Before I get to the story for tomorrow’s rag, here is the latest on Virginia Tech junior point guard Malcolm Delaney’s left ankle, which he sprained Dec. 30 against Longwood, then missed Tech’s next game, a win Saturday over Seton Hall.

Some of this is in the story, but this little blurb provides more detail than the story, which was restricted by space constraints ...

Team trainer Chad Hyatt said this afternoon that Delaney will be a game-time decision for tomorrow’s ACC opener at North Carolina. Hokie coach Seth Greenberg said the same thing on Thursday.

“Malcolm’s doing pretty well,” Hyatt said. “Real pleased with his progress all week. He’s made progress every day.”

Hyatt said Delaney is about 75 percent healthy. Even if Delaney doesn’t play at Carolina, Hyatt said he is about 80 percent sure he would return for Wednesday’s home game against Miami.

Hyatt will monitor Delaney at today’s shoot-around. What must Hyatt see to clear Delaney to play?

“If he can get out there and compete a little bit,” Hyatt said.

Delaney didn’t do any full-speed work in practice, in part because Greenberg didn’t want to set back Delaney’s recovery by having a teammate accidentally step on his foot, Hyatt said. “He probably hasn’t been ready to do that kind of [full-speed] stuff,” Hyatt said. “At the same time, coach really didn’t want to put him in there. ... Coach has been pretty conservative with him.”

Hyatt said Delaney has been rehabbing his ankle two to three times a day. This includes putting it in a cold tub, a hot tub, doing range-of-motion exercises, using the Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill, riding a stationary bike and doing some shooting and non-contact drills.

BY DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

BLACKSBURG – Somewhere along the road from Washington, D.C., to Blacksburg on Wednesday, Paige Greenberg confessed something to her father, Seth, who coaches Virginia Tech’s basketball team.

Paige, who was riding in the car with Seth to keep him company on a recruiting trip, mentioned she felt worried about the Hokie’ season during a Thanksgiving weekend trip to Philadelphia, where they lost to Temple and needed overtime to beat Delaware.

“She said, ‘Dad, I’ve got to be honest with you. After Philadelphia, I wasn’t sure we were going to win another game,’” Seth Greenberg said. “I said, ‘I appreciate that, Paige.’”

The Hokie did win again, of course, and they are 12-1 entering tonight’s ACC opener at North Carolina, which has won the league’s regular-season championship the past two season and captured the national title last year.

Despite the Greenbergs’ concerns – Paige’s dad is a sleepless worrier himself – the Hokie’ non-conference performance set them up to make a run at making the NCAA tournament, which they missed the past two seasons. How they handle their 16 ACC games – “16 root canals,” as Seth Greenberg called them – will determine how they feel on Selection Sunday, March 14.

They will need a healthy Malcolm Delaney to succeed in conference play. Delaney, their junior point guard and the ACC’s leading scorer, sprained his left ankle Dec. 30 against Longwood and missed last Saturday’s win over Seton Hall in Cancun, Mexico. Greenberg replaced him with freshman Erick Green. “I’m not gonna lie,” Green said. “I was nervous at first.” But Greenberg said Green “handled himself well.”

Delaney is about 75 percent healthy, and his status for today will be a game-time decision, team trainer Chad Hyatt said yesterday. Delaney, who was not available for interviews, hasn’t practiced since getting hurt. His participation this week was limited to shooting and non-contact drills, partly because Greenberg “has been pretty conservative with him,” Hyatt said. If Delaney doesn’t play today, he likely will play in Wednesday’s home game against Miami, Hyatt said.

The Seton Hall victory, 103-94 in overtime, gave Greenberg hope that he can rely offensively on somebody other than Delaney and junior power forward Jeff Allen, Tech’s second-leading scorer. Junior shooting guard Dorenzo Hudson hung 41 points on the Pirates – the most by a Hokie since Bimbo Coles scored 42 in 1989-90.

Greenberg saw a more assertive Hudson. Last season, Hudson got fewer offensive opportunities – he averaged 4.5 shot attempts per game, compared to 9.1 this season – and often worried Greenberg would bench him when he made a mistake. “I was kind of looking over my shoulder every time I did something bad,” Hudson said.

His showing in Mexico “took a lot of weight off my shoulders, gave me a lot of freedom,” he said. “I’m walking with my shoulders kind of high right now, kind of feeling real confident going into the next game.”

Greenberg, too, likes how the Hokie have progressed. “We’re more alert defensively,” he said. “We’re rebounding the ball fairly consistently. We’ve gotten better executing in the half court. And we’ve got more guys contributing.”

But tonight poses a new challenge, even if Carolina did lose four starters from last season, including forward Tyler Hansbrough, the ACC’s all-time leading scorer. The Tar Heels still favor an up-tempo pace that will challenge Tech’s transition defense. They still have talented post players: 6-9 junior Deon Thompson, the only returning starter, and 6-10 sophomore Ed Davis, a likely top-10 NBA draft pick from Benedictine High.

Tech’s big men – 6-8 sophomore Victor Davila and Allen, who is 6-7 – must establish position early in possessions and force Thompson and Davis away from the basket before their teammates get them the ball. “If you let them catch it deep, you’re dead,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg being Greenberg, he still has concerns about this team, yet he managed a laugh when recounting his daughter’s doomsday fears, which the Hokie alleviated during the past month. “So obviously we’ve gotten better,” he said. “How much better? We’ll find out in the next eight weeks.”

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The Hokies travel to North Carolina to open conference play. Plus, an update on Malcolm Delaney’s sprained left ankle.