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Biggest Roster Questions Facing Virginia Basketball This Offseason
Another critical offseason has arrived for the Virginia men's basketball program and another offseason during which the Cavaliers have several key questions to answer regarding the makeup of their roster for the 2024-2025 season. Let's take a look at the biggest roster questions facing Virginia this offseason:
Who will be Virginia's starting point guard next season?
The point guard is arguably the most important player on the floor for any basketball team. And for the last decade, it's been a reliable position of strength for Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers, who have gone seamlessly from London Perrantes to Ty Jerome to Kihei Clark to Reece Beekman. Well, Beekman is almost assuredly off to the NBA now and UVA's point guard succession plan isn't quite as firm as planned.
Georgetown transfer Dante Harris has lots of experience, but his limitations are obvious - not a good three-point shooter, undersized, and (so far in a small sample size) not quite as refined in the playmaking department as the Cavaliers were hoping. Christian Bliss has a high ceiling, but probably won't be ready for a huge role in his first real college action after redshirting this season. Sophomore combo guard Elijah Gertrude is ready for a lot of minutes, but he isn't a natural point guard. So what will Virginia do at the most important position on the floor? Most likely back to the transfer portal.
Related: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker
Will Ryan Dunn leave for the NBA Draft?
Despite averaging less than 13 minutes played per game in his freshman season, Ryan Dunn entered his sophomore campaign as a highly-coveted NBA Draft prospect based mainly on his size, athleticism, and defensive prowess. It therefore seemed to be a sure thing that Dunn would declare for the draft after this season, especially as most draft experts had him projected as a near lottery pick and definite first rounder for most of the season. But as Dunn's limitations on the offensive end became more and more apparent in the back end of the season, it seems his draft stock has taken something of a plunge, with many of the latest mock drafts now having him going in the late first round or early second round.
Coming back to school for another year might allow Dunn to reestablish himself as a no-doubt first rounder, but there's a chance Dunn might consider the possibility that Virginia doesn't offer the best opportunity for that to happen, given the program's slow pace of play and resistance to getting out in transition, which limits his ability to display his most valuable traits. So, it might not just come down to whether Dunn goes to the NBA Draft or comes back to Virginia, as there could be the particularly wounding (for UVA) outcome of Dunn transferring elsewhere. That's undoubtedly the worst case scenario for the Cavaliers.
At the very least, expect Dunn to strongly consider declaring for the NBA Draft while maintaining his college eligibility to keep open the option of returning to school for another season.
Any other unexpected departures?
It's become rare for most college basketball programs to go an offseason without any transfer departures. Virginia has so far avoided it through the first 10 days since the season ended, but that could change at any moment. The top two candidates for a potential transfer are Leon Bond III and Elijah Gertrude. Bond has played just 296 total minutes over two years at Virginia, redshirting his first season and appearing sparingly off the bench this season, playing an average of 12.3 minutes across 24 appearances. Similarly, Gertrude was slated to redshirt this season, but then burned his redshirt to give Virginia some key minutes at guard while Dante Harris was injured. Like Bond, Gertrude's minutes were restricted to largely garbage time appearances for the majority of ACC play. Both Leon Bond III and Elijah Gertrude should see significant increases in playing time next season if they stay, but they might decide to explore other opportunities elsewhere rather than waiting to find out.
It's sometimes risky to read too much into social media posts, but it seems Virginia got some good news on the Gertrude front on Thursday as it appears he has inked some kind of NIL deal with Jonathan Cotten's Good Feet Store in Charlottesville, with Cotten posting a picture of Gertrude in front of the store and saying "Getting ready for next year!" It would appear Gertrude is here to stay.
What does Virginia's scholarship picture look like?
Of course, the answer to this question will be heavily impacted by the previous questions, in particular the one about unexpected transfer departures. But assuming only Reece Beekman and Ryan Dunn leave, but every other scholarship player stays, that leaves Virginia with 11 scholarship players for next season - including the two incoming freshmen Jacob Cofie and Ishan Sharma.
Here's a breakdown of Virginia's scholarship chart for the 2024-2024 season (assuming the departures of Reece Beekman and Ryan Dunn):
PG: Dante Harris, Christian Bliss
SG: Isaac McKneely, Elijah Gertrude
SF: Taine Murray, Andrew Rohde, Ishan Sharma
PF: Leon Bond III, Jacob Cofie
C: Blake Buchanan, Anthony Robinson
Barring any other departures, that would leave the Cavaliers with two open scholarship spots to play with this offseason, which leads us to our final question...
What are Virginia's priorities in the transfer portal?
Given their current expected roster construction, the Cavaliers have two big priorities in the transfer portal this offseason: add a capable and experienced guard (ideally a point guard) and another forward or center to reinforce their front court depth.
We've already discussed Virginia's point guard situation, and while we're not ruling out the possibility that the collective of Dante Harris, Elijah Gertrude, Andrew Rohde, and Christian Bliss could provide enough playmaking by committee to run UVA's offense effectively, it definitely wouldn't hurt to add another scorer and playmaker (and preferably a good three-point shooter) at the position to compete for those coveted guard minutes and to provide insurance in case things aren't going well at the point guard spot in the post-Reece Beekman era.
The Virginia coaching staff certainly aligns with that view. Of the roughly 20 players Virginia has reportedly been in contact with in the transfer portal so far, at least 13 of them are guards. The others are power forwards or centers, confirming that, with Jordan Minor leaving, Virginia will again be on the prowl for some additional size in the front court. Blake Buchanan got lots of valuable experience as a true freshman and has a good chance to earn a spot in the starting five next year, especially after a full offseason with UVA strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis. But the Cavaliers would do well to find another big, preferably in the form of a true post player and rim protector with experience, in order to guarantee production from the center position next season.
See an updated running list of all the players Virginia has reportedly been in contact with in the transfer portal here: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker
