The future is bright with the Virginia men’s basketball team, as its latest freshman class of Isaac McKneely, Isaac Traudt, Leon Bond III and Ryan Dunn was rated No. 14 nationally in the 247Sports rankings, and third in the ACC behind — you guessed it — Duke (No. 1) and North Carolina (No. 12).
All four were considered four-star prospects, with Traudt coming in at No. 61 overall (No. 9 power forward), McKneely right behind at 62 (No. 10 shooting guard), Bond at 64 (No. 18 small forward) and Dunn at 127 (No. 31 small forward).
There’s a lot to be excited about for Wahoo Nation over the next few years, and while those numbers are impressive, for Traudt, they’re just that, numbers — especially now that their high school days are in the past and they’re starting from scratch.
“We know that there’s gonna be a lot of hype around us because of our high school rankings, whatever you call it,” Traudt said, “but once you get to college, that stuff doesn’t really matter anymore. And we understand that we’re gonna have to earn our roles. So I think people expect us to come and win every game for the program. That’s just not the case. I mean, we’re gonna help contribute the best we can, but we’re not saviors or anything. We’re just here on the team.
“It’s been a big adjustment because in high school, I was the main guy, and then here, I’m just part of the team, you know? Just a role player. And it’s been good for me, because it makes me realize that you can impact winning and helping the team in other ways than just scoring like I did in high school. So I think it’s helped me grow overall as a player.”
As it turns out, Traudt, the 6-foot-10, 229-pound Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year who averaged 23.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game as a senior at Grand Island, was “recruited” in a way by McKneely, a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year in his home state of West Virginia, after he had chosen to play for the Cavaliers.
“Once [McKneely] committed, he started honestly kind of recruiting me, like an assistant coach would, so that was cool,” said Traudt. “Showing that I was really wanted here, and that another incoming recruit really wanted to be with me.”
The two Isaacs — already referred to by UVA fans as “Isaac Squared” — are now roommates, which begs the question, how do they know which Isaac people are referring to?
“Well, we got nicknames,” Traudt explained. “His is ‘iMac,’ and mine’s ‘Fish,’ because my last name is Traudt (pronounced ‘trout’). So yeah, I don’t really hear Isaac anymore, it’s just ‘Fish’ now.
“They were talking about how to distinguish me and Isaac in practice, because they didn’t want to just say, ‘Isaac,’ and have us both turn our heads at the coaches, so I just thought of my last name and didn’t want to just say Traudt, so they said ‘Fish,’ so that was good.”
While the Wahoo freshman class is getting used to their new nicknames and getting familiar with college life and college basketball in general, they’re also having to get acquainted with Coach Tony Bennett’s Pack-Line defense.
McKneely, a 6-4, 179-pound, sharpshooter with some serious “ups,” is the furthest along with the Cavalier defense, due to playing the same system in high school in Poca, W.Va., for longtime head coach Allen Osborne.
“He comes up and watches [UVA] practice pretty often,” said McKneely, who averaged 22.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a senior for the Dots (yes, the Poca Dots). “He’s loved Coach Bennett, loved his dad (former Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett), so he’s taken a lot of what he does here and applied it back home at Poca. I played it there for four years, did Pack-Line, you know, sides, and stuff like that. So I’ve got a pretty good feel for the offense and defense ever since I stepped on campus here. And that really helped me in my development, because I felt like I was ahead and kind of ready to go, so it definitely helped for sure.”
While it may have been a relatively easy transition for McKneely, who actually committed to the Hoos as a junior in January of 2021, Traudt, Bond and Dunn all certainly have the potential to be key contributors down the road as well, but they had better get that defense down if they want to have any chance to see the floor for extended minutes.
Traudt explained the challenges of learning the Pack-Line.
“That’s been an adjustment, because it’s just so different than everything I learned growing up,” he said. “It took me probably four months to even grasp the concepts, really. So I’m just kind of starting to learn more about it. It’s been good.”
He says all of his elder teammates have been a big help in terms of showing him and the other first-years the ropes.
“Yeah, they’ve helped me a lot,” said Traudt. “They’re really good guys, and they’re not just sitting here yelling at me and barking at me, because they went through it their freshman year too, so they know how big of an adjustment it is. And they’ve been great helping me through the process.”
On the offensive end, all four freshmen have the ability to score from both the inside and the outside. Bond, who hails from Wauwatosa, Wisc., and Dunn, from Freeport, N.Y., possess incredible leaping ability and can jump out of the gym, and Bond said he’s just happy to be getting started.
“I’m loving it here,” Bond said. “I’m loving the system, I’m loving being around the guys. It’s just really like a family atmosphere. These are my brothers and they’re hilarious, and hearing the stories, it’s amazing.”
And how about learning the Pack-Line?
“I think I’m doing pretty well,” said Bond, who checks in at 6-5, 200 pounds. “It’s definitely a learning experience and it definitely takes consistent effort, and I’m still trying to get that consistent effort down to knowing where to be at all times, but it’s going pretty well.”
He also realizes that it’s more about the team at this level, whereas in high school and AAU ball, a lot of times it can certainly feature more of an individual-accolades feel.
“It’s sort of like me, me, me, like, ‘I’m gonna shoot the ball,’ and, ‘I’m gonna stop my man,’ but now it’s more like, ‘We’re gonna stop this together.’ I’d certainly say it’s more together. It’s more of a collective.”
For those who haven’t seen any of Bond’s highlights, this is how he describes his game:
“I would say a defensive, athletic, finishing, mid-range loving player.”
Fifth-year forward Jayden Gardner sees lots of potential in Bond — who put up 21.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his senior year of high school — and gave his synopsis of the newcomer’s game.
“He’s a great athlete,” said Gardner. “He’s gonna be able to finish very highly at the basket. Leon’s thing is just, he just needs to go through the whole process. He’s a young, energetic kid, and he’s gonna be great, and all the freshmen do a lot of great things. It’s just a process, and once Leon goes through the hardships, like the vision and the Pack-Line and stuff, it’s just all going to come full-circle for him.”
Dunn is a long, versatile, athletic 6-8, 208-pound forward that could wind up being the “glue guy” of the group. When he gets his opportunity, he will certainly provide plenty of oohs and ahhs at John Paul Jones Arena during his time as a Cavalier. He laid out his plan of what he can contribute to the team.
“Just to be a really positive guy,” he said. “Being an all-around player that can do a lot of things, getting other people involved before myself is kind of a big one for me.”
Being a bit unheralded as compared to his other new classmates, Bennett was nonetheless sold on Dunn, and Virginia fans know what kind of track record the coach has with developing those types of players.
“It’s a blessing to me, I feel like,” said Dunn. “The fact that they took a shot on me when I’m not top-100 says a lot about their culture and their play style, and I really enjoyed that. They’re fine with having diamonds in the rough, because they feel like they can take us and our recruiting class and make it a really good recruiting class, so that was a big thing for me.”
Fans can get their first chance to see all four of the new guys in uniform tonight at 9 p.m., when the Hoos host North Carolina Central (ACC Regional Networks) in the season opener.
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