I just read the postgame transcript, and it’s definitely a good thing I didn’t ruin the UVA Basketball presser with questions about the actual game that was played tonight.
I’m going to end up writing a season wrap here, though I don’t want to.
I’ll blame that on myself, for not going to the presser, because I needed a longer cooling-off period.
***
Eight questions total, and three were about the game – and one of those was a quick one on the controversial out-of-bounds call with 28 seconds left on which the outcome turned, basically, a yes-or-no.
A second was for the players, about what led to the comeback from nine down with 10:13 to go, with Virginia taking the briefest of leads on a Thijs de Ridder three with 2:03 to go.
“Coach called a good set that allowed us to get downhill into the paint and make some reads, and we started making really good decisions and finding shooters, and guys stepped up and hit really big shots, so that was something that worked going down the stretch,” point guard Dallin Hall said, by way of answering.
ICYMI
The play that he was talking about there, specifically, was after a media timeout, with the deficit already down from nine to five, which used Hall and de Ridder, who had just made a three before the timeout, in a two-man game, with a screen at the top of the key.
Hall got around the edge, and the defenders shaded toward de Ridder, because of the recent made three, giving Hall a free run to the lane for a layup that cut the Tennessee lead to three.
Had Virginia won, which would’ve had me not leaving the arena for an extended cooling-off period, in the form of a one-mile walk to the hotel – as it turns out, as a thunderstorm was settling in over South Philly, so, I got some extra cooling off – I would’ve asked de Ridder about his sublime second half, in which he scored 17 points, with three threes, including that one at the 2:03 mark that put UVA on top for 26 seconds.
On the play before the Hall layup, and before the timeout, I saw de Ridder talking to his teammates on their way down to the offensive end, directing them on the set that they needed to run, which was a variation of the high screen that freed up Hall for the layup.
The UT defense doubled Hall, as the Vols had been doing all night, leaving de Ridder open for the three, which he splashed.
De Ridder finished with four made threes – season average coming in: 1.0 made threes per game.
That’s ballsy, calling a play for yourself to get a three, for a guy who shoots it well (34.0 percent from three coming in), but on low volume, and most of those being on switches where he’s left wide open, and he has to shoot it, out of respect to the game.
De Ridder, during the comeback from nine down with 10-plus left, had 15 points, on 5-of-6 shooting, 3-of-3 from three, 2-of-2 at the line, and a steal that ignited a fast break ending in a Johann Grunloh dunk.
Dude was doing everything he could to will his team to victory.
He deserved better.
***
The other question was a plain dumb one, for Odom, worded this way:
Ryan, just looking at Tennessee, it seemed like the one thing that they had that no one else had that you played this year, a lot of height. It seemed to throw off your interior game a lot.
My guess is, the guy asking didn’t study the statsheet before walking back to the interview area.
Virginia was thrown off a bit in the paint in the first half – to the tune of 3-of-11 shooting at the rim, and 1-of-3 in the paint outside the 4.5-foot circle.
That got fixed in the second half.
Virginia in the second half: 9-of-14 shooting at the rim, 0-of-3 in the paint outside the circle.
The Vols were the ones with the problem in the interior: after shooting 5-of-10 at the rim and 4-of-8 in the paint outside the circle in the first half, the Vols were 3-of-5 at the rim and 2-of-5 in the paint outside the circle in the second half.
Despite this, the refs rewarded them with a ton of free throws, which I wrote about earlier tonight.
ICYMI
And anyway, I digress; Odom humored the question with a response.
“I thought the guys did a nice job from a rebounding perspective,” Odom said. “Where did it end up? We held them to three (offensive rebounds) in the first half. They obviously got some more in the second half” – I’ll interject here: UT had eight offensive boards in the second half – “but we had 16. That was one of the things that we talked about from an offensive rebounding standpoint, rebounding in general. They’re so good at offensive rebounding, we can’t not go on our side. We’re good at it, too.”
Yeah, Tennessee led the nation in offensive rebounding coming in, with a 45.0 percent offensive-rebound rate.
Tonight: 36.7 percent.
UT’s defensive-rebound rate coming in: 72.3 percent.
Tonight: 63.6 percent.
(Tennessee’s height) seemed to throw off your interior game a lot.
Whoever it was that asked that question, take their question-asking privileges away.
***
The other five questions in the presser were, in effect, an extended exit interview – and one that came at least a weekend too soon.
De Ridder and Hall were given the opportunity to weigh in on the experience of the past year – the questioner didn’t note this, but Odom was formally announced as the new UVA Basketball head coach a year ago today, on March 22, 2025.
