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Final spring look at Virginia Basketball: Breakdown heading into 2022-2023

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Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett. Photo by Dan Grogan.

The news that Kihei Clark is returning seems to finally wind down the silly season for Virginia Basketball.

The sum effect of the past four weeks is four guys leaving via the transfer portal, two important guys – Clark and power forward Jayden Gardner – staying for COVID redshirt years, and the best incoming prep class since 2016 adding four guys to the mix competing for rotation spots.

Rare in the transfer portal era, Tony Bennett will actually have five returning starters to build around for 2022-2023 – with Gardner (15.3 ppg, 6.4 rebounds/g, 50.1% FG), Clark (10.0 ppg, 4.4 assists/g, 38.7% FG, 34.6% 3FG), Reece Beekman (8.2 ppg, 5.2 assists/g, 2.1 steals/g, 44.9% FG, 33.8% 3FG), Armaan Franklin (11.1 ppg, 39.2% FG, 29.6% 3FG) and the two guys who split starts at the five spot, Kadin Shedrick (6.9 ppg, 5.1 rebs/g, 1.9 blocks/g, 64.1% FG) and Francisco Caffaro (4.3 ppg, 4.6 rebounds/g, 52.4% FG).

Bennett typically goes with a seven- or eight-man rotation, meaning the other five guys – rising sophomore Taine Murray (2.0 ppg, 7.7 minutes/g in 2021-2022) and the incoming freshman, guard Isaac McKneely, swingmen Leon Bond and Ryan Dunn, and forward Isaac Traudt – are competing for one or two spots.

Player breakdown

jayden gardner paolo banchero
Jayden Gardner drives to the hoop against Duke’s Paolo Banchero. Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Jayden Gardner

2021-2022: Gardner struggled a bit out of the gate in ACC play, but he was as advertised after that, averaging 17.2 points per game in Virginia’s last 15 games.

He also adapted well to the Pack Line defense, notably holding projected top-3 draft pick Paolo Banchero to 8.5 points per game on 5-of-22 shooting in a pair of tight games with eventual Final Four participant Duke.

What he needs to work on: Better three-point shooting would add another element to his game, making him tougher to check on screen-and-pops. He could also maybe take the ball to the rim a bit more. According to Hoop-Math, 37.8 percent of his shots were at the rim. Beekman, the point guard, took it to the basket more frequently (53.1 percent of his shots).

reece beekman duke
Reece Beekman releases the game-winning three that beat #7 Duke. Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Reece Beekman

2021-2022: Should have been the ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Stepped up his offense as the season wore on, averaging 9.6 points and 5.9 assists per game in Virginia’s last 22, with 11 double-digit games.

What he needs to work on: Being more aggressive, almost selfish, on offense. There always seems to be a play or two every game where he takes the ball to the rim, throws one down over two guys, and you say to yourself, why doesn’t he do that more often? Maybe more of those this year would be advised. Prevailing thought: channel your inner Malcolm Brogdon.

kihei clark
Kihei Clark had a career-high 25 points the 65-61 loss to Duke. Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Kihei Clark

2021-2022: Too much Jekyll and Hyde down the stretch. Had 25 points and seven assists in a narrow loss to Duke in February, a week after scoring two points on 1-of-9 shooting fighting foul trouble in a loss at Virginia Tech. That was the story of Clark’s season.

What he needs to work on: He may need to get himself mentally ready to play the role he played his freshman year, as Ty Jerome’s little buddy that year. For Virginia to reach its ceiling in 2022-2023, he will need to let Reece Beekman be the Ty Jerome, and if Isaac McKneely steals some of his minutes, hey, if it makes the team better, then, good.

armaan franklin
Virginia guard Armaan Franklin. Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Armaan Franklin

2021-2022: Let’s focus on the Franklin that we saw after the coaching staff and Franklin fixed the hitch in his jumper. We only saw that Franklin in the three-game run in the NIT, in which he scored 17 points back to back against North Texas and St. Bonaventure, and for the tourney, he was 12-of-23 from three.

What he needs to work on: Putting up several thousand more threes to make sure the flaw that had him shooting in the mid-20s from three most of the season is in the rear view.

Kadin Shedrick

kadin shedrick francisco caffaro
Virginia post players Kadin Shedrick and Francisco Caffaro. Photo by Dan Grogan.

2021-2022: Another Jekyll and Hyde guy. Had 16 points (on 8-of-8 shooting) and six rebounds in the win at Duke; had two points (on 1-of-1 shooting) and four rebounds in the loss to Duke in JPJ.

Needs to work on: Avoiding silly fouls. Shedrick averaged 5.1 fouls per 40 minutes this past season. He should be averaging 27-29 minutes per night instead of 20.8.

Francisco Caffaro

2021-2022: Had 16 points and nine rebounds in the win over Virginia Tech in January. Had just one double-digit scoring game the rest of the way. Gets the most out of his talent, but the ceiling isn’t what it is for Shedrick.

Needs to work on: Foul trouble. He averaged 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes last season. There were games where Bennett had to go small with Gardner at the five because he didn’t have either of his bigs available because of fouls.

Taine Murray

taine murray
Taine Murray. Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

2021-2022: Remember the Murray that had 14 points off the bench in the 75-74 loss to Iowa in December? The kid was 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-6 from three. He had four threes the rest of the season, in 93 mostly garbage-time minutes.

Needs to work on: Defense. In his limited rotation minutes, he was clearly a liability in terms of playing the Pack Line. Synergy Sports data had him as the worst defender on the roster in 2021-2022 (1.061 points per possession, 51.2% adjusted field goal percentage, 12.2% of possessions leading to free throw attempts).

The newcomers

Of the freshmen, it would seem that Isaac Squared – McKneely and Traudt – have the best shots at being contributors in 2022-2023.

McKneely, a 6’4” combo guard, can stretch defenses on the perimeter, and he has the advantage of having played the Pack Line in high school, so the learning curve won’t be as steep for him on defense.

Traudt may push Caffaro for backup minutes in the post. At 6’10”, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to pair him alongside Gardner defensively in the post. He has deft shooting touch for a big man, and like Gardner prefers to play facing the basket, and has the handle to take his defender off the dribble. How quickly he learns the Pack Line will determine his minutes.

The other two recruits, Bond and Dunn, will have a hard time getting on the floor with Franklin and Murray ahead of them. The trip overseas in the summer will be their chance to get the attention of the coaching staff before camp starts in October.

Story by Chris Graham

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