Virginia basketball will look to improve to 2-0 on the season when the Cavaliers host Coppin State on Monday night at John Paul Jones Arena.
Read on for a full preview of Virginia vs. Coppin State, including game details and notes, an opponent scouting report, what to watch for, and a prediction for Monday night’s matchup.
Who: Virginia Cavaliers (1-0) vs. Coppin State Eagles (0-3)
When: Monday, November 11th at 7pm ET
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Where: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA
How to watch: ACC Network Extra/ESPN+
How to listen: Sirius XM 381, SXM App 971 | Virginia Sports Radio
All-time series: Virginia leads 3-0
Last meeting: Virginia defeated Coppin State 68-52 on November 19th, 2021 in Charlottesville.
Coppin State is in its second year under head coach Larry Stewart, who also happens to be the program’s all-time greatest player (arguably), as he won back-to-back MEAC Player of the Year Awards and played a few seasons in the NBA before spending the rest of his playing career overseas. This is Stewart’s first head coaching job and it’s not going very well so far, as the Eagles went 2-27 last season and were picked to finish dead last in the eight-team MEAC this year.
Coppin State is off to an 0-3 start to this season. The campaign opened with a 64-49 loss to Wake Forest and that defeat doesn’t look bad at all as the Demon Deacons are 3-0 and just knocked off Michigan on Sunday. Then came a couple of losses that weren’t nearly as encouraging, as the Eagles were crushed at High Point 93-51 and then fell to Rider 64-53 in their home opener on Friday. This will be the fourth game in eight days for Coppin State, so stamina may be an issue.
Coppin State’s best player is 6’6″ guard Derrius Ward, a redshirt senior from Philadelphia. Ward is the team’s sole double-digit scorer at 15.3 points per game and he scored 19 points in the loss at Wake Forest. 6’3″ guard Toby Nnadozie is the team’s best three-point shooter at 41.7% from three and 5’11” guard Cam’Ron Brown facilitates the offense. Rounding out the starting five are 6’7″ forward Jonathan Dunn (3.3 ppg and 5.3 rpg) and 6’8″ forward Peter Oduro (5.3 ppg and 4.0 rpg).
Virginia’s developing point guard situation We had this as a key to watch for in the season opener and it’ll continue to be a key until the Cavaliers achieve some stability at the point guard position. With Jalen Warley entering the transfer portal and Christian Bliss out with a foot injury, it was Andrew Rohde getting the start at point guard in the opener over Kansas State transfer Dai Dai Ames. Rohde played 32 minutes while Ames played only 10. Even if Rohde exceeds expectations this season, Virginia’s ceiling is low if he’s the team’s lead guard. He must play better than the one-point, five-assist-, four-turnover performance he had against Campbell, but the Cavaliers need to play Dai Dai Ames more and get more out of him.
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Tracking Elijah Saunders and TJ Power Saunders had a decent Cavalier debut with 11 points on 5/8 shooting and five rebounds despite playing just 18 minutes as he was in foul trouble. TJ Power didn’t play much more, as he logged 19 minutes and scored three points and was the only Cavalier with a negative +/- at -7. Jacob Cofie stole the show in the opener and that’s good news for UVA, but the Hoos are going to need Saunders to be on the floor more and they’ll need Power to start to show glimpses of his former five-star recruit potential.
More Blake Buchanan and Jacob Cofie action Continuing with the front court, Jacob Cofie had an excellent collegiate debut with 16 points on 7/8 shooting to go along with six rebounds, one block and one steal. Blake Buchanan played well in a new role, dishing out five assists while facilitating the UVA offense from the free throw line in addition to scoring 10 points, collecting seven rebounds, and blocking three shots. Three of those assists went to Cofie as the two big men showed some nice chemistry. That could be a solid new feature for this Virginia offense and Cofie and Buchanan should try to continue to build their rapport on Monday night.
Bonus: More three-point shooting Virginia went 6/10 from beyond the arc in the first half against Campbell, but then attempted only three triples in the second half. This has the potential to be a really good perimeter shooting team with as many as five or even six quality three-point shooters, but they have to take those long shots at a higher volume.
Whereas Campbell was a scrappy and well-coached team that usually plays well against high-majors, Coppin State could be the worst team Virginia plays this season. We also gave Ron Sanchez and company a pass for how close the Campbell game was because it was the first one without Tony Bennett. This time, however, just winning won’t be good enough. UVA needs to win this game convincingly in order to build momentum moving into the tougher non-conference matchups.