Time flies when we’re having fun.
ICYMI
“We had two goals at the beginning of this year, when a bunch of guys, myself included, took a chance on a new staff and a new situation, new school, and our two goals were to really connect with UVA as an institution, and really connect with one another as a team. We did a really good job with that, I think,” said Hall, a senior who just played his last college game, and should be in the Glue Guy Hall of Fame, for what he did for this team this season, which can’t be measured in the counting stats.
“The coaches created this incredible family culture where everyone felt like family,” Hall said. “That was a big reason why I chose to come play for Coach Odom, because I knew what he was about and his values and how he helped people grow as individuals and to grow on the court as well. That’s what we aid all summer. We spent time bowling, playing games off the court, really competing on the court, and became super tight and built some relationships that will last for my whole life, which is something I’m super grateful for.
“I look at every one of those guys back in that locker room as a brother,” Hall said. “That’s why I shed a lot of tears. They shed a lot of tears because this season was something really special and you hate to see it end, but you got to find gratitude for what it was.”
“From the very beginning, it was amazing,” said de Ridder, who has one year of eligibility remaining, and I’m hearing is seriously considering a return for a Year 2. “Even with my years overseas, I never had a group this tight. Also, like Coach said, we’re going to be brothers for life. It’s really painful that it ended like this. We know we have more in us, more games, but it is what it is and I’m very proud that I can call my teammates my brothers for life.”
***
“I’m proud of these two guys sitting right here, but the entire team, the staff, just everybody in our locker room, GAs, managers, there are just so many people that have impacted in a really positive way. Carla Williams for giving me a chance to be the coach at Virginia. I will forever be thankful for her,” Odom said, to his part of the exit interview.
“These guys, I don’t know that I’ve ever had this much fun coaching a team,” Odom said. “I’ve been very fortunate in my life. Last year, we won a lot of games (at VCU, which he led to a 28-7 record in 2024-2025), and that was a fun year. These guys took it to another level.
“The respect that they have for everyone is evident,” Odom said. “I can’t tell you how many times I get e-mails from people, just random people that come across these guys in situations, and literally send me an e-mail out of the blue just saying, man, I was so impressed with your guys in this interaction. I think that says a lot about them and their character and one of the reasons that we brought them to Virginia. Their families, it’s just really special.
“I think that’s what helped us win overall as much as anything. These guys are just good people.”
***
This is where I wish the media-relations approach at UVA Athletics allowed ink-stained wretches like me to get that sense for ourselves better, as was the case in the past, when we had ample time to talk with the kids one-on-one, and get to know them even just a tiny bit.
The reason I made the trip to Philadelphia this weekend was because the NCAA mandates that the participating schools give the media unfettered access to the locker room, and I took advantage of that on Saturday, between the first- and second-round games, and talked one-on-one with the nine rotation players in the 30 minutes allotted after the closed practice.
ICYMI
- Multimedia: Interviews with UVA Basketball on the eve of the Round of 32
- UVA Basketball: Turns out, there were some first-game tournament jitters
That’s three minutes per kid, so it would be hard for me to come to any sweeping conclusions, though I can say, brief as the interactions were, every guy thanked me for being there, which was new, and at the end of our brief interviews, thanked me for my time, which speaks to what Odom was saying above about character.
Hint, hint, PR people: we want to tell their stories, maybe trust us enough to give us a shot next year?
***
“I think the biggest thing is, when you are able to assemble a group of people that have very high character and care about one another and choose the situation for all the right reasons and really develop some shared experiences together, that special things can happen,” Odom said, putting a wrap on a 30-6 first season at his dream job.
“This team really bought in from the beginning,” Odom said. “They came in eyes wide open and listened, and listened to one another, and just gradually became closer and closer and closer and closer. When you have that type of togetherness, you have a really good chance to win. We have some good players. There’s no question about it. The depth of this team was the strength of the team overall. It was the character first that helped us achieve the goals of.
“Devin Tillis, I wish he were up here. He talked to the team after the loss. He’s obviously distraught at that point and just really put things in perspective,” said Odom, alluding to how Tillis is, like Hall, a senior who just played his final college game.
“He said, I came here with the goal of making it to the NCAA Tournament, and to do it with you guys was so special. I think they all could relate to that,” Odom said. “He literally said, if you ever need me, just call me, I’m a phone call away. That’s all these guys. They invested in trying to be the best that they could be, and realizing it’s going to end at some point. Every team has one life, and unfortunately, ours ended a little sooner than we wanted it to.”
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Chris Graham
