ESPN.com college basketball scribe Jeff Borzello has his “Way-Too-Early Top 25” for next season out this morning, and has Virginia at #9.
Borzello showed in the piece that he knows what he’s writing about when it comes to UVA Basketball:
“Virginia paid well for its rebuild last offseason, so it’s expected the Cavaliers also will be able to go into the transfer portal and find a big-time scoring wing for this next season.”
In a word: yes.
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Three of the four guys that we expect back announced on Monday that they’re returning – point guard Chance Mallory and bigs Thijs de Ridder and Johann Grunloh.
We’re expecting shooting guard Sam Lewis to join them in running it back.
Those four represent 42.6 points, 18.7 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 3.6 steals, 3.1 blocks and 98.8 minutes per game – basically, around 50 percent of your production from a team that won 30 games, was 15-3 in the ACC, advanced to the ACC Tournament championship game, got a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
This time a year ago, Ryan Odom had Mallory and a scout team on the roster, so, we’re way ahead of the curve, from that perspective.
Looking ahead to the next few weeks, the needs are:
- another rim protector to spell Grunloh at the five spot.
- one more big, a four, power forward, to play alongside de Ridder and Grunloh.
- a veteran point guard with size to complement Mallory the way Mallory and Hall complemented each other.
- shooters – maybe two, with size, and athleticism.
Some of this can be addressed in-house:
- Silas Barksdale redshirted this season, but the 6’9” big was a four-star prep recruit.
- Martin Carrere got limited rotation minutes this season, but I can see him working his way into the rotation, as a tweener – at 6’9”, he can give Odom minutes as a big guard with his mobility and shooting from the perimeter, and with his size, he could play some small-ball four alongside Grunloh.
What about Elijah Gertrude?
Elijah Gertrude also got limited rotation minutes this season, and I wonder if he could be inclined to look elsewhere for his final two years of eligibility.
Gertrude did a remarkable job recovering from the injuries sustained in an offseason scooter accident in 2024 that cost him the 2024-2025 season, and from what little we saw of him, he recovered the bounce and athleticism that made him a four-star prep recruit.
I don’t see him supplanting Mallory as the lead guy at the point, though, and I don’t know that he’s a viable second option there, or for one of the two shooting guard spots, just because his perimeter shooting is suspect.
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Chris Graham
