Stationed in the corner, shoulders hunched forward, freshman forward Jacob Cofie clapped twice, urgently, the noise audible even from the opposite corner of John Paul Jones Arena. He wanted the ball. He got it.
Then he drilled the corner three-pointer, his fourth bucket of the night in his first college game to make sure he would be the first thing on everyone’s minds. He ended with 16 points and six rebounds on 7-for-8 shooting, including two made three-pointers, in Virginia’s season-opening 65-56 win over Campbell.
The points marked a team high and a game high — and a program high for a debutant since Jayden Gardner’s 18 points in 2021. That corner three-pointer rattled home, and Cofie turned to run back on defense, hardly even pausing for fanfare.
“I felt like [after] that first bucket, I was ready to go,” Cofie said postgame. “I was ready to get more.”
Cofie and his dark green sneakers popped off the bench first, after less than two minutes of play. He slammed home an early transition dunk, yanking the first concerted roar of the season from 13,414 basketball-parched throats. He danced back on defense after drilling one late-clock rainbow three-pointer. He worked the high-low action with sophomore forward Blake Buchanan.
He howled after those first couple big plays, and it seemed visceral, involuntary, a college newcomer dragged through the current. One time he fed Buchanan, a frequent practice partner. As Buchanan spun and rose toward the rim, Cofie bounced straight up in the air, whooping, timing his jump with that of the dunking big man.
“I’m pretty hard on him in practice,” Buchanan said. “I get on him. I try to do my best to mentor him a little bit. So I’m super happy for him to come out and have that game.”
The raw emotion faded a little as the game progressed, replaced by a slightly more businesslike demeanor. Cofie flashed his composure in the second half at one point when he caught the ball under the rim, faked, waited and dunked. He did that twice in the second half.
He looked so comfortable, so at home. Even though this is a new home. Cofie is still a wide-eyed freshman, mouth agape and eyes wide in the press room as he heard the statistic about being the program’s highest-scoring debutant in three years.
After the game, Cofie said that he derived confidence from playing well in the team’s two scrimmages and from Coach Ron Sanchez.
His rawness appeared, too, of course. He got dusted a couple times defensively, part of a group that looked like a work in progress.
“Had a couple defensive breakdowns,” Sanchez said of Cofie. “That just comes from him being a young player and understanding the moment.”
There is something arresting about Cofie, despite the obvious inexperience. It goes beyond the 6-foot-10, 232-pound player’s boundless athleticism.
He plays loose but he also moves loose, talks loose, acts loose. It is not a swagger, not exactly. It is more like unbothered confidence. His game features an unmistakable liquidity, a refreshing freedom.
“I’m hoping that this is just the beginning for him, and he can springboard into better performances than this one,” Sanchez said. “I think he’s definitely capable of doing it.”
Virginia might need it. The Cavaliers displayed some notable strengths in Wednesday’s victory, the first of the post-Tony Bennett era, shooting 6-13 on three-pointers and 24-42 from the field. Buchanan and junior forward Elijah Saunders also impressed. But weaknesses also surfaced. The defense looked occasionally porous, the backcourt presence seemed sometimes suspect and the game’s overall tightness attested to some struggles.
“We had some possessions where we didn’t have great rhythm,” Sanchez said. “That’s just more of them growing and learning.”
The season is still young, of course. But Cofie’s emergence bodes well. He did a little bit of everything — hitting three-pointers while also bringing the ball upcourt.
The early breakout mirrored, in a way, what one of his teammates did last season. Buchanan exploded in a similar fashion as a freshman, scoring 18 points in an early game against Florida.
“I remember when I did that in my second game last year,” Buchanan said. “It’s a great feeling, and hopefully he can just keep it rolling.”
Buchanan presents something of a cautionary tale, though. He mainly slumped after that one stirring performance, never again reaching double-figures scoring. Virginia hopes Cofie can maintain his scintillating play.
Cofie smiled ruefully at one point during his postgame interview. He had struggled that morning, he said, to focus in class. Try as he might, thoughts of basketball invariably crowded in.
After class he resorted to Xbox, trying to unmoor from those persistent thoughts of the imminent season opener. Then he left for the training room to prepare to play.
He was not just focused, a couple hours later, when he checked into the game. He was locked in.
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