Virginia basketball’s first real test arrives Tuesday night, and with it comes the start of a season built on continuity, depth, and a whole lot of expectations. The Cavaliers will open at John Paul Jones Arena against Drexel at 7:30 p.m., finally moving from the exhibition stretch into games that actually count.
Before that opener, the Hoos already got a taste of competition through three preseason-style exhibition games against Vanderbilt, Richmond, and Villanova. Virginia dropped the first one to Vanderbilt, 82-73, then rolled past Richmond, 96-53, and finished the preseason slate with a 93-71 win over Villanova. The results may not go in the standings, but they offered a snapshot of where this team stands heading into November.
That picture starts with Ryan Odom’s first season in Charlottesville, which set a high bar. Virginia went 30-6, reached the ACC Tournament title game, and picked up an NCAA Tournament win before advancing to the second round. Just as important, the Cavaliers brought back every player with remaining eligibility, giving Odom a proven base to work with.
The returning core begins with Thijs De Ridder, Sam Lewis, Johann Grünloh, and Chance Mallory. All four logged major minutes last season, and De Ridder’s impact earned him First Team All-ACC honors. Virginia also has Elijah Gertrude, Martin Carrere, Silas Barksdale, Carter Lang, Desmond Roberts, and Owen Odom back in the mix.
The roster has been reinforced, too. Favour Ibe and Nolan Adekunle are in for their first college season, while transfers Jan Vide, Jurian Dixon, Christian Harmon, and Kalu Anya are new to the program. Nick Rotter and Quincy Watson have also joined the team.
Odom met with the media Friday to talk through what he sees as the biggest questions and the biggest reasons for optimism.
One of the main topics was the rotation beyond the core four, and Odom made it clear that part of that picture is still coming into focus. He said: "Yeah, I think it's still a work in progress quite honestly.
I like our bench. I like the options we have there, but I would say nothing is completely set at this point."
Gertrude came up as well, and Odom sounded especially encouraged by the guard’s growth. He said: "He certainly understands the system.
He's been in the system for a year now. He was really helpful with last year's team in getting us ready and when he did get in there, he performed well.
He just didn't get that many options or opportunities. I think he's eager to impact this team and impact winning.
He's a great guy. Everybody on the team loves him and wants him to succeed.
I certainly do. I'm proud of the progress he's made."
Odom also pointed to the schedule as a major challenge. He said: "The schedule is very tough.
I've never had this many games I don't think in November. There's a lot of games in November, a lot of one-day preps, two-day preps.
It's going to be very, very challenging for our guys. So I think we're going to have to be ready for that.
The opponents are all good. They all can beat us.
We've got to make sure that mentally and physically we're ready to play."
Chance Mallory’s offseason work was another topic, with Odom emphasizing the demands that come with a bigger role. He said: "That was one of the keys for us when we met with him in the offseason.
There's going to be more asked of you and in order to handle that you're going to need to be in tip-top shape. ... Coming off the bench is different than starting and playing big minutes and being a leader on this team."
Asked what stands out most about this group, Odom pointed to pace. He said: "I think the speed.
I think we can be faster than we were last year. That excites me.
We have a four-on-four drill ... and when I watch that drill and our guys do that, we've had other teams do this drill, but nowhere near as fast. This team can move up and down the court quickly.
A lot of it starts with Chance, but we have big, strong guys that can move up and down the court pretty quickly."
Virginia’s season opener is here, and the pieces are in place for Odom to start answering the questions that came out of Friday’s session.
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