Coach Tony Bennett has always led a strong program, but he has yet to win an NCAA Tournament game since the 2019 National Championship. With his position as leader of Virginia men’s basketball under unprecedented question, Athletic Director Carla Williams solidified Bennett’s status with a multi-year extension. Now, the Cavaliers appear well-positioned to finally get back to postseason dominance. With several key changes, such as the addition of a talented transfer class, a trio of writers share their thoughts on the upcoming season.
Which transfer will make the biggest impact in 2024-25 and beyond?
Michael Liebermann, Senior Associate: Sophomore forward TJ Power’s highlight reel is enticing. It shows the Duke transfer repeatedly duplicating a simple shooting motion, splashing three-pointers. But the statistics are less attractive — Power averaged only 6.7 minutes per game in his lone Duke campaign, scoring 2.1 points and grabbing 0.7 rebounds. The former five-star recruit, ranked No. 16 in his class, hardly played as expected. But he has what he needs — a pleasingly robotic jumpshot, the build for banging around in the paint defensively when necessary and the promise of three years of working under Bennett. He is sturdily built and tall and more athletic than brawny — a player of ideal dimensions and promising skills who still has everything to prove.
Emory Huffman, Staff Writer: No one man can be expected to fill the loose-fitting shoes of longtime Cavalier Reece Beekman, but Bennett’s job this offseason was to find someone who could help fill that void alongside redshirt freshman guard Christian Bliss. Senior guard Jalen Warley, who transferred to Virginia from Florida State, is a crucial pickup. Warley’s role, first and foremost, will be as a distributor — the recently drafted Beekman was known for his ability to find an open teammate and create scoring opportunities. Standing 6-foot-7 and possessing an impressive set of guard skills, Warley’s versatility is going to be important for the Cavaliers on both ends of the floor. Whether or not he fits neatly into a refreshed offensive scheme and how quickly he adjusts to Bennett’s vaunted defense will determine how great his impact will be in the 2024-25 season.
Stephen O’Dea, Staff Writer: Former San Diego State junior forward Elijah Saunders seems to be the difference-maker to me. His stats weren’t glowing as an Aztec, but it’s important to address the fact that Saunders was a part of what has been among the very best programs in the country for the past two years. He has made it to heights even Bennett and the Cavaliers were unable to reach over the last two years, and for all of the skill on offer with this team, it is Saunders who has the most big-game experience. He is also the kind of player that fits well into Bennett’s defensive scheme. As a player who can step out and defend guards as well as use his muscle underneath to stop big players, he really is the complete package on that side of the ball. What remains to be seen, however, is whether he can step up on the offensive end and contribute. He does not have to be a primary scorer — and he likely won’t be — but any kind of offensive production helps, and Saunders could certainly be an enticing option to attack the glass.
How would you grade the team’s offseason?
ML: It is impossible to deliver a grade without first laying one pivotal ground rule. Should we graders consider sophomore guard Elijah Gertrude’s season-ending injury or dismiss it as out of the team’s control and therefore not relevant? Let us assume that it does not count and that we are assessing only the team’s offseason moves, who it added and subtracted. Let us also blame the ruinous creation called scooters for betraying Gertrude and ending his season. In that case, I give Virginia a B-. According to 247Sports, Bennett collected the nation’s No. 41 transfer portal haul — not great but not awful — while somehow convincing senior guard Dante Harris to return as a walk-on. He lost only sophomore forward Leon Bond III, who seemed unlikely to provide impact anyway. Bennett also deserves credit for plugging the injury’s vacuum by going out and getting sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames.
EH: I would give the team a B+. Bennett stepped up his game in the transfer portal — my favorite move of the offseason might be bringing in sophomore forward Carter Lang as a walk-on. Lang adds size and versatility to a roster that lacked both in the 2023-24 season, and he does it without taking a scholarship spot from other highly-touted transfers. Bennett did not bring in many key recruits this offseason — netting the 56th-ranked class in the country according to On3 — although freshman forward Jacob Cofie and freshman guard Ishan Sharma could both contribute important minutes within the next two seasons. It is hard to take offense at Bennett’s newfound success in the transfer portal, especially if it makes up for a mediocre recruiting effort.
SO: Taking Gertrude’s injury out of the discussion and judging exclusively from Bennett’s ability to revitalize a roster through the portal and through recruitment, I would give this offseason a B+. The Cavaliers do not have an exceptional recruiting class, but Bennett’s ability to lure multiple high-value transfers from big programs is impressive, especially after what took place late last season. Let us not forget that the way the Cavaliers went about their basketball for most of the season left a lot to be desired from an aesthetic perspective. The March Madness episode against Colorado State paints a pretty unappealing picture of what Virginia men’s basketball looked like without some of the familiar faces that had led them just a year prior. Given this situation, it is clear that there is something the program is missing, whether it be through the atmosphere, team culture or style of play on the court. Regardless, this offseason highlighted that players who faced the Cavaliers in conference play last year wanted to come to Charlottesville — and there is something to be said for that. All in all, this offseason is something that the Cavaliers can look back at with pride, and there is no doubt that it is a positive start to what looks to be a new era of Virginia basketball.
What is the team’s ceiling next year?
ML: This could, if everything goes extremely right, be an Elite Eight team. That may sound slightly ludicrous given last season’s feckless conclusion — the ACC Tournament collapse, the NCAA Tournament sluggishness and the general feeling of a team stumbling to the finish line — and certainly nothing about the offseason additions indicates a seismic shift. But junior guard Isaac McKneely is back for another three-point-sinking year. Sophomore forward Blake Buchanan may just make a startling offseason leap. Cofie is the potential bombshell forward nobody’s talking about. The floor is definitely distant. But the ceiling? Elite Eight.
EH: It will come down to the performance of this year’s transfer class, but Virginia could realistically find itself in the Sweet 16. Last season marked a first for Bennett’s Cavaliers, as they relied on a fresh influx of talent to quickly adjust to Bennett’s system far more than in previous years. The path was fraught with growing pains and frequent adjustments, but Virginia found a route to the NCAA Tournament anyway. With Bliss ready to contribute and returners like junior guard Andrew Rohde and Buchanan primed to take major steps forward, this season rests primarily upon the shoulders of the new class of transfers to adapt as quickly as possible. If they settle in nicely, the Cavaliers will find themselves deep in the NCAA Tournament once again. Such a leap is hard to imagine considering the team’s unsightly fall from grace in the 2024 postseason, but betting against Bennett remains unwise.
SO: Even with a praiseworthy offseason, it would be very hard to visualize this team taking a big step from where they were last year. The fact of the matter remains that Virginia’s returning players have glaring weaknesses, and those need to be at least somewhat rectified if Cavalier fans are to see a team that can muster a deep postseason run. At their absolute best, they appear to have a little more potential than last year’s squad, a team perhaps more equipped to go at an ACC title and even a couple of wins in March. However, the much more likely conclusion is that there will be moments of grandeur — where we see some of the more energetic passages of play that the Cavaliers have produced in recent years — surrounded by the same type of calculated conservative play that has elicited the collective moans and groans of thousands in John Paul Jones Arena. If you don’t want to be left disappointed, expect this year’s squad to bring about as much in the way of competition as last year.
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