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After upsetting No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 North Carolina in the 2022 ACC Tournament, No. 7 Virginia Tech faced No. 1 Duke in the championship. Led by future No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick Paolo Banchero, the Blue Devils were expected to beat VT handily.

But Duke couldn’t stop Hunter Cattoor. The Hokies’ sharp-shooting guard scored 31 points on 11-for-16 shooting to lift the Hokies to an 82-67 win. Following back-to-back losses in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Cattoor had led VT to its first-ever conference tournament title.

“We still had the confidence in each other and individually that at some point, it’s gonna turn around and we’re gonna break through it. And that’s exactly what we did,” Cattoor said.

Cattoor, a fifth-year graduate student, has excelled in his time at Virginia Tech. The Orlando, FL, native broke the Hokies’ all-time mark for the most 3-pointers on Nov. 23, 2023, and has led them to a 15-12 (7-9 ACC) record. In his final collegiate season, Cattoor is looking to lift the Hokies to one last postseason push.

“It’s obviously hard to win road games in this conference and a big thing of that is just staying together and being able to go out there and execute the game plan for 40 minutes,” Cattoor said. “I think if we’re able to do that for these last stretch of games and going into the ACC Tournament, we’ll be able to put a good run together.”

Miranda Fournier | Design Editor

The first of the Hokies’ last four regular season games comes Tuesday versus Syracuse. The last time the teams faced, Cattoor scored 21 points on just 10 shots, draining six 3-pointers to help lift Virginia Tech to an 85-70 win.

The Hokies are in a similar position now to where they were in 2022, sitting 10th in the ACC standings. With Cattoor and VT vying for another run, he has his 2022 experience to call upon as he tries to once again push his team to the pinnacle.

“We never wavered, we never got down that year even when we were losing all those games,” Cattoor said.

First-year Virginia Tech assistant coach J.D. Byers hasn’t been at Virginia Tech long, but he already has confidence in Cattoor’s play to lead the team through the season’s end.

“It’s more unique than ever to have someone who’s been in your program for five years,” Byers said. “Just a guy who knows the ins and outs of how we do things. He does a lot of things offensively with his screens and his movements that are just based on his experience of being in this program.”

Cattoor isn’t the flashiest offensive player, but he always puts his team in the best position to succeed. In every season of his collegiate career, his points per game have gradually increased, with a career-high 13.7 this season. His mother Kathy said his play usually doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.

“Our son has always been somebody that has never been the top scorer,” Kathy said. “You’ll see him dive on the floor — he’s very willing to give up a pass or a shot for a better shot and that’s how he’s always been taught.”

But as he did against Duke in 2022, Cattoor can take over. In a three-game stretch against Florida State, Notre Dame and Miami this season, he averaged 19.0 points per game. Though the Hokies went 1-2 in that stretch, Cattoor shot 19-for-41 from the field and 13-for-28 from 3.

Regardless of what happens over the final stretch of Virginia Tech’s season, Cattoor’s legacy will not be tainted. After five seasons in Blacksburg, the most 3-pointers in program history and an ACC Tournament championship already, Cattoor has made a significant impact on the program.

“I hope I left my mark for people respecting me not only on the court but off the court, just in really my identity of going out there every game and trying my hardest,” Cattoor said.

Published on February 26, 2024 at 11:27 pm