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Virginia Basketball: Complete Overview of UVA’s Offseason Roster Moves
It took a little longer than anticipated and turned out a little differently than many expected, but Virginia has wrapped up its transfer portal recruiting and filled out its scholarship roster for the 2024-2025 men’s basketball season. After a quiet first six weeks of the offseason, Tony Bennett went on a recruiting spree in the transfer portal and snagged four transfers (five if you count walk-on Carter Lang) in the span of 11 days. Combined with a pair of promising incoming freshmen UVA signed last fall, these seven additions have completely transformed Virginia’s outlook for next season.
It’s still very difficult to project how the Cavaliers will look next season with so many new faces and it’s an even greater challenge to predict if UVA will be better than last season (and by how much) entering the post-Reece Beekman era. But at the very least, the Hoos will certainly look different with six players heading out the door and seven new ones coming in. We’re going to try to quantify how Virginia’s roster changed with some relevant statistics and recruiting data in an attempt to clarify UVA’s outlook for next season.
To start, let’s recap Virginia’s personnel moves from this offseason:
Virginia Men’s Basketball 2024 Offseason Timeline
March 19th: Virginia’s season ends, concluding the careers of Jordan Minor and Jake Groves, who both exhausted their collegiate eligibility.
April 6th: Redshirt freshman wing Leon Bond III enters the transfer portal
April 16th: Sophomore forward Ryan Dunn declares for 2024 NBA Draft
April 17th: Senior guard Reece Beekman declares for 2024 NBA Draft
April 19th: Redshirt junior guard Dante Harris enters the transfer portal
May 4th: Florida State guard Jalen Warley transfers to Virginia
May 6th: Duke forward TJ Power transfers to Virginia
May 6th: San Diego State forward Elijah Saunders transfers to Virginia
May 7th: Vanderbilt forward Carter Lang transfers to Virginia (walk-on)
May 15th: Kansas State guard Dai Dai Ames transfers to Virginia
Here’s a look at how Virginia’s roster changed from the 2023-2024 season to the 2024-2025 season in terms of departures, additions, and returners:
Departures
Exhausted Eligibility: Jordan Minor, Jake Groves
Transfer Portal: Leon Bond III (Northern Iowa), Dante Harris (undecided)
Declared for Draft: Ryan Dunn, Reece Beekman
Additions
Incoming Transfers: Jalen Warley (G, FSU), TJ Power (F, Duke), Elijah Saunders (F, SDSU), Dai Dai Ames (G, KSU), Carter Lang (F, Vandy) **walk-on
Incoming Freshmen: F Jacob Cofie (Seattle, Washington), G Ishan Sharma (Milton, Ontario)
Returners
Guards: Taine Murray, Isaac McKneely, Andrew Rohde, Elijah Gertrude, Christian Bliss
Forwards: Blake Buchanan, Anthony Robinson
Next, here’s a breakdown of what Virginia lost and gained in terms of scoring and minutes played:
Departures
Scoring: Reece Beekman (14.3 ppg) + Ryan Dunn (8.1) + Jake Groves (7.4) + Jordan Minor (4.3) + Leon Bond (4.1) + Dante Harris (2.5) + Tristan How (0.7) = 41.4/62.9 = 65.8% of scoring
Minutes: Beekman (1114 minutes) + Dunn (935) + Groves (690) + Minor (471) + Bond (296) + Harris (329) + How (17) = 3,852/6,875 = 56.0% of minutes
Additions
Jalen Warley: 7.5 ppg, 33 games, 32 starts, 24.1 mpg at Florida State
TJ Power: 2.1 ppg, 26 games, 0 starts, 7.0 mpg at Duke
Elijah Saunders: 6.2 ppg, 37 games, 21 starts, 20.2 mpg at San Diego State
Dai Dai Ames: 5.2 ppg, 31 games, 16 starts, 20.6 mpg at Kansas State
Carter Lang: 1.8 ppg, 24 games, 7 starts, 11.6 mpg at Vanderbilt
Virginia lost 65.8% of its scoring and 56.0% of its minutes from last season. Isaac McKneely returns as the team’s leading scorer at 12.3 ppg and he and Andrew Rohde are the only regular starters returning next year. With their offseason moves, the Cavaliers have essentially traded experience for youth and potential talent. Taine Murray and Jalen Warley will be Virginia’s only seniors in their final years of eligibility and there are only five total upperclassmen on the roster. Of UVA’s seven new players, six have at least two years of eligibility remaining, including four who have three years of eligibility remaining.
