Malcolm Delaney wants to get one thing straight. Duke and North Carolina may have owned the ACC the last few years and won three national titles since 2005, but he’s not scared of the Tobacco Road teams.
Neither is the rest of the ACC.
“As of now, people don’t fear Duke and UNC any more. I know we don’t, as a team. My freshman year when I came in and we played at UNC, I was looking around because I’d never played in that type of atmosphere against that type of team. When we played them in the ACC Tournament and we stuck with them, I never thought about it the same way,” Delaney said at ACC media day, per the Raleigh News & Observer.
“The close games we’ve played against Duke, those type of games, I don’t think we really fear those type of teams anymore. We like playing against that type of competition.”
Bold talk from a guy whose team has missed the last three NCAA tournaments. But I expect nothing less. Delaney’s one of the nation’s top players and the Hokies are a rock solid Top 25 team this season.
Perhaps most telling from Delaney’s comments? He doesn’t fear Duke or UNC - but he sure as hell respects them.
He’s already circled Virginia Tech’s Feb. 26 game against Duke.
Mike Miller’s also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller, usually talkin’ hoops. Click here for more.