Ohio Transfer Ben Vander Plas Commits to Virginia Basketball

Ohio switch Ben Vander Plas has dedicated to the Virginia basketball program, he introduced on social media on Saturday afternoon. 

“Excited for my subsequent chapter – Go Hoos,” Vander Plas stated in a tweet. 

The 6’8″, 232-pound ahead visited UVA per week in the past and was contemplating the Cavaliers in addition to Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Illinois. 

Ben Vander Plas loved a profitable profession at Ohio. After redshirting his first season in 2017-2018, Vander Plas was named the 2019 Freshman of the 12 months within the Mid-American Convention (MAC), earned All-MAC Third Workforce honors in 2020 and 2021, and was named to the All-MAC First Workforce this season after averaging career-highs in factors (14.3 ppg), rebounds (6.8 rpg), and steals (1.8 spg). He shot 45.7% from the ground and 33.8% from three on 5.7 makes an attempt per recreation and led the Bobcats to a 25-10 season and a quarterfinal end within the School Basketball Invitational. 

In 2021, Vander Plas led No. 13 seed Ohio to a 62-58 upset over No. 4 seed Virginia within the first spherical of the 2021 NCAA Event. He recorded 17 factors, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists within the victory, which was Ohio’s first NCAA Event win since 2012.

The efficiency Vander Plas had in opposition to the Cavaliers was one of many extra intriguing storylines to come back out of the March Insanity bubble in 2021, given his household’s connections to Tony Bennett. His father, Dean Vander Plas, was teammates with Tony Bennett at Inexperienced Bay-Wisconsin, the place they performed below Dick Bennett and led the Phoenix to their first NCAA Event look in 1991. The Bennett and Vander Plas households are shut. Dean and Mary Vander Plas attended the marriage of Tony and Laurel Bennett in 1996 and so they named Ben, whose full identify is Bennett Vander Plas, after Dick Bennett and his household.

These household connections possible performed a big position on this dedication as now, Vander Plas will come to Charlottesville to play his remaining season of school basketball for Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers. 

Virginia provides Vander Plas to a workforce that returns every of its high six scorers from a season in the past and brings in a proficient recruiting class of four-stars Isaac McKneely, Isaac Traudt, Leon Bond, and Ryan Dunn. 

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