A Timeline Summary of Virginia's Offseason Roster Moves

This has been one of the more tumultuous offseasons in recent memory for the Virginia men's basketball program in terms of roster turnover. The Cavaliers lost seven scholarship players over the span of a month after the season ended - due either to graduation, transfer, or entrance into the NBA Draft - and then proceeded to reconstruct their roster with seven new scholarship players, four from the transfer portal and three incoming freshmen.

Here's a timeline of Virginia's offseason roster moves:

March 16th: With the conclusion of the 2022-2023 Virginia men's basketball season, the collegiate careers of fifth year point guard Kihei Clark and fifth-year forwards Jayden Gardner, and Ben Vander Plas come to an end.

March 23rd: Redshirt senior center Francisco Caffaro enters transfer portal.

March 27th: Redshirt freshman forward Isaac Traudt and redshirt junior center Kadin Shedrick enter transfer portal.

March 30th: Junior guard Reece Beekman declares for the 2023 NBA Draft, but maintains his collegiate eligibility.

March 31st: Senior guard Armaan Franklin declares for NBA Draft. Isaac Traudt commits to Creighton.

April 10th: Francisco Caffaro commits to Santa Clara.

April 13th: Merrimack transfer forward Jordan Minor commits to Virginia.

April 18th: St. Thomas transfer guard Andrew Rohde commits to Virginia.

April 23rd: Kadin Shedrick commits to Texas.

April 25th: Oklahoma transfer forward Jacob Groves commits to Virginia.

April 29th: 2023 three-star forward Anthony Robinson commits to Virginia.

May 31st: Reece Beekman withdraws from the NBA Draft, returns to Virginia for his senior season.

The outcome is a drastically different UVA roster filled with new names and unfamiliar faces. Virginia is set to return less than 30% of its scoring from last season, second-lowest in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Headlining those returners is an exciting trio of Reece Beekman, Isaac McKneely and Ryan Dunn.

The reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Beekman is looking to aggressively improve his offensive game as he takes the keys as UVA's primary point guard this season. Flanking Beekman is a pair of rising sophomores who are hoping to build off of outstanding freshmen campaigns. Isaac McKneely led the Cavaliers in three-point shooting at 39.2% last season and Ryan Dunn showed flashes of serious potential with elite-level defense, shot-blocking, and some electric high-flying dunks. Both McKneely and Dunn are in line to slide into Virginia's starting five this season.

Also returning for the Cavaliers will be junior guard Taine Murray and redshirt freshman wing Leon Bond III. Murray has played sparingly in his first two seasons at UVA, but his familiarity with the defensive system and his potential as a perimeter shooter could lead to him finding a spot in the rotation this season. Bond meanwhile, looks to prove that he is on par with his teammates in Virginia's 2022 recruiting class. Whether Bond can provide close to as much value as McKneely and Dunn did in their first seasons on the court will be one of the biggest wildcards for UVA this season.

To that solid core of returning players, Virginia added a quartet of transfers that specifically addressed to the team's most significant roster needs. Former Georgetown point guard Dante Harris, who joined the program as a mid-season transfer in January, gives the Cavaliers an experienced secondary ball-handler who can operate the offense when Beekman is off the floor. Jordan Minor, who was a conference player of the year and defensive player of the year last season at Merrimack, will likely be UVA's starting center this year. Oklahoma transfer Jake Groves gives the Cavaliers a perimeter shooting boost as a forward who can stretch the floor. Andrew Rohde is perhaps the most exciting transfer of the bunch, as he comes to UVA after averaging 17.1 points per game at St. Thomas and being named the Summit League Freshman of the Year. A 6'6" guard who started every game as a true freshman, Rohde could end up doing the same as he gives Virginia another quality playmaking and scoring guard. UVA also adds a solid batch of incoming freshmen featuring four-star forward Blake Buchanan, four-star guard Elijah Gertrude, and three-star Anthony Robinson.

Depending on how well those newcomers are able to mix with the returners, Virginia could have a special season in store in 2022-2023.

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