Kihei Clark has a COVID redshirt year to use, if he wants it – and he can use it at Virginia, if Tony Bennett wants him to.
This would seem to be easy, if you’re Bennett, or just a Virginia fan.
Clark is a four-year starter, with a national title on his resume, who averaged 10.0 points and 4.4 assists per game this past season, and did I mention that he’s a shutdown defender?
Why wouldn’t you want a guy like that back, right?
One reason could be: Reece Beekman.
Beekman is the future of Virginia Basketball, an even better defender, demonstrably more upside as an offensive player, and he needs the keys to the program to be given to him.
Another reason could be: London Johnson.
Johnson is a 6’4” prep point guard expected to announce his college destination on Friday, and Virginia appears to be the favorite.
Johnson is a junior who reportedly has the ability to reclassify to the Class of 2022 and enroll at the University this summer, and then be a part of the Virginia Basketball program in the fall.
Does he do that with Clark still in the mix?
Basketball is, among the many things that it is, a numbers game, and the numbers for Bennett are: 11 and 8.
Eleven is the number of scholarship players, not including Clark or Johnson, who would already be battling for rotation spots this summer and this fall.
Eight is the number of rotation spots, on the high end, that Bennett typically uses.
He used a seven-man rotation, with Jay Huff, the eighth man, getting 9.3 minutes a game, in the 2019 title season.
Bennett also went with a seven-man group this past season.
If the Johnson kid wants to play at the college level next season, and UVA is his #1 choice, that’s either 12 or 13, if Clark also comes back, competing for those seven or eight rotation spots.
So, there’s that issue.
And then, here’s another: let’s assume Clark stays. He’s a rotation guy, obviously, if he’s back for a fifth year. It’s hard to justify having him start again, though, the issue this year being the offense needing more perimeter shooting, more flow and continuity, and Clark really offering not much in the way of either eating up 30-plus minutes a game.
And yes, I realize that Clark is a career 34.8 percent shooter from three. He’s not a consistent enough run off screens and knock down jumpers perimeter shooter, is the problem here.
And there are options there next year: Armaan Franklin, who, yes, shot an abysmal 29.6 percent from three this past season, but his 12-for-23 shooting in the NIT, after coaches ID’d and fixed a flaw in his mechanics, is something to build on for next season; and Isaac McKneely, an incoming freshman who projects as a Kyle Guy-type, averaging 20.4 points per game over his prep career.
Bennett is also in the running, like every other coach in America, for a number of targets in the transfer portal, should Johnson surprise and choose another school, or decide to remain in the Class of 2023, should Clark decide to move on, both, or both and there are more transfers from the expected fall roster.
My bet would be on the transfer targets being shooting guards, but this does bring us to another issue.
If Clark leaves, and Johnson isn’t an option for the fall, who runs point when Beekman gets a breather?
Bennett can always find a backup on the portal, but wouldn’t you rather have a guy with four years of experience in the mover/blocker and Pack Line than a guy who would have to learn in the summer and fall?
Answer: yes.
To the bigger question, then: should Kihei stay, or should he go?
I’m writing this today, a day before we know the future of London Johnson, to take away my ability to hedge.
If I’m Bennett, I’d ask Clark to come back, but I’d let him know that he’s not guaranteed to start and get 30 minutes a night, that I’m giving the offense to Reece Beekman, that I need more perimeter shooting.
If I’m Kihei: I might, knowing that, put my name in the transfer portal.
Story by Chris Graham
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