Buy or sell? 3 audacious predictions for UVA basketball heading into 2026/2027

Virginia basketball has some lofty expectations this season after suffering a frustrating loss to Tennessee in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Though the program brought in some exciting players this offseason, there's definitely some uncertainty surrounding the team right now.

Feeding off some of those question marks, here are three bold predictions for UVA hoops heading into an important 2026/2027 season.

1. Chance Mallory leads the team in scoring

It's no secret that Mallory has been constantly criticized for his diminutive size since arriving at Virginia, but he has a sudden pull-up ability and a smooth shooting stroke to help make up for it. As UVA fans saw last season, he's not just a low-to-the-ground point guard whose only value comes as a passer or on defense.

He has a legitimate scoring ability that Ryan Odom and Co. are likely trying to utilize more often in 2026/2027. Mallory averaged just 9.3 PPG last season with an effective field goal percentage of 50.6%, including 34.5% from three-point territory. Though his 3-point efficiency has to improve, he did look a lot better towards the end of the season against Queens, Rider, and Texas.

With Sam Lewis being the only real known commodity in the backcourt as a legitimate scorer in Virginia's system, a 14.0-15.0 PPG scoring average for the second-year point guard may not be out of the realm of possibility in 2026/2027. Based on how UVA's offense has been under Ryan Odom, that would definitely be a leading-scorer-type of stat.

2. True freshman C Favour Ibe averages 18+ minutes per game

Johann Grünloh has been the talk of the town lately, having gained a good amount of muscle this offseason to improve in the areas he needed to, such as in the rebounding department.

Though he could take a step up this year, someone like Favour Ibe could slowly eat into Grünloh's minutes if he's not playing as well as he should early on in the season. Let's not forget that Ugonna Onyenso had a mini-breakout year last season because Grünloh was underwhelming more often than the coaching staff liked.

Ibe, a 7'1" freshman center from Mt. Zion Prep in Maryland (Nigeria native), could already have a better offensive game than Grünloh in the paint, and his shot-blocking ability should translate over to the college game immediately.

Onyenso averaged 18.6 MPG in 2025/2026, and seeing a blue-chip recruit like Favour Ibe average that amount if not more in 2026/2027 wouldn't be surprising at all.

3. Virginia finishes with a top 3 scoring offense in the ACC

This one might be the most outlandish of the three predictions, but looking at UVA's current roster, they have scorers galore on paper.

Chance Mallory, Jurian Dixon, Sam Lewis, Christian Harmon, Thijs De Ridder, etc., all have the ability to average 12+ points per game this year. If that happens, it would likely put them into that top offensive tier.

The Cavaliers finished at No.7 in the ACC last season with a team scoring average of 77.3 PPG against in-conference opponents, and that number most likely needs to improve if they want to have sustained success again this year. The defense bailed the team out on several occasions, and we don't want to be a one-dimensional program in 2026/2027.

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