Score prediction: Coppin State 43, Virginia 72
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Signs that say, “Don’t Fairfax Me” and “Vote No” are appearing in rural parts of Virginia in opposition to gerrymandered maps being voted on in a special election.
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‘Don’t Fairfax Me’: Northern Virginians fight redistricting plan
As the special election that will determine the fate of a plan to redraw Virginia’s congressional districts approaches, the state’s largest jurisdiction has started being referenced as a verb in messaging opposing the initiative.
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Signs that say, “Don’t Fairfax Me” and “Vote No” started appearing in rural parts of Virginia, Cardinal News reported. And on social media, Del. Wren Williams, whose district includes several counties in the southwestern portion of the state, defined “Fairfaxphobia.”
Early voting has been underway for weeks, but on April 21, voters will decide whether to OK a plan that would redraw Virginia’s congressional map. Currently, the state has elected six Democrats and five Republicans across its 11 districts. The proposed map could give Democrats a 10-1 advantage, experts say.
Virginia Democrats argue the step comes in response to President Donald Trump’s push for redistricting in Republican-led states. Republicans have been critical of the effort.
Williams is describing “Fairfaxphobia” as a fear that political power concentrated in Fairfax County will make decisions for the whole state and create policies impacting some communities that they can’t afford.
“We don’t want to be Fairfax County,” Williams told WTOP. “We don’t want skyscrapers. I don’t want to have to go somewhere outside and walk around to find some patches of grass to touch. I am interested in rural life, a little bit easier, a little bit simpler, a little bit more laid back, not as fast paced.”
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“Fairfaxphobia” graphic circulated to represent the fear that political power concentrated in Fairfax County will make decisions for the whole state. (Courtesy of Wren Williams)
As part of the proposed map, Williams said, “at least five districts run up and split up Fairfax County, which will eventually lead to five sitting congressional members from the county of Fairfax, and that’s just not representative of the entirety of the commonwealth.”
Jeannette, a longtime Northern Virginia resident, said people who live in the northern part of the state “are seen as an anomaly, maybe to the rest of Virginia, given our, I think, collective more liberal leaning. And I understand why they’re saying that, but I think we should separate that from the goal of the referendum.”
Dave Lincoln, meanwhile, said Friday he hadn’t heard about the signs in rural parts of the state but, “I guess it’s — we are what we are.”
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell called the campaign disappointing, because “Fairfax County does a lot for the entire state. If it wasn’t for Fairfax, our state would have the economy of Mississippi.”
The “Don’t Fairfax Me” signs say they’re paid for and authorized by a political action committee called “New Vision VA.” Dominion Energy made a $25,000 donation to the PAC, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
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Yves Fischer, who lives in Alexandria, said the messaging and advertising on the redistricting referendum are confusing.
For Tiffany, “I guess they’re saying ‘Don’t Fairfax’ Virginia, because obviously we are a much more educated, classy, professional, employed area, and we, of course, are going to vote ‘yes’ on this.”
In Springfield on Friday afternoon, Ann said she hadn’t seen or heard about the signs, but, “It should be a big ‘no.’ It’s not right. It’s not fair to most Virginians.”
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ABINGDON, Va. (WCYB) — The made in Southwest Virginia artisan and craft market returns April 11, 2026.
The Southwest Virginia Cultural Center in Abingdon will host more than 20 local artists.
Those artisans will offer demonstrations of their work and they’ll also be selling some of their crafts.
“We want to give this opportunity for community members to come out, as the weather is warming up and as spring is rolling around, to meet these makers and take home a little bit of Southwest Virginia,” Ryan Vaughan with the Friends of Southwest Virginia said.
A new West Virginia law aims to boost the state’s coal and natural gas sectors while more than tripling its electricity generation capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2050.
The measure, signed Thursday by Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey, is designed to turn West Virginia into an energy hub for the data center industry. By sending more electricity to the regional grid and leveraging his state’s relatively lax regulations, Morrisey and his allies are looking to lure data centers to the state, as well as power those beyond its borders.
“We know there’s virtually unlimited need for energy in our country,” Morrisey said at a bill signing of H.B. 5381. “PJM and our grid operators, they’re starving for states to step up and take the lead. And that’s what West Virginia is doing.”
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The new law calls for the state’s Office of Energy to produce rolling five-year plans to keep the state’s existing coal-fired power plants operating through 2050, while also developing new “baseload” energy powered by gas, nuclear, geothermal and hydrogen.
