This Week in Virginia Basketball News - August 12th

Catch up on all the latest news and storylines around the UVA men's basketball program

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Aug 12, 2022 4:34 PM EDT

In this story:

The Virginia men's basketball team is getting the complete Rome experience this week.

The Virginia men's basketball team departed for its 10-day tour in Italy on Wednesday, but the trip will be far from a vacation for Tony Bennett. He will not only be coaching the team in a few games during the trip, but will also probably be checking his phone quite a bit as recruiting season is still going strong with UVA fighting for a few remaining targets in the class of 2023.

Here's a summary covering all of the latest headlines surrounding the UVA men's basketball program this week:

Before Virginia departed for Italy, Tony Bennett and his staff hosted an early target in the class of 2024 in 6'6" combo guard Jaxon Prunty (Davidson, North Carolina). Prunty completed a visit over the weekend and took in last Friday's team practice.

UVA also extended a scholarship offer to Isaiah Abraham (Warrenton, Virginia), a four-star combination guard/forward, who will play the upcoming season at Paul VI in Fairfax, Virginia.

On Saturday, Virginia made the final cut for yet another target in the class of 2023. Elijah Gertrude (Jersey City, New Jersey), a four-star combo guard according to On3, included UVA in his top five along with Seton Hall, St. John's, Kansas, and Rutgers. Better yet, the announcement of his top five comes just a week after Gertrude took an official visit to Virginia. Gertrude intends to announce his commitment by the end of September.

UVA also made the final five for TJ Power (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts), who has developed into one of the most highly-coveted prospects in the country this summer. With offers from more than 20 major conference programs, including almost all of the blue bloods, Power cut his list to five schools on Monday and Virginia made the cut along with Duke, North Carolina, Iowa, and Boston College. The No. 1 player in Massachusetts and perhaps the best shooter in class of 2023, the battle for Power's commitment will be intense for the next month as he intends to announce his decision sometime in September. Power is a longtime fan of the UVA basketball program and has developed a great relationship with Tony Bennett, so the Cavaliers at least have a chance to land one of the most talented players in this recruiting class.

Elijah Gertrude and TJ Power including Virginia in their respective cut lists were much-needed items of good news after the Cavaliers saw two of their targets, Trey Green (Xavier) and Jamie Kaiser (Maryland), announce their commitments to other schools over the weekend.

The Virginia men's basketball team departed for its 10-day exhibition tour to Italy on Wednesday, but experienced some weather delays at the airport in Dulles, which produced a pretty entertaining video on social media as we got a glimpse into what the team did to pass the time.

The Hoos finally made it to Italy and spent the first couple of days of their trip taking tours of Rome, seeing the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum.

On Friday, the team got back in the gym, working out at the Arena Altero Felici, home of the A.S. Stella Azzurra basketball club in Rome. UVA is set to play its first exhibition game of the tour against A.S. Stella Azzurra on Saturday night.

In a video posted to the UVA men's basketball twitter account, Tony Bennett addressed the team before practice and detailed the plan for Virginia's four exhibition matches. Bennett said that for each game, three players will sit and the team will run a nine-man roster to ensure that everyone gets sufficient playing time. The three players that sit out the game will rotate for each of the four games throughout the tour.

On the horizon

Virginia has games against European basketball teams on these dates: August 13th in Rome, August 15th in Florence, and August 18th and 19th in Rapallo. We're hopeful that UVA's social channels will provide ample video from the games so that we can dissect them thoroughly.
2023 shooting guard Davin Cosby (Richmond, Virginia) is set to visit UVA on August 26th

Last week's UVA basketball news: This Week in Virginia Basketball News - August 5th

Stay updated on all the latest Virginia basketball recruiting news, including offers, visits, and commitments here: Latest Virginia Basketball Recruiting News and Updates

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