwards Allan Chaney (heart condition) and J.T. Thompson (torn ACL) never played a minute this season. In early December, guard Ben Boggs decided to transfer for more playing time. Raines sat out the beginning of the season, only appeared in four games, and never played more than eight minutes in any game.

Hudson was off to a miserable start this season, averaging just 9.6 points per game. He returned from a calf injury last Saturday to score 17 points off the bench in Tech’s 31-point blowout win over Mississippi State.

Since Hudson suffered the calf injury two weeks ago, head coach Seth Greenberg plugged sophomore Erick Green into the lineup and it breathed new life into the Hokies. They averaged 83.5 points in two games, both wins over power conference teams. Green’s surprisingly solid play, plus Hudson’s contributions off the bench made it seem like Greenberg might barely survive with a six or seven-man rotation the rest of the season.

With the recent injury news, Tech will be lucky to win six games in league play.

The starting five the rest of the way will be Green, Malcolm Delaney, Terrell Bell, Jeff Allen and Victor Davila. The key reserves would be freshman Jarell Eddie, who had played himself out of the regular rotation recently. After averaging 16 minutes through six games, he’s averaging just six minutes over the last four games.

That trend will take another upswing from this point forward, however. He’s now the biggest body Greenberg has on the bench.

Manny Atkins will certainly see more time as well. The 6-7 sophomore has played well in spurts, and what he lacks in skill he makes up for in heart. He’s not been as consistent in his second year as expected, but he’s going to have to catch up to speed quickly now.

What this does put in perspective is a potentially bright 2011-12 season outlook for the Hokies. Assuming Hudson is granted another year of eligibility and he chooses to use it, it will give Greenberg a nice transfusion of youth and experience on next year’s squad.

Here’s a look at a potential rotation next season:

STARTERS

PG – Erick Green (Jr.)

SG – Dorenzo Hudson (Sr.)

SF – Allan Chaney (Jr.)

PF – J.T. Thompson (Sr.)

C – Victor Davila (Sr.)

BENCH

F – Jarell Eddie (So.)

C- Cadarian Raines (Jr./Soph?)

G/F – Dorian Finney-Smith (Fr.)

F – C.J. Barksdale (Fr.)

G – Robert Brown (Fr.)

PG – Marquis Rankin (Fr.)

F – Manny Atkins (Jr.)

This obviously assumes that Chaney is cleared to play next year, which is far from a conclusion at this point. Nobody has confirmed that he’ll ever play basketball again, but no news is good news as he continues to recuperate and go through a variety of tests and check-ups this season. If he is indeed cleared to play, he and Hudson will vie for the role of “go-to” scorer.

Greenberg’s recruiting class, ranked in the top 15 nationally by major services, will be the first group of freshman to make significant contributions since Delaney, Allen and Hudson were rookies.

With this group, there’s depth at point guard. Green’s recent hot play, coupled with the fact that he’ll be playing a lot more the rest of the way means he’ll be an established player entering next season. Rankin has the energy and ball handling to spell Green nicely.

Tech would be extremely long, with an average height of 6-foot-6 in the starting lineup. The Hokies would also be very quick, with the exception of Davila, which would allow Greenberg to be very adaptive defensively.

Barksdale is a Jeff Allen clone who will immediately bolster Tech’s defensive presence while adding to the Hokies’ extraordinary length. Robert Brown is another future premier scorer who could be brought along slowly behind Hudson, whose commitment to fundamentals would be pivotal in Brown’s development.

Basically, the Hokies would be able to go 11 deep consistently and would be extremely tough defensively.

There might not be a true dominant scorer among the group (unless Chaney lives up to the hype Greenberg’s bestowed upon him), but collectively they would be able to win games in a variety of fashions.

So while all may be lost for this season –sorry, Delaney – Hokie fans will just have to endure, because the grass is greener on the other side this time.