With the basketball season right around the corner and the football season going as it is, I thought it would be in everyone’s best interest to talk a little basketball. I wrote these profiles in the summer as players started to commit. Now that I know what the rest of the roster looks like, I went back and updated my thoughts to give you a better idea of how I see the player (in this case, Brandon Rechsteiner) fitting into the program. I’ll update more profiles over the next few weeks.
Now on to
our regularly scheduled program.
Brandon Rechsteiner
With the basketball season right around the corner and the football season going as it is, I thought it would be in everyone’s best interest to talk a little basketball. I wrote these profiles in the summer as players started to commit. Now that I know what the rest of the roster looks like, I went back and updated my thoughts to give you a better idea of how I see the player (in this case, Brandon Rechsteiner) fitting into the program. I’ll update more profiles over the next few weeks.
Rechsteiner is one of the instant-impact transfers Coach Alexander brought in to win now. One rule for a “developmental” program is that you have to win enough to stick around long enough to see the fruits of your labor. Rechsteiner should help with that endeavor in 2026.
He’s a plug-and-play combo guard who can play both on and off the ball. While he can run the offense and distribute the ball, that’s not his best skill. Rechsteiner is a shooting guard trapped in a point guard’s body. He’s wired to score and is at his best when he can let it fly from deep early and often.
Bio
Position: Guard
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 190
Hometown: Acworth, Georgia
Recruiting Class: 2023
Eligibility: Senior (1 Season remaining)
Former Team(s): Virginia Tech / Colorado State
Transfer Portal Rankings: 4*(93) – National Rank: 84 – Point Guard Rank: 17
High School Career
Rechsteiner was a four-year letter-winner at Etowah High School in Acworth, Georgia. He was named to the Georgia All-State team in his junior and senior years. He averaged 18 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals per game as a senior. He was rated a 3*(88) recruit in the Rivals Industry Ranking. He was considered the 158th best player in the nation and the 28th overall point guard in the 2023 class.
He signed with Virginia Tech over listed offers from Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Kansas State.
High School Highlights
2023-24 Season – Virginia Tech
Games Played: 26
Games Started: 2
Minutes: 9
Points: 2
Rebounds: 1
Assists: 1
2-Point %: 70
3-Point %: 27
2024-25 Season – Virginia Tech
Games Played: 32
Games Started: 15
Minutes: 22
Points: 7
Rebounds: 1
Assists: 3
2-Point %: 47
3-Point %: 30
Virginia Tech Highlights
2025-26 Season – Colorado State
Games Played: 34
Games Started: 34
Minutes: 28
Points: 12
Rebounds: 2
Assists: 3
2-Point %: 56
3-Point %: 40
Miscellaneous 2025-26 Stats
Highest Scoring Game: 21 vs Wichita State
Games with 20+ Points: 2
Games with 10+ Points: 24
Most Assists in a Game: 6 vs Incarnate Word and South Florida
Best 3-Point Shooting Game: 7/12 vs Wichita State
2025-26 Analytics
* () – National Rank per KenPom
Effective Field Goal%: 58.4 (164)
Assist Rate: 19.1 (483)
True Shooting Percentage: 60.3 (236)
3-Point Percentage: .396 – 82/207 (245)
Percentage of Team Shots: 25.7 (387)
Fouls Committed / 40 minutes: 2.1 (214)
2026-27 Season Outlook
Starter: Guard
Thoughts
As I mentioned above, Rechsteiner can, and has, run the show. According to Ken Pom, he played 69% of his minutes at point guard for Colorado State last season, but he’s far from a pass-first game manager. His 2.5/1.7 assist-to-turnover ratio is far from ideal for a primary ball handler.
I know Rechsteiner is going to start, but I’m interested to see how he functions in Alexander’s offense. Initially, I thought pairing him with Montana Wheeler would be the play, but now I’m not so sure. Wheeler, like Rechsteiner, is more of a shoot-first point guard than a facilitator. Does playing 2-combo guards equal 1 point guard, or does it mean you don’t have a point guard? Can you start a 5’10”, 170-pound guard next to a 6’1”, 190-pound guard and survive on defense?
I’m not sure.
Freshman Jaylen Alexander is another potential option. He’s got a little more size at 6’2”, 185, and says he patterns his game after former Purdue and current Indianapolis Pacers point guard Braden Smith. Braden holds the NCAA career record for assists while he could score; he preferred to set the table for his teammates, especially in the pick-and-roll. In theory, I like that skill set next to Rechsteiner, but that theory runs into an issue because of the first word in this paragraph…Freshman. I think Jaylen has a bright future, but do you really want to throw a true freshman into the shark-infested waters of the Big 12? Braden Smith started as a true freshman for Purdue, but he had Zach Edey at center, which made his job significantly easier because he knew where the ball needed to go. His job was to get the ball to Edey. That cut down on the decision-making as a freshman. Kansas State doesn’t have a Zach Edey, and Alexander’s offense is built on moving the ball and finding the open man. Playing next to an experienced guard like Rechsteiner could potentially take some of the load off of Alexander’s shoulders. Alexander may not start the season opener, but he could work his way into the role as the season progresses.
Then there’s Jaden Schutt. He played on the same Virginia Tech team as Rechsteiner and will probably be one of the other starters. At 6’5”, 200, he can play either shooting guard or small forward and did both for the Hokies. Like pretty much everyone else on the team, he’s a flamethrower from deep, but does a starting backcourt of Rechsteiner and Schutt have enough ball-handling and playmaking skills to run the offense?
Maybe?
Alexander’s offense is predicated on ball and player movement. Floor spacing alone will make Rechsteiner’s job easier, and once the ball moves, the offense doesn’t care who has it; it’s either shoot, attack a closeout, or move the ball along to the next shooter to make the same decision. Last season at Belmont, Nic McClain averaged 6.3 assists per game, but after he went down with an injury in the 15th game of the season, the Bruins became an equal-opportunity assist team, with several players averaging between 3 and 4 a game, and no one player monopolizing the ball.
According to Coach Alexander, Rechsteiner drained 8 3-pointers in the super-secret Tulsa scrimmage last week. Rechsteiner will have the bright green light from deep, regardless of who he’s paired with in the backcourt.
So, without further ado…
Coach Alexander, Brandon Rechsteiner, and the Wildcats have the hookup, holla if you hear me.
