Cavaliers Now

UVA Basketball Reaches Out To A Pair Of Highly-Touted 2027 Prospects

Jackson Caudell

Jan 22, 2012; Charlottesville, VA, USA; A general view the Virginia Cavaliers logo on the court of John Paul Jones Arena before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images
Jan 22, 2012; Charlottesville, VA, USA; A general view the Virginia Cavaliers logo on the court of John Paul Jones Arena before the game against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images
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Programs are beginning to contact 2027 prospects, beginning yesterday and new Virginia head coach Ryan Odom is not wasