How long until VT becomes a top 3 program?

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

Bassett and Miller (and little Bassett in the future) will be program changers for Tech.  Is it crazy to think they might be competing for a team title in 2-3 years?

Does this kick Iowa firmly off the podium? (Penn State, Ok State, VT/Nebraska/Cornell/Ohio State)

[ionel]

34 minutes ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Bassett and Miller (and little Bassett in the future) will be program changers for Tech.  Is it crazy to think they might be competing for a team title in 2-3 years?

Does this kick Iowa firmly off the podium? (Penn State, Ok State, VT/Nebraska/Cornell/Ohio State)

Definitely ... they will spank Iowa this year! 

[Truzzcat]

I do not think this makes them national title contenders, they still have some holes to fill and the way the landscape is looking I just do not think 1-2 weights of zero points of nationals can happen anymore. They are firmly a top 4 team moving into 2026 and beyond though imo.

[nhs67]

It really depends on where these guys land, as far as weights go, and if they Redshirt.

I don't think Bassett redshirts out the gate.  It works out nicely that he will slide right in at 149lbs for VT right after Henson graduates.  Or 141lbs and Crook goes 149lbs for his senior season.  Also, with Bassett's style, you want to use him before you lose him.  I mean that due to his physicality, not his wiffle-waffliness.  We have been fortunate to witness him go without injuries thus far, and I would rather see him wrestle rather than redshirt, then get hurt (not saying he does, just saying it's a possibility), so we get another redshirt at some point.

Miller, on the other hand, will be coming in during the Junior/Senior seasons of McEnelly, Ferrari, Ryder, Welsh, Mantanona, SGW, Sinclair, etc.  If he's 184lbs, he might want/need the Redshirt.  If he's 174lbs his true-frosh season, though, that changes.  He likely 'only' has to deal with Mantanona, Henckel, Minto, Ruiz, Norman, etc.  Both are tough goes, but one looks like it could be significantly more difficult in three years than the other.

[Elevator]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Bassett and Miller (and little Bassett in the future) will be program changers for Tech.  Is it crazy to think they might be competing for a team title in 2-3 years?

Does this kick Iowa firmly off the podium? (Penn State, Ok State, VT/Nebraska/Cornell/Ohio State)

I think it is good for the sport to have top 5 teams (or at least top 5 contenders) from outside the B1G on the regular. 

[Rassling2]

30 minutes ago, Elevator said:

I think it is good for the sport to have top 5 teams (or at least top 5 contenders) from outside the B1G on the regular. 

Even though I’m a PS fan, I’m hoping for the same outcome someday. Makes the sport more exciting for everyone 

[TW8]

As much as it pains me to say it, nobody is catching PSU anytime soon.  

[fishbane]

These guys won’t be on the team together until 2028 NCAAs at the earliest.  It’s too soon to tell whether they will be a top three team in 2028, but looking at the recruiting classes that will be competing in that tournament (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027) they are #3 in recruiting.  They have 2 top 5, 4 top 10, and 7 top 20 recruits from those classes.  Which is well behind PSU (5/9/13 + Ono) and OSU (7/11/12), but ahead of Iowa (3/4/6) and everyone else.

Virgina Techs top 20 recruits from the relevant classes are #1 (2026) Basset, #1 (2027) Miller, #10 (2024) Wright, #10 (2025) Seidel, #11 (2023) Mullen, #14 (2025) Burton, #16 (2026) Dickman.

compare that with Iowas top 20 recruits over the same period

#2 (2023) Keuter, #2 (2024) Ferrari, #5 (2023) Arnold, #9 (2025) DeLuca, #15 (2025) Ludington, #15 (2026) Mocco

Even though Virginia Tech is slightly ahead of Iowa in recruiting they will have a lot of work.  Iowa has the budget and ability to bring in transfers to plug any holes.

[Mr. PeanutButter]

PSU's reign will last another 6.9 years. Then the NCAA will collapse in on itself under the weight of all the weirdness that has been wrought since NIL

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

3 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Bassett and Miller (and little Bassett in the future) will be program changers for Tech.  Is it crazy to think they might be competing for a team title in 2-3 years?

Does this kick Iowa firmly off the podium? (Penn State, Ok State, VT/Nebraska/Cornell/Ohio State)

Little Bassett may need to go on the Aaron Brooks diet and supplement plan or he could end up transferring to Cal Baptist with Kurt McHenry.

[juniorvarsity]

2 hours ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Little Bassett may need to go on the Aaron Brooks diet and supplement plan or he could end up transferring to Cal Baptist with Kurt McHenry.

It is literally impossible to say how big he is going to be, but he is much smaller than Bo was as a sophomore. Bo went from 113 to 132 as a sophomore, or something like that. I am assuming he is likely not young for his grade too. It happens. David Taylor went 103, 103, 112, 135. 

[juniorvarsity]

I am excited to see what type of impact this has on Virginia Tech's recruiting. I do not have an extensive knowledge of high school wrestling aside from the top P4P and the kids that make U17 world teams. There were quite a few champs at the lower weights, Keegan Bassett included. Maybe they are all tight and he can persuade them over the next few years to go to Virginia Tech.

[WrestlingRash]

I think Bassett is going to be a bust. Miller is legit and will probably get paid more to go somewhere else. 

[fishbane]

Getting out recruited by Virgina Tech proved to be the end of the line for Brands's predecessor at Iowa.  Could it be the begining of the end for him too?

[lurker]

This just shows how much Iowa is slipping. 

[Truzzcat]

2 hours ago, juniorvarsity said:

It is literally impossible to say how big he is going to be, but he is much smaller than Bo was as a sophomore. Bo went from 113 to 132 as a sophomore, or something like that. I am assuming he is likely not young for his grade too. It happens. David Taylor went 103, 103, 112, 135. 

I believe he is 16 and he wrestled 99lbs at cadet worlds so there is a good bit of growing still to be done for sure. 

[TNwrestling]

2 hours ago, WrestlingRash said:

I think Bassett is going to be a bust. Miller is legit and will probably get paid more to go somewhere else. 

he's ranked number 1 in the country and a multiple time world team member as well as super 32 champ, ironman champ (where he teched his way through), powerade champ (where he pinned his way through) etc etc etc

 

what do you mean by bust?

[Caveira]

1 hour ago, fishbane said:

Getting out recruited by Virgina Tech proved to be the end of the line for Brands's predecessor at Iowa.  Could it be the begining of the end for him too?

My inside sources tell me the entire university is going to fold in the next ~60 months.    This of course after they get relegated to d2 in 2026-2027.    Relegated again to d3 in 2028-2029.   One last time where they finally DNP in NAIA in 2029-2030.     In 2031 they change the colleges name to the Midwest banana peels and cancel all sports programs.   They will be a performing arts college.    
 

he asked me not to leak this info as he will be placing some massive bets on this in Vegas.   Please keep this info quiet.  

[WrestlingRash]

1 hour ago, TNwrestling said:

he's ranked number 1 in the country and a multiple time world team member as well as super 32 champ, ironman champ (where he teched his way through), powerade champ (where he pinned his way through) etc etc etc

 

what do you mean by bust?

you must be pretty new to the sport. there is a LONG history of high school world beaters who don't amount to much in college. he will be facing men, not boys. D1 wrestling is hard. couple that with how hard he has been going and it increases the risk of burnout 100X. 

[BruceyB]

9 hours ago, Jimmy Cinnabon said:

Does this kick Iowa firmly off the podium? (Penn State, Ok State, VT/Nebraska/Cornell/Ohio State)

I know it's a Jimmy troll job, but I have been saying it all year.. Iowa can't recruit high schoolers. You can't bring in 1 or 2 high school guys each year and expect to develop as a program. The plug and play transfers is not sustainable. Right now, VT is miles ahead of Iowa in projected 2028 rosters. VT should be very solid in all 10 weights at that time. As of now, Iowa will have Deluca, Ferrari, Luddington, and Kueter/Mocco at heavyweight. They have 6 holes they'll need to address from outside their room/commits. So many schools have been routinely out recruiting Iowa for the past 6+ years that I genuinely don't understand how the Brands are still there. Coaching skills aside, the AD overseeing one of the most proud programs in NCAA wrestling has to see Iowa getting out recruited by schools like Virginia Tech, NC State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Michigan, Missouri, and hell, even UNC has more impressive recruiting classes coming in than Iowa since Koll got there.

There is clearly is major issue between the pitch that T&T are selling and what kids are looking for. It is an absolute joke that Iowa can't bring in a top 5 recruiting class. By the name of Iowa wrestling alone an average coach with a decent message should be able to have more success than what is currently taking place. I don't understand how any self respecting Iowa fan sees all of these top 20 big boarders going everywhere BUT Iowa and continue to defend the current state of the program. 

 

[BruceyB]

9 minutes ago, WrestlingRash said:

you must be pretty new to the sport. there is a LONG history of high school world beaters who don't amount to much in college. he will be facing men, not boys. D1 wrestling is hard. couple that with how hard he has been going and it increases the risk of burnout 100X. 

We're not talking about any high school kid. We're talking about Bo Bassett. TNwrestling asked what the definition of bust is? Say whatever you want about him, but if I wager whether or not he will be a 4x AA, I would absolutely bet on him accomplishing that. And I don't think any 4x AA can be called a bust.