Ron Sanchez on Christian Bliss: ‘My focus is literally on the on the guys that are on the floor’

If you were still wondering about whether redshirt freshman point guard Christian Bliss will suit up for the UVA Basketball team this year, I think what interim coach Ron Sanchez had to say the other night, and how he chose to say what he had to say, can end all speculation.

“He worked out yesterday, said he felt a little sore. We’re kind of just letting him and our training staff and physical development staff kind of handle that right now. My focus is literally on the on the guys that are on the floor and playing right now,” Sanchez said, just short of quietly seething, after Virginia’s 74-56 win over Boston College on Tuesday night.

Bliss, a 6’4” guard, has been sidelined since a preseason training camp left foot injury.

The last we’d heard on his status was back on Jan. 6, when Sanchez, on a Zoom call with reporters, said Bliss had “the opportunity to step on the floor and practice,” but told coaches he wasn’t feeling “good enough to get on the floor.”

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ICYMI

• UVA Basketball: Staff frustration with Christian Bliss bubbling to the surface

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“That’s a player decision. You know, we as coaches aren’t going to force him to get up if he says that my foot is bothering me, you know, and I don’t feel like I can perform at the level that I want to,” Sanchez said in that Jan. 6 Zoom.

That was practically War and Peace from Sanchez, who had sidestepped questions on Bliss for weeks by quickly saying Bliss was “day to day,” or, when he was asked about Bliss after Virginia’s 70-50 loss to Louisville on Jan. 4, going with a simple and direct, “I have no update on Bliss.”

With Bliss not making himself available, Sanchez has given freshman Ishan Sharma, recruited as a shooting guard, extra minutes as a backup at the point, and in Virginia’s last five games, dating back to Jan. 8, Sharma is averaging 7.6 points in 23.6 minutes per game, shooting 37.5 percent from three over that stretch.

So, at this point, 19 games into the season, 12 conference games plus whatever is to come in the postseason left to go, it’s probably safe to assume that we’re not going to see Christian Bliss on the court this season.