Jayden Gardner will return to Virginia for his COVID redshirt senior season, according to a report from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.
Gardner’s return isn’t necessarily unexpected, but it’s still welcome news for Virginia Basketball looking ahead to the 2022-2023 season.
Gardner led Virginia in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rebounds/g) in 2021-2022, shooting 49.3 percent from the floor.
The 6’6”, 246-pound power forward also adapted well to playing coach Tony Bennett’s Pack Line defense, ranking 25th in the ACC in defensive efficiency, per Synergy Sports, memorably holding projected NBA lottery pick Paolo Banchero to his only two non-double-digit games of the season.
The return of Gardner gives Bennett an anchor in the frontcourt, with the addition of four-star power forward recruit Isaac Traudt expected to add to the firepower from the bigs down low.
There is still no word on the status of either Francisco Caffaro or Kihei Clark, both seniors who could also use a COVID redshirt year to extend their time at Virginia.
It is expected that a fourth fourth-year player, Kody Stattmann, will not return for 2022-2023.
Four members of the Virginia roster – freshman Igor Milicic Jr., sophomores Carson McCorkle and Malachi Poindexter, and senior Jayden Nixon – are in the transfer portal.
The most recent addition to that list was Milicic on April 1.
Story by Chris Graham
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