Here’s Virginia’s current scholarship roster for the 2024-2025 season sorted by position and including details on each player’s eligibility remaining:
PG: Jalen Warley (1 year), Dai Dai Ames (3 years) Christian Bliss (4 years)
SG: Isaac McKneely (2 years), Elijah Gertrude (3 years), Ishan Sharma (4 years)
SF: Andrew Rohde (2 years), Taine Murray (1 year)
PF: TJ Power (3 years), Elijah Saunders (2 years), Jacob Cofie (4 years)
C: Blake Buchanan (3 years), Anthony Robinson (4 years)
While the transfer additions don’t make up for what UVA lost in terms of scoring on paper, the Cavaliers’ hope is that they’ve picked up TJ Power, Elijah Saunders, and Dai Dai Ames right before experiencing leap points in their respective careers, while Carter Lang could develop into a contributor over the course of his career and is also a great story as he returns to his hometown of Charlottesville. Jalen Warley, meanwhile, provides much-needed backcourt experience as well as versatility on both ends of the floor as a 6’7″ guard and playmaker.
Power and Saunders address Virginia’s most significant position of need at power forward, while Warley and Ames give UVA two more options to compete with redshirt freshman Christian Bliss for minutes at point guard. Some questions remain about how these relatively unproven players will come together to address UVA’s roster needs, but there’s no question that these additions have significantly improved Virginia’s prospects for the future with so many players coming in with multiple years of eligibility remaining.
From a talent standpoint, it’s almost a waste of time to estimate the impact of transfers or high school recruits before seeing how they fit in Virginia’s system. And high school recruiting rankings should always be taken with a grain of salt, but they more often than not provide fairly accurate and helpful measurements of individual talent. With that said, here’s a look at each player’s high school prospect rankings, per the 247Sports Composite:
High School Recruiting Numbers (247Sports Composite)
Incoming Transfers
Jalen Warley: four-star, No. 43 overall
TJ Power: five-star, No. 20 overall
Elijah Saunders: three-star, No. 191 overall
Dai Dai Ames: four-star, No. 64 overall
Carter Lang: three-star, No. 172 overall
Incoming Freshmen
Jacob Cofie: four-star, No. 82 overall
Ishan Sharma: three-star, No. 229 overall
Returners
Blake Buchanan: four-star, No. 76 overall
Andrew Rohde: three-star, No. 316 overall
Taine Murray: four-star, No. 89 overall
Isaac McKneely: four-star, No. 63 overall
Elijah Gertrude: four-star, No. 63 overall
Anthony Robinson: three-star, No. 268 overall
Christian Bliss: three-star, No. 162 overall
Losses:
Reece Beekman: four-star, No. 70 overall
Ryan Dunn: four-star, No. 130 overall
Leon Bond III: four-star, No. 68 overall
Dante Harris: three-star, No. 389 overall
Jake Groves: N/A
Jordan Minor: N/A
From its 2023-2024 roster, Virginia lost three former four-star prospects and two former top 100 players. The Cavaliers gained four players who were either four or five-star high school prospects and four former top 100 recruits. Virginia will have eight players who were four or five-star high school prospects and eight former top 100 recruits on its roster in the 2024-2025 season. Going strictly off of recruiting rankings (again, grain of salt), this will be the most talented roster Tony Bennett has had in his time at Virginia.
Virginia Basketball Finalizes Scholarship Roster for 2024-2025 Season
Ryan Dunn & Reece Beekman NBA Draft Combine Measurements & Results
Virginia Basketball Lands Commitment From Kansas State Transfer Dai Dai Ames
Virginia Basketball Adds Vanderbilt Transfer Forward Carter Lang
San Diego State Transfer Elijah Saunders Commits to Virginia Basketball
Duke Forward TJ Power Transfers to Virginia Basketball
Virginia Basketball Lands First Transfer Commitment From FSU Guard Jalen Warley
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this world of college football, with the transfer portal and recruiting battles, bad blood is present more than ever before between head coaches.
That’s not the case between the Virginia Tech head coach and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, however. In fact, Franklin revealed at ACC Kickoff on Thursday that the two are actually close friends, dating back to their time at the Nike trip that various coaches take over the summer.
“Dabo’s my guy,” Franklin said on Thursday. “We go way back. We’ve been on the Nike trip for a long time. His wife and my wife are friends.”
The long-time Penn State head coach is making the move to the ACC after being fired from the Nittany Lions in October. 12 seasons of being with the program had Franklin hold a 44-21 record against top 10 opponents, an impressive record for a new conference foe of Swinney’s.
But when that trip comes around, there’s a camaraderie between Swinney and Franklin and both of their wives. In fact, the two hang out with each other instead of the other coaches at times. It simply comes to an “edgy” time in college athletics that raises tempers.
