When the NCAA transfer rules changed a few years ago, it was immediately clear to us that Mike Brey and Tony Bennett were in trouble.
Why? Because both coaches prefer to recruit system players and train them for a year or three until they are ready. The portal, together with NIL, made that extremely difficult.
A few years later, Brey has finished his college basketball career and Bennett, while still successful, is well below his career high.
In the 2018-19 season, Virginia finished 35-3 and had one of the best postseason runs in NCAA history to win the national championship.
You have to factor in Covid, which struck the following year, but since 2018-19, UVA has gone 23-7, 18-7, 21-14, 25-8 and 23-11. Virginia missed the 2021-22 tournament and hasn’t won a tournament game since the 2019 national championship game.
Partly this is due to the chaos caused by Covid (remember when Virginia suffered a Covid surge just before playing Ohio in 2021?), which made recruiting players much more difficult, and partly it is due to changes sweeping the sport, including, crucially, the much more liberal transfer rules mentioned above.
Last year, for example, Virginia hoped to develop Leon Bond and also hoped that Dante Harris, a transfer from Georgetown, would be a great addition.
After the season, Bond transferred to Northern Iowa and Harris entered the portal but then changed his mind – but by the time he did, Virginia had already given away all of its scholarships. He was reportedly set to return as a walk-on but is currently not on the roster.
The development of players like Jack Salt and Ryan Dunn has really helped Bennett’s program, and as good as he was, it took him a while to adjust to the new era. Is this year’s team ready to return to its old form?
Well, let’s see.
Dunn and Reese Beekman are moving to the NBA and that’s a big deal for Virginia. Dunn couldn’t shoot, but he was an excellent and versatile defender and Beekman was one of the better guards in the ACC.
Bond probably could have been in the starting lineup, but he chose not to. Jacob Groves and Jordan Minor, two of last year’s transfers, are no longer eligible to play. They are replaceable.
Virginia returns Blake Buchanan (6-11/225 pounds, sophomore), Andrew Rohde (6-6 pounds, third-year sophomore), Taine Murray (6-5 pounds, fourth-year sophomore), Isaac McKneely (6-4 pounds, third-year sophomore), Elijah Gertrude (6-4 pounds, sophomore), Christian Bliss (6-4 pounds, redshirt freshman) and Anthony Robinson (6-10/238 pounds, redshirt freshman).
It was a big setback for Virginia: Gertrude injured his knee in a scooter accident and will be out for the entire season. He had a good chance of being on the starting line-up.
In a related vein, Bennett has issued a blanket ban on scooters. Just kidding, but it would be understandable.
Of the other returnees, Isaac McKneely is an excellent three-point shooter. We were never impressed with the rest of his game, but he’s not an obvious weakness either. Like many of Bennett’s recruits, he fits well into Virginia’s system. He’s also pretty strong for a guard.
We really liked Rohde at St. Thomas and were impressed by his all-round game. We wondered if that would translate to him as well.
Not so much so far.
He was the starter but averaged only 4.3 points per game. Rebounds? 1.8. He did manage 2.7 assists per game but seemed overwhelmed at times by the higher competition. We love his instincts, but he still has work to do.
The returner we would keep an eye on is Buchanan. He had some flashes last season. He came in at 6’1″ and 200 pounds, but now he’s 200 pounds, and that will certainly help him. Last season he was limited by his lack of strength. Bennett says Buchanan is a “quick thinker” and should become a solid defender. After a few years of below-average post players, a big guy in the post will certainly be a relief.
Murray is a senior now, and while he was a passable player, you’re probably searching your database right now trying to remember him. Nothing against Murray, but there’s a reason for that. He’s a good shooter, but not much else stands out — and he wasn’t a good enough shooter to really have a big impact on an offense that turned out to be awful last season.
Virginia now has two redshirt freshmen who are eligible: Robinson and Bliss.
Robinson was considered a project when he came to college, and no one has seen him outside of practice for a year. Still, he’s a big, strong kid and could find a role, perhaps as a backup. Like Buchanan, he’s put on weight and muscle, in his case 22 pounds, and that will surely help him. He also seems to understand that redshirting was smart, and that he needs to work on it — that’s great.
Bliss had ankle surgery last season but is expected to be good to go. We don’t know much about him, but that’s a great name for a college basketball player.
Virginia brings on board some quality transfer players: Jalen Warley from FSU, Elijah Sanders from San Diego State, Dai Dai Ames from K-State, Carter Lang from Vandy and of course TJ Power from Duke.
The latter hurts. We said last year that he just needs strength, and we’re sticking with that. However, he’s listed at 6’1″ and 235 pounds, the same as he was last season as a freshman. He’s probably stronger, but that hasn’t translated into size yet.
His three-point shooting will be a huge advantage for Virginia. As we saw at Duke, he can throw really well. And it will come in handy that Power, who is also a pitcher, has a really strong arm. Don’t be surprised if Virginia wins a game or two because of it.
Warley is now a 6’10 senior. He’s a solid all-around player and a willing defender. He can play point if Bennett wants him there, or he can play several other positions. That versatility could make him great as a substitute, too. He’ll be really useful.
Saunders (6’10”, 220 lbs.) comes out of San Diego State. He’s shot pretty well and you have to play defense when you play for the Aztecs, so he should fit in well.
Dai Dai Ames (6’1″, sophomore) is a creative offensive player. He started slowly at Kansas State but later found his stride. He will have to adapt to Virginia’s style and defend, but if he can do that, he will find a role.
Lang (6’1″, 235 lbs, sophomore) spent his freshman year at Vanderbilt University and returned home after Jerry Stackhouse (a Charlottesville native) was fired.
He will be useful, but probably mostly in practice. Lang will be a walk-on, at least for this season. After that, we’ll see.
The newcomers are Jacob Cofie (6-10/230) and Ishan Sharma (6-5).
Cofie is a four-star player and was also Washington’s player of the year. That might not happen this year, but he has potential on both ends of the court. He has real potential.
Sharma is also interesting. As far as we can remember, he is the first player of Indian descent to compete in the ACC. Right now, three-point shooting is his strength, but he will certainly develop as he matures. He could get caught up in a numbers game, but he too has potential.
Overall, Virginia is in a much better position. The transfers, with the exception of Warley, should stay for more than just one season and the offense should improve significantly. Power and Sharma should contribute a lot to the three-point game, Ames should help overall, and Saunders and Warley should add more athleticism and opportunism to the offense.
Buchanan should improve and if Robinson and/or Kofie can help, that’s a big deal too. McKneely has proven himself and the overall increase in offensive talent could help Rohde find a role as a point forward of sorts. He’ll also likely have more opportunities as his teammates get more attention.
At this point, Virginia’s defense under Bennett isn’t really a question, is it? The basic strategy is simple: make the other team fight like crazy for an easy shot, get in their legs, and win the game with smart basketball in the closing minutes (assuming the other team doesn’t get overrun).
Last year, it was the other way around with clear wins, as Virginia was crushed several times – Wisconsin won by 14, Memphis by 23, Notre Dame (which was shocking at the time) by 22, NC State by 16, Wake Forest by 19, and Virginia Tech by 14.
That is not to be expected this year. Virginia will probably be a difficult opponent again.
