UVA Basketball fans are, no doubt, already dusting off their best Kihei Clark vitriol for the big commit picked up by Tony Bennett last week.
Thing is, Chance Mallory, a hometown kid whose suitors included Virginia Tech, Butler, Clemson, Indiana, Maryland, Miami, Seton Hall, Tennessee, isn’t literally “big” – he’s all of 5’9”, 170.
He is, though, a big get for Bennett, as a four-star point guard, ranked second in Virginia and 52nd nationally in the Class of 2025.
The get of an in-state four-star is particularly big for Bennett because he hasn’t had the best track record with in-state recruiting.
Dating back to 2015, a span of 10 completed recruiting years, Bennett has signed exactly one (1!) of the state’s four- or five-stars, and that was back in 2015, with Mamadi Diakite.
Braxton Key, from the Class of 2016, ended up at Virginia after initially committing to Alabama, and transferring from there after his freshman season.
Those two, Diakite and Key, were important role players on the 2019 national title team, and went on to journeyman careers in the NBA.
Among the in-state kids from the past decade who went elsewhere are the likes of Keldon Johnson (Oak Hill Academy/South Hill, 2018, Kentucky), Armando Bacot (IMG Academy/Richmond, 2019, UNC), Jeremy Roach (St. Paul VI Catholic/Fairfax, 2020, Duke), Mark Williams (IMG Academy/Norfolk, 2021, Duke) and Trevor Keels (St. Paul VI Catholic/Fairfax, 2021, Duke).
And note, I’m not counting the Oak Hill kids here, because then we’d also have to count out on missing on Cole Anthony (2019, UNC).
Anthony was the 2019 Gatorade Player of the Year in Virginia, so that should count for something.
Looking ahead to the next couple of recruiting classes, the state of Virginia, in 2025, is loaded, with one five-star, Nate Ament (Highland School/Warrenton), who is currently uncommitted, and eight four-stars, including Mallory.
UVA has offered Ament, as has most of the rest of college basketball, and … that’s it for that loaded 2025 Virginia prep class.
The 2026 class is a little on the light side at the moment – one five-star, Jordan Smith (St. Paul VI Catholic/Fairfax), that UVA is not yet in on, and three four-stars, including Latrell Almond (John Marshall/Richmond), who has an offer from Virginia.
So, still work to do there.
But, hey, we’ve got Chance Mallory, who will matriculate next year, and would slot in as sort of one of the next guys at point guard alongside Dai Dai Ames (a junior in 2025-2026), and Christian Bliss and Elijah Gertrude (who are both redshirt sophomores in 2025-2026).
Bennett has liked going with two point guards dating back to the 2018-2019 title year, when he went with Clark, then an undersized and unheralded, recruiting-wise, freshman, alongside the veteran Ty Jerome.
Clark would go on to start another four years, three as the running mate to Reece Beekman.
As big as Clark was on the court for Virginia – Bennett said Clark’s first-half three in the 2019 NCAA Tournament opener with Gardner-Webb, leading then by nine in the final minute of the first half, was the single-biggest made shot in the title run, which is saying a lot, considering what Clark and Diakite did to send the Elite Eight game with Purdue to OT – he was always going to be 5’9”, and a sizable, and vocal, segment of UVA fans wouldn’t let him or Bennett forget that.
I came around, eventually, to calling them Ki-haters.
I’m hoping I don’t have to come up with another dumb nickname for the size-conscious detractors of our next point-guard-in-a-bottle.
Video: UVA Basketball gets big commit from 5’9″ point guard
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Chris Graham
