When Virginia took the long ride down to Charleston, S.C. for an outdoor exhibition against No. 24 Vanderbilt, Ryan Odom had more than just a preseason test in mind. The setting itself was part of the lesson.
An outdoor college basketball game is unusual enough. Toss in shifting light, shadows, breeze and all the other distractions that come with playing outside, and Odom gets a rare look at how his team handles the strange. Add a ranked SEC opponent, and the challenge gets even better.
The matchup also fit neatly into the culture Odom is trying to build at Virginia. Before the game, the Cavaliers and Ben Navarro met with the men’s basketball team.
Navarro, who operates Credit One Stadium, is the father of Virginia tennis standout Emma Navarro, a former national champion in Charlottesville. Odom has made a point of connecting his current group with the program’s past, and this visit was another piece of that plan.
Navarro offered the Cavaliers a reminder about perspective, pressure and the way sports can shape people.
"Yeah, we're pumped that you guys are here," Navarro said. "It's super rare to to see a basketball court in our tennis arena, but we love it.
It's so important to just appreciate every day. It goes by so fast, and sports are pretty amazing.
Sports gives you so much that you don't you don't always get out of life."
"So yeah, appreciate everything that that comes with sports," Navarro said. "the nerves and and the pressure and the tough days and the excitement of winning and and the hurt of losing, yeah, take it all in. Those are emotions that are hard to come by in your in your daily life."
Navarro is hardly the only name from Virginia’s past to make an appearance around this team. In March, the school hired Malcolm Brogdon as a strategic advisor, and he is set to be around the Cavaliers on their push toward a championship. Odom has also brought in Ralph Sampson, Seth Greenberg and others, with more visits still to come.
That approach lines up with the way Odom has attacked the schedule, too. Virginia had a respectable slate a year ago, with wins over Miami, Louisville, NC State, Texas and Dayton.
This season looks far harsher. The Cavaliers are set to face No.
2 Duke twice, along with No. 4 UConn, No.
11 Louisville, No. 12 Arkansas, No.
14 Miami and No. 23 Kentucky.
It echoes a line Odom has borrowed from Tony Elliott: to be the best, you have to beat the best. Virginia’s football program got a visit from the men’s basketball team earlier this fall, another sign of how much the two programs are leaning on each other.
On Wednesday, Cavaliers tight end John Rogers said the support is mutual.
"You can see them on the jumbotron on game days, cheering their their tails off, and it means a lot to us," Rogers said. "With the success they've had, we're able to to build off of each other and learn from each other, truly. Even our even in our respective sports, there's a lot of similarities, and having guys that we know are are capable of winning championships cheering us on means a lot."
Odom is also trying to make sure his players feel the broader pull of UVA, not just the basketball piece. He has taken them on tours of Grounds and trips to Washington, D.C., and he has given them reading assignments designed to deepen their connection to the school.
Greenberg summed up the message Odom is pushing.
"Your culture is bigger than everything else that's going on in college basketball. and the strength of this program is the culture," Greenberg said. "Virginia's not for everyone. but you guys chose to be here because it is different.
Culture takes time. Guard that freaking culture every single day.
You gotta guard it."
"If you do that, you guys will be hanging a banner."
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