It’s pigskin season right now but hoop season is just around the corner.

The Caveliers are scheduled to open their regular season on November 6 against Campbell followed by Coppin State on November 11.

This year’s roster is a mixed bag. There are returning players, transfer portal players, recruits, and even a homegrown walk-on in Carter Lang. So it’s anyone’s guess on how this season will materialize.

One thing is for sure though, Bennett will have them ready for the opening tip-off.

A game that UVA fans are looking forward to will be played in Baltimore on November 15 against perennial powerhouse Villanova.

Then, on November 21, they travel to the Bahamas for the Bahamas Mar Hoops Championship where they will face either Tennessee, St Johns or Baylor. Hopefully, they return home with the Championship Trophy.

In all, the Wahoos will have a busy November having seven games on their schedule.

I’m looking forward to the opening game tip-off not only because last season is behind us but I’m anxious to see who Bennett will have as his starting five.

Go Hoos!

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In the process, they lost Reese Beekman and Ryan Dunn, both to the NBA draft. They also lost Leon Bond III and Dante Harris to the Transfer Portal, and Jordan Minor and Jacob Groves to graduation.  So, Bennett had to turn to the Transfer Portal to fill these gaps. However, the first six weeks did not produce one signing. Then, things began to fall into place when Coach Bennett signed four quality players in the next four days, thus filling the 13 Scholarship spots for the 2024-2025 season

Let us now meet those five Transfer Portal players who made the commitment to play Bennett basketball this coming season:

Jalen Warley –Scholarship, Previous School: Florida State, Position: Point Guard, Size: 6’7″, 205 pounds, Eligibility: one more year remaining     

TJ Power – Scholarship, Previous School: Duke, Position: Power Forward, Size: 6’9″, 216 pounds, Eligibility: one more year remaining

Elijah Saunders – Scholarship, Previous School: San Diego State, Position: Forward Size: 6’8″, 225 pounds, Eligibility: two more years remaining

Dai Dai Ames – Scholarship, Previous School: Kansas State, Position: Guard, Size: 6.1”, 185 pounds, Eligibility: three years remaining

Carter Lang –   Walk-on, Previous School: Vanderbilt, Position: Forward,6’9, 235 pounds, Eligibility: freshman, three years remaining   

One of the benefits from these signings is that they all come with playing experience. Now they only have to learn Bennett’s philosophy of the game which we know is defense.

Recruits

In addition to the above players, Bennett also recruited two promising players out of High School. The first is Jacob Cofie (Scholarship), a 6.7” forward from Eastside Catholic High School, in Bellevue, WA and is a four-star top 100 recruit. The other being Ishan Sharma (Scholarship), a 6.4” sharpshooting guard from Fort Erie International Academy, in Milton, Ontario, Canada.

Remaining players for the 2024 – 2025 season.

Shooting Guard Isaac McKneely (Scholarship), one of the go-to guys in the past two seasons when the game was on the line. McKneely is also one of the premier 3-point shooters in the country.

Shooting Guard Elijah Gertrude (Scholarship) is a returning sophomore who seen limited playing time this past season, mainly as a role player. His experience should help him vie for a starting spot on the roster. 

Shooting Forward Andrew Rohde (Scholarship) is a returning junior who has shown he can score in double figures on any given game.

Shooting Forward Taine Murray (Scholarship) is a senior who is also capable of scoring in bunches when called upon.

Center Blake Buchanan (Scholarship). A returning sophomore who gained valuable playing experience this past season. He has the ability to become an impact player for the Hoos but he may be challenged by walk-on player Carter Long who is a former ESPN four-star recruit & McDonald’s All-America nominee. He is also a Charlottesville native.

Center Anthony Robinson (Scholarship) is a 6.10” promising freshman who redshirted this past season to beef-up and learn the Bennett system.

Point Guard Christian Bliss (Scholarship) is also a redshirted freshman who will contend for playing time with Jalen Worley and Dai Dai Ames.

The Coach

Tony Bennett enters his 16th season as Head Basketball Coach of the University of Virginia, and he has compiled an outstanding record of 364 – 136. But that’s not all of his accomplishments:

     ACC Regular-Season Titles: 11 (2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023)

     ACC Tournament Championships: 3 (2014, 2016, 2018)

NCAA Tournament Appearances: 15 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

    National Coach of the Year Awards: 2 (2007, 2015)

Notable Milestones:

– Became the winningest coach in UVA men’s basketball history, surpassing Terry Holland (326-173) in 2023

   – Recorded his 250th win as a head coach against No. 14 Notre Dame in 2020.

    -Led the Cavaliers to their first No. 1 ranking in the AP poll since 1982 in 2018.

    -Guided UVA to a 31-3 record and the NCAA tournament championship in 2019.

    -Has a winning record against each of the team’s ACC rivals.

    -Has been ranked the top defensive coach in college basketball by ESPN Insider and a CBS

    Sports poll of head coaches.

Needless to say, his resume is very impressive, and his numbers will only increase should he remain coaching.

As a long-time fan of the Hoos, I look forward to the upcoming season and to see all the new faces. I got the feeling that UVA basketball is going to be fun to watch again.

Go HOOS!!!

-Jerry Corsaletti

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The Wahoo’s began February on a Rocky Mountain high by winning their first three conference games.

They were now in contention for the ACC top spot. But then the unthinkable happened – their offense began to unravel.

In the next four games they averaged just 49 points per game which resulted in three loses.

For the month, they finished 5-3 chasing both North Carolina and Duke in the Conference.

