BLACKSBURG -- When the Virginia Tech men's basketball team jumped into the ACC in 2004, it was coming off an eighth-place season in the Big East -- its best finish in its four years in that conference. It had not made the NCAA tournament or even the NIT since 1996.

If there was anyone thinking the Hokies would become an instant success in their illustrious new league, they would have been, to borrow a phrase from Tech coach Seth Greenberg, certifiably insane.

And yet the Hokies, Duke and North Carolina are the only teams that have finished in fourth place or better in the ACC standings in at least three of the past four seasons.

"Nobody would have predicted this," said Greenberg's brother and former assistant, Radford coach Brad Greenberg.

So how has Tech managed this?

"It's Seth," TV analyst Len Elmore said. "He's been able to recruit players that can compete. He instills something in them."

The two-time ACC coach of the year sat down to explain Tech's surprising success:

Q: Did you think you would be this good this soon in the league?

A: I didn't have an expectation. We needed to make sure our guys understood we were in this league to try to compete and win games, and not just as a member.

Our players were better than people thought they were. The year before, winning games at the end of that season, advancing to the Big East tournament, gave our freshmen at that time [Zabian Dowdell, Jamon Gordon, Coleman Collins] confidence.

Q: Was there a formula that you applied?

A: Yeah. We were going to defend. We were going to compete at a high level. And we were going to try to attack. I thought that in this league, if you were going to be passive, it was like sharks and blood. They were going to attack your weaknesses. You had to try to at least find a way to make the other team react to you.

Q: Defend, attack -- isn't that most people's formula?

A: Well, we had good guards. Coming into the league with good guards was huge. If you don't have good guards in this league, you really have no chance. We had two guards [Dowdell and Gordon] that weren't as heralded as guys that normally come into this league but were physical and tough and winning players.

Q: But a different group of guards last season.

A: What we tried to do is give them a lot of confidence and make sure they were not afraid to make a mistake.

Q: Has this been easier or harder than your previous jobs at Long Beach State and South Florida?

A: We're so far from being where we need to be long term. We've got to continue to acquire ACC talent. We are still working on developing a culture and an ownership that you need day in, day out to be successful in this conference.

We've got to break through and have a back-to-back NCAA year. We've got to ... continue to have success against the elite teams. We've got to have breakthroughs in recruiting where we can go head-to-head and win some recruiting battles.

Q: You've done this without the same kind of recruits that Duke and UNC are getting.

A: We have good players that buy into getting better. I don't think there's a coach in the league that wouldn't want Zabian Dowdell on their team. I don't think there are a lot of guys in our league that wouldn't want Jeff Allen on their team, Malcolm Delaney on their team.

Where someone rates them has nothing to do with how good they are. But you also need a couple aircraft carriers. You need guys that can just flat-out lace them up from Day 1 against anyone. And we're making progress.

Q: At Tech, is the key to develop a guy like Zabian or A.D. Vassallo into an All-ACC player?

A: We've got to develop our players, there's no doubt about it. We take a lot of pride in our guys getting better.

Q: How much is it also due to the fact that you have guys that are staying for four years?

A: The biggest thing we were missing when we got here is that there wasn't a group of upperclassmen that basically taught the underclassmen what it took to be successful. As you build your program, you hope that your upperclassmen hold your underclassmen accountable. That's the process we're in right now.

Q: How much is motivation a factor?

A: I don't think a young player really understands how hard he needs to play and what competing is. That's what we've had some success doing, getting our guys to get outside themselves and pushing them to the point where they understood how hard they had to play.

Q: Tech was in the Big East when Ricky Stokes got Jamon, when you got Zabian. But did the ACC help you get a Jeff Allen, a Malcolm Delaney?

A: It has enabled us to define our geographic footprint in terms of recruiting. If you're from North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, you grew up on the ACC game of the week. Now we are another option.

The kids we get from the Carolinas, the Maryland area, it has been because of the league affiliation.

Q: Now that people are coming to Cassell, does that help you in the ACC?

A: We said when we came here that we wanted to take Lane Stadium and move it into Cassell Coliseum. Football's basically the blueprint that we're trying to apply: hard-nosed, tough, competitive, chip on your shoulder, hungry.

We've got a venue that's a tough venue to play in. It's really helped. We've embraced the football model, and that's really helped us develop an identity.

Q: Is coaching still fun for you?

A: This is not a job, it's my passion.

I don't mind being the underdog. That fits my mind-set. I look at myself as the anti-ACC coach.

Q: The anti-ACC coach?

A: I didn't play in the league. ... I'm not from this geographic footprint.

And I don't sugarcoat things. It's not who I am. I wear my emotions on my sleeves.