Possibly the only thing hotter than the temperatures on your outdoor thermometer lately is the job the Virginia coaching staff has done in the recruiting department. Head coach Tony Bennett and his assistants have offered scholarships to four more prospects in the Class of 2025 over the past few days — Jalen Haralson, Jackson Keith, Nate Ament and Acaden Lewis.
With the summer AAU and national showcase events beginning to wind down, the Cavaliers are looking more toward building the future of the program, and have not been shy when it comes to reaching out to some of the country’s top available talent.
Haralson is a relatively new name on the UVA recruiting radar. The five-star combo guard is listed at 6-foot-6, 205 pounds, and checks in at No. 9 overall in the country in the latest 247Sports composite rankings.
He has already been offered a scholarship by close to 20 schools, including Duke, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Maryland, Florida State and several others. The Hoos and Blue Devils both extended their respective offers last weekend.
Haralson played his first two years of high-school ball for his hometown school in Fishers, Ind., where he averaged 23.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists last season. The talented prospect will be transferring in-state to La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), which competes out of the National Interscholastic Basketball Association against the likes of powerhouse programs like Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.), IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), just to name a few.
He will join forces at La Lumiere with another Cavalier target, 2025 four-star guard Darius Adams, who received a Virginia offer earlier this month.
“I want to show I can play all three positions and control the game at my size,” Haralson said of playing at the college level down the road. “I’m a big guard that can play-make, and I can score. I’ve been working on my scoring this offseason.”
Haralson added that he can also “change the game defensively,” which is obviously an attractive component for the Wahoos.
Keith, Ament and Lewis have each been on the Cavaliers’ radar for some time. Keith is a 6-5, 190-pound small forward from Durham, N.C. He’s currently not ranked in the 247 composite’s top 100 prospects for the ‘25 class, but is listed as a four-star recruit by both 247 and Rivals.com, and On3 has him rated as a three-star.
Keith, who attends Southern Durham HS, has racked up 18 offers of his own so far, including Illinois, Texas A&M, LSU, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Florida State and NC State. His most recent offers came from the Cavaliers (which he announced last Friday night), Georgetown and Xavier. He put up averages of 20.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game as a sophomore last season.
“The culture there is great,” Keith told On3 about Virginia back in the winter. “They never would lie to me; all the coaches there are really genuine. Tony Bennett is just a great guy too… they like I’m a long wing, can make some shots, and guard the other team’s best player. Their defense is what makes them Virginia.”
Ament, also a small forward, is listed at 6-7, 170 pounds. He attended Colgan HS in the Northern Virginia-Washington, D.C. area, and will be transferring to Highland for his junior year. He is currently regarded as the top prospect in the Commonwealth by both 247 and On3 for 2025. He comes in at No. 27 overall in the latest composite rankings.
Ament, who says he’s not only a reliable shooter, but can also defend all five positions on the floor, has received attention from a handful of other Power 5 schools — Illinois, Iowa, Penn State, Maryland, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest — along with Creighton, Providence and a few other mid-majors. He believes he’d fit in well in Bennett’s system, should he choose to spend his college years in Charlottesville.
“I want to keep getting better once I get to a college, so a school that can develop me as a player will be big,” said Ament, who added that getting an offer from Virginia was like a dream come true. “Me being able to play multiple positions, I want to play for a coach who knows how to use my versatility.”
Lewis, who also hails from the DMV, is a 6-2, 170-pound combo guard. He’s rated No. 77 nationally in the 247 composite. Lewis, who attends Sidwell Friends School in the D.C. area, holds offers from St. John’s, Penn State, Nebraska, Maryland and Providence, among others.
A left-hander, Lewis has enjoyed a productive spring and summer session, as he particularly stood out at the Nike Elite One Hundred event in St. Louis last month. There, he showed off his ball-handling skills along with a consistent, explosive ability to get to the bucket as well as his accuracy from long range, all of which are ideal ingredients for the typical UVA floor general.
From there, Lewis went on to rank among the top five scorers at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Orlando. He confirmed that Virginia has been in touch since the start of his sophomore season, and admitted that the Hoos will have a great chance to contend for his services over the next couple of years.
“I went on an unofficial visit [to Virginia] and liked it. I’ve built a relationship with Coach [Jason Williford] and they text and call me routinely, so they are definitely in the mix,” said Lewis.
The Hoos have now offered a total of 11 targets for the 2025 class (rising juniors):
- G Darius Adams (6-4, 166; La Porte, Ind.)
- F Nate Ament (6-7, 170; Manassas, Va.)
- F Nikola Bundalo (6-9, 210; Uniontown, Oh.)
- G Derek Dixon (6-3, 190; Washington, D.C.)
- G Jalen Haralson (6-6, 205; La Porte, Ind.)
- F London Jemison (6-7, 195; West Hartford, Conn.)
- F Jackson Keith (6-5, 190; Durham, N.C.)
- G Acaden Lewis (6-2, 170; Washington, D.C.)
- G Chance Mallory (5-9, 150; Charlottesville, Va.)
- F Bryson Tiller (6-8, 210; Atlanta, Ga.)
- F Jacob Wilkins (6-7, 167; Loganville, Ga.)
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