Report: Top 2026 Center Prospect Favour Ibe Is Taking An Official Visit to Virginia Basketball

Virginia Basketball is working to round out its roster for the 2026-2027 season and there were some important veteran departures from a team that won 30 games last season and got to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. One of the big roster holes that Virginia is working to fill is center, where they are going to be missing one of the nation's top shot blockers, Ugonna Onyenso, who is off to the NBA Draft after running out of eligibility.

UVA has been linked to some transfer centers, but the latest report indicates they are pursuing a 2026 high school prospect and it is one of the top center prospects in the country, Favour Ibe. According to On3 Sports reporter Jamie Shaw, Ibe is taking a visit to Charlottesville today.

4⭐️ Favour Ibe is on an official visit to Virginia today, source tells @Rivals

The 7-1 center is the No. 82 overall prospect in the 2026 Rivals150 & the top available center in the class.

Ibe visited Tennessee last week.https://t.co/svL7Wg4ytt pic.twitter.com/ZTYlw1nuAh
— Jamie Shaw (@JamieShaw5) May 7, 2026

Can UVA land him?

As Shaw noted, Ibe is the current top available center prospect in the country and is coming off an official visit to Tennessee, who appears to be loading up their roster for next season and chase a national championship. The Volunteers will be stiff competition.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Ibe (7'1 235 LBS) is ranked as the No. 139 player in the country, the No. 22 center, and the No. 5 player in the state of Maryland. He played at Mt. Zion Prep in Lanham, MD and held other offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Texas, and Villanova, among others.

The Cavaliers have prioritized retention from last year's team and and hav been as successful as any team in the country at bringing back their top players. Thijs de Ridder, Sam Lewis, Johann Grunloh, Chance Mallory, and others have all announced their decision to come back and play another year under Odom.

That being said, having to replace Onyenso, Dallin Hall, Malik Thomas, Devin Tillis, and Jacari White is not an easy task and I think Onyenso is going to be the toughest player to replace due to his elite defensive rim protection. UVA was one of the top teams in the country on defense last season and Onyenso is a big reason why.

So far, Virginia has brought in UC Irvine forward Jurian Dixon and Arkansas State guard Christian Harmon through the transfer portal.

Roster outlook for UVA

G- Christian Harmon (Transfer)

G- Chance Mallory

G- Sam Lewis

G- Martin Carrere

G- Elijah Gertrude

G- Desmond Roberts

G- Owen Odom

C- Johann Gruloh

F- Jurian Dixon (Transfer)

F- Thijs de Ridder

F- Carter Lang

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