“I’m going to be honest, I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily like the type of people that love a lot of other coaches and a lot of other programs,” Franklin said. “It’s hard when you just compete year-round.”
On Swinney’s end, there are a few who could immediately come to mind among Clemson fans. Perhaps the most recent would be Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, who played the most significant role in the tampering of former linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
It’s a select list of coaches who make the good side of the Tigers’ head coach, and Franklin is certainly on that list. On the other hand, Hokies’ head coach has Swinney on his own shortlist.
“Obviously, tremendous respect for what he has built at Clemson and what he’s done at Clemson, and what he’s done for the ACC,” he said.
The two will see that close relationship face off at Memorial Stadium this upcoming season. Clemson will host the Hokies on Oct. 24 in what could be a potential title-eliminator for the ACC Championship.
Of course, the last game that we’ve seen the Tigers play in was against Franklin’s former team in Penn State at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. That game ended in a 22-10 contest that saw a foundation of Franklin players end Clemson’s season in disappointment.
Swinney will see many of those players once again in October, including starting quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, in that contest. The anticipated Hokie starter recorded 260 yards and two passing touchdowns on the Tigers in the Bronx that day.
Although friends become foes, another ACC coach has given Swinney his flowers for what he’s been able to do for the conference. In the upcoming moments, Franklin will look to prepare his team to prove itself on one of the biggest stages in the ACC, while Swinney looks to put his team back at the top of a conference he’s dominated for over 15 years.
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Extreme drought conditions in parts of Virginia have prompted an emergency drought warning for a wide swath of the region, including Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Roanoke counties, along with the cities of Danville, Roanoke, Salem and Martinsville.
The governor has warned that if conditions worsen, she will activate mandatory nonessential water-use restrictions.
In Martinsville, city leaders have issued a voluntary water conservation notice and are urging residents and businesses to cut back where they can. The request comes as local businesses that rely heavily on water say the drought is already affecting day-to-day operations.
SEE ALSO: Botetourt County residents adjust daily routines as voluntary water restriction continues
John Hughes, owner of John’s Car Wash, said the dry conditions have hit his business hard in recent weeks. “For the last 3 weeks, it’s been hitting pretty hard. We done three yesterday and haven’t done anything today with the drought and hot weather. Yeah, I’m really concerned about it,” Hughes said.
Restaurants are also feeling the strain. David Kitzmiller, an owner of Be Wiched, said water is essential for routine tasks such as washing dishes and preparing some menu items.
“We use a lot of water for washing dishes and some of our recipes if they limit us in anyway defiently can’t produce and its a scary aspect,” Kitzmiller said.
Kitzmiller added that cutting back is not always realistic for businesses that must meet sanitation needs. “Not really feasible for a business that depends solely relies on water to wash their dishes, so that can’t definitely be an impact there,” he said.
City leaders emphasized that the conservation request is voluntary for now, but they are encouraging everyone to do their part by taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet when it is not in use, washing only full loads of laundry, and limiting outdoor watering whenever possible.
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Five people were charged after Virginia Beach Police conducted a two-day human trafficking and vice operation on July 3, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department.
The department’s Special Investigations Bureau conducted the operation, which was aimed at identifiying human trafficking victims, reducing the demand for commercial sex and targeting individuals seeking to exploit or recruit children for prostitution.
Detectives used many investigative techniques to proactively identify individuals involved in criminal activity related to prostitution, human trafficking and offenses against children. The operation was conducted in Virginia Beach, involving personnel from all of the bureau’s squads.
As a result of the operation, five people were identified and charged with offenses ranging from solicitation of prostitution to sex trafficking and crimes involving minors. Two vehicles and U.S. currency were seized during the operation. Other people were connected to victim services through Samaritan House.
The operation led to the following people being charged:
- Shane Carter, 28, of Norfolk, was charged with solicitation of prostitution.
- Robert Harris, 64, of Virginia Beach, was charged with solicitation of prostitution and assault and battery.
- Larry Pittman, 53, of Portsmouth, was charged with sex trafficking and use of electronic devices to facilitaate certain offenses involving minors.
- Kenric Frazier, 46, of Portsmouth, was charged with sex trafficking, use of electronic devices to facilitate certain offenses involving minors and solicitation of child pornography.
- Cameron Lewis, 24, of Norfolk, was charged with solicitation of prostitution.
Investigators also developed leads about people who are suspected of trafficking and exploiting others for commercial sex. Those are now active and ongoing investigations. There may be more charges and arrests pending further investigation and consultation with the Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
If you’re a human trafficking victim or know someone who is, you can report it to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
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