There are two more regular/ conference games left in March before the league playoffs begin.

Although the Cav’s overall record stands at 21-8 – as of this writing – they took their defeats on the chin. Some of their eight loses were frustrating to watch because they were uncharacteristic blowouts.

This team is too good to have these kinds of lapses so it is a concern for Bennett going forward.

Let’s hope they can play winning basketball throughout March because March is when the men from the boys get separated.

Go Hoos!!

The post February’s UVA Basketball Summary appeared first on Dr. E.C. Fulcher, Jr..

If the Hoos are going to be competitive in the ACC, they are going to have to play better basketball, both offensively and defensively, because the heart of the competition awaits them for the next two months.

With that being said, the Cavaliers finished the first half of their season 10-3, having lost to Wisconsin, Memphis, and Notre Dame.

Statistically, Reese Beekman continues to be the anchor of the team averaging 13.1 ppg. He is followed by Isaac McNeely with 10.8 ppg. This should be an area of concern for Bennett going into the second half of the season because, at this point, the other members of the team are not contributing enough for them to be successful against ACC teams.

Collectively, they are averaging 65.8 ppg while surrendering 56.2 ppg. One area that requires improvement is at the free throw line where they are only converting 65% of their attempts.

Let’s hope Bennett can better prepare his team for conference play.

Go Hoos!!

Jerry Corsaletti

The post UVA HOO’s First-Half Report Card appeared first on Dr. E.C. Fulcher, Jr..

College basketball season will soon be upon us, and we look forward to seeing our Hoos back on the court beginning November 6th against Tarleton State.

This season promises to be an interesting one because of several unknown factors.

The pivotal players will be Beekman, Dunn, and McKneely. Then there are several transfers who Bennett hopes will make an immediate impact on the court. 

Beekman is one of the better defensive players in the country notwithstanding his overall contribution to the team.

McKneely, who is only a sophmore, as is Dunn,  is already being compared (statistically) to Kyle Guy while one writer has Dunn being a second coming of De’Andre Hunter. 

Off the bench, there is an experienced junior in Taine Murray. If he plays up to his potential he can most certainly earn a spot on the starting five. 

With that being said, Bennett has to find playing time for those who transferred into his program as well as Leon Bond III, a red-shirted freshman, and true freshman Elijah Gertrude.

As we know, Tony Bennett’s side of the ball is defense. If this year’s team can limit their opponents to under 55 points a game, they may very well contend for the ACC title.

Let’s go Wahoo’s and surprise the critics. 

Jerry Corsaletti

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Overall, the Wahoo’s ended their regular season with a very respectable 23 – 6 record. They also finished tied for first place in the ACC division with a 15 – 5 record.

Some of their wins were of the nail-biters variety as Tammy – for one – can attest to.

The highlight of the season were wins over Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State, Baylor and Illinois…three of which were top twenty-five teams nationally.

They, themselves, finished the regular season ranked at number thirteen in Division One college basketball.

Armaan Franklin led the team in scoring with a 12.6 average followed closely by Jayden Gardner and Kihel Clark with 11.6 and 11.1 respectively.

If the Hoos had a weakness it might be at the free-throw line and with their beyond the arc shooting.

Their defence held up as expected, and they led the country in the assist/turnover category with a ratio of 1.87 – kudos for that.

Next for the Bennett led team is the ACC tournament followed by the NCAA tournament.

Let’s go Hoos!!

The post UVA Regular Season Ends appeared first on Dr. E.C. Fulcher, Jr..

We witnessed UVA basketball at its best this month. They vaulted from fifth place in the ACC to second place in what is arguably the best/toughest conference in all of college basketball.

They finished the month of January with an impressive 8 – 1 record…. all against ACC opponents.

Overall, the Cavaliers are 17 – 3 for the 2022-2023 season and are currently ranked #6 in the nation.

January’s victories proved to be a team effort. The stalwarts, Clark, Gardner, Beekman,  Franklin, and Vander Plas had more than enough help from off the bench.

Freshman Isaac McKneely continues to impress as does Ryan Dunn.

The two goals going forward are winning the ACC title, and being a number one seed in the NCAA tournament…all within their reach should they continue their winning ways.

Go Hoos!!

-Jerry Corsaletti

The post January UVA Summary appeared first on Dr. E.C. Fulcher, Jr..

As one sports writer put it, “Tony Bennett’s team passed all its tests in the opening month of the season.”

They certainly did!

The “Hoos” opened the college basketball season ranked sixteenth in the nation. But by the end of November, they worked, and won their way to number three. What a phenomenal achievement!

Along the way, they defeated two top twenty teams; #5 Baylor and #19 Illinois, which catapulted them to the Continental Tire Main Event title in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the process, UVA became the first ACC team to accomplish that feat.

To finish out their November schedule they traveled to Michigan and beat the Wolverines 70-68 after trailing by eleven points at half-time. That’s the character of this team.

Currently, they are the only undefeated team is the ACC. Who would have thought that since North Carolina was predicted by the experts to win not only the ACC Title but also the National Title in College basketball.    

Bennett’s team, known for their defense prowess, is also showing they can score points, averaging 77 points per game while allowing just 59 points per game.    

December promises to be another exciting month for the Hoos because they entertain Houston (6-0), the current #1 team in the nation, and also Miami (6-1) on their home court.

Let’s hope they stay healthy and continue their winning ways.

Go Hoo’s!!

-Jerry Corsaletti

The post UVA Men’s Basketball November Recap appeared first on Dr. E.C. Fulcher, Jr..