The Most Underrated Pickup For Virginia Basketball Is Not Who You Think It Is

Plenty of attention has deservedly been paid to Virginia's latest batch of men's basketball transfers, who join a strong returning nucleus on a team that could be ranked in the preseason national top 10 by many media sources.

Receiving far less attention was another offseason acquisition that could benefit the Cavaliers' chances in 2026-27: the addition of Adrian Autry as Ryan Odom's lead assistant.

Autry succeeds Griff Aldrich, who left after one season to become head coach at Pepperdine University. Like Aldrich, who shares an alma mater (Randolph-Macon College) with Odom, Autry and Odom have worked together before, as assistants on Seth Greenberg's staff at Virginia Tech from 2008-10.

Autry also has a deep familiarity with the Atlantic Coast Conference, having spent 15 seasons on the bench at his alma mater, Syracuse. He played for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim in the 1990s and then spent a dozen years as his assistant before succeeding him as head coach. He went 49-48 in three seasons in charge of the Orange.

That experience should pay off with a veteran Virginia team that returns four key cogs (Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grunloh, Chance Mallory and Sam Lewis) and has added four experienced transfers (Christian Harmon, Jurian Dixon, Kalu Anya and Jan Vide), plus German import Nolan Adekunle and 7-foot freshman Favour Ibe.

A high school All-American at St. Nicholas of Tolentine in the Bronx, Autry started 116 of 121 career games at Syracuse, and more than 30 years after he graduated, he still ranks 23rd in school history in career scoring (1,538 points), fifth in assists (631) and sixth in steals (217). He should be an ideal mentor for Mallory as the sophomore takes over the starting point guard position after coming off the bench as a freshman.

He'll also be a fount of experience and information for the transfers who will battle for playing time at shooting guard and small forward. Lewis likely has the inside track at one of the slots after starting 35 of Virginia's 36 games last season, but you can expect a lot of rotation among Harmon, Dixon, Vide, Adekunle and returnee Isaiah Gertrude at the two wing positions.

“It’s awesome to work with Red again,” Odom told Virginiasports.com's Jeff White in an interview last month. “He obviously has high-level head-coaching experience, high-level assistant-coaching experience, high-level playing experience, and so the expertise that he's going to be able to give these guys will be tremendous.”

Autry is also known as an outstanding recruiter, and his reputation has become evident in Virginia's pursuit of several top-100 Class of 2027 high school prospects, including Long Island (N.Y.) small forward Moussa Kamissoko and Grace Christian (Md.) point guard J'Lon Lyons.

Autry won't score a single point or register an assist for the Cavaliers this season, but his knowlege and reputation could contribute as much to any success the team enjoys as the players in uniform.

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