I believe Tony’s acquisition of VDP is a partial cause of the recent mass exodus. This is over-simplistic, but VDP got us a regular season title and also helped blow up our team.
– Jim Gillespie
This is a delicate topic, and I’m probably risking my seat on press row next fall addressing it, but here goes.
I’d been hearing back as early as mid-February that there was some internal dissension over the playing time being given to Ben Vander Plas – not so much that he hadn’t at one point earned it, but that he kept getting starter minutes as his productivity was in obvious decline.
Vander Plas was inserted into the starting lineup after scoring 14 points in the second half of Virginia’s 65-58 win over North Carolina on Jan. 10, as Tony Bennett schemed around Vander Plas’ three-point shooting to try to open up the floor on the offensive end.
In his first two starts, BVP delivered – scoring 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, 3-of-6 from three, in the 67-58 win at Florida State, and 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 2-of-7 from three, in the 78-68 win over Virginia Tech.
Vander Plas would have two other double-digit scoring games after those two, 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting, 0-of-2 from three, and a painful 5-of-11 at the line, in the 69-62 OT win over Duke, and 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting, 2-of-8 from three, in the 61-58 win at Louisville.
But those would be the highlights.
Vander Plas and Kadin Shedrick, the guy BVP replaced as the starter at the five spot, each logged 15 starts this season.
Vander Plas, in his 15 starts, averaged 7.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 0.3 blocks per game, shooting 40.4 percent from the floor and 27.5 percent from three.
Shedrick, in his 15 starts, averaged 9.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, shooting 69.0 percent from the floor, and making one of his three three-point attempts.
One other stat to throw at you: according to the data site EvanMiya.com, the lineup with Reece Beekman, Kihei Clark, Armaan Franklin and Jayden Gardner at 1-4, and then Shedrick at five, was the most efficient five-man lineup in the ACC (minimum: 100 possessions) this past season, averaging 128.0 points per 100 possessions, and allowing 88.0 points per 100 possessions, a +40.0 points per 100 possessions margin.
The five-man lineup with Beekman, Clark, Franklin and Gardner at 1-4, and Vander Plas at five, ranked 24th in the ACC, averaging 108.0 points per 100 possessions, and allowing 88.4 points per 100 possessions, a +19.6 points per 100 possessions margin.
Shedrick lost the starting spot at the five after a productive stretch that had seen him score in double digits in three straight ACC games, the win at Georgia Tech, the loss at Pitt and the win over Syracuse in JPJ, in which he averaged 10.7 points and 4.7 rebounds on 73.3 percent shooting.
He had a quiet first half in the win over UNC, Vander Plas had a big second half, and Shedrick found himself glued to the bench for the next two months.
But then Vander Plas could give you two points in 18 minutes in the win over Boston College, go scoreless in 29 minutes in the loss at Virginia Tech, put up four points in the wins over NC State and Clemson, and his minutes never wavered.
The word getting back to me during the season was that there was some feeling among members of the team that Vander Plas was being treated differently.
Then there was the competing narrative about Shedrick that I first addressed in a column after the Clemson game, then hit on following the NCAA Tournament loss to Furman, to the effect that there were concerns about his performance in practice that had limited his playing time after the demotion.
Considering where that narrative originated from, it’s not a surprise at all that Shedrick is now on the transfer portal, and getting interest from several big-time programs, given his productivity this season.
At the least, Shedrick can be a valuable rotation guy for a top-tier team, giving you 15-20 minutes a game with rim protection and offensive rebounding.
I don’t think it’s a surprise, either, then, that we’re seeing other guys moving on.
It sounds to me like there was a need for a restart given the hurt feelings that I’ve been told were there.
And from what I’m hearing, I think we’re lucky that the exodus didn’t cost the orange and blue another key guy or two, because there had been some internal speculation on that.
So, yeah, I’ll probably be covering the games from the upper deck, where my wife has season tickets, next season, but now you know what I know.
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Chris Graham
