Virginia Tech men's basketball coach Buzz Williams decided he wanted some help to get his team ready for upcoming season, so he went out and got a new assistant. Christian Webster, a former player at Harvard, was announced as the new hire for the Hokies.
Welcome home, @CoachWebbie!#getBETTER #FAMILY
— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) July 11, 2016
" https://t.co/e6qmxwmn15 pic.twitter.com/dWpHsTKnUg
Webster, a native of Washington D.C., sure seemed thrilled about his new job as well.
I am honored to announce that I will be joining @TeamCoachBuzz staff! I am truly blessed and thrilled to call myself a Hokie!
— Christian Webster (@CoachWebbie) July 11, 2016
As a player, Webster participated in 117 games, including two NCAA tournament berths and winning three straight Ivy League titles, so he knows what it takes to get there. Webster also knows something about shooting the basketball. He finished his career 5th on Harvard's all time list in made 3-pt FG with 176. The Hokies were sporadic with their shooting last season, so hopefully Webster has some useful insight to make the wings more consistent in that department. Good teams make their shots, so if the Hokies want to be a good team, they are going to have to improve their shooting averages.
His coaching career started off at Harvard as well, joining Tommy Amaker's staff. The Crimson didn't miss a beat as Webster transferred to the coaches' side of the bench, continuing their winning ways and dominating the Ivy League. In the 2014 NCAA tournament, Harvard beat 5th seed Cincinnati to advance to the second round, where they lost against Michigan State. Webster also had a brief, one-season stint with UCF where the Knights went a not-so-solid 12-18 in the American Conference.
It also looks like Buzz Williams also wants Webster to use his DC connections for recruiting purposes. From the press release:
"Being from the D.C. area, he has a great familiarity with that region’s basketball community, which is an important recruiting ground for us. He has an outstanding rapport with student-athletes and his character matches what we want everyone in our program to be about, on and off the floor." - Buzz Williams
The Williams' era Hokies have recruited well, but the DC area is considered by some to be one of the hotbeds of basketball talent in the country and Virginia Tech hasn't really got a good recruiting stronghold in that area. There are always good prospects from the region (not to mention Oak Hill Academy), and if this hire helps the Hokies acquire some of that talent, Webster will undoubtedly turn out to be a worthwhile hire. It's impossible to judge the move right now, but there is definite potential in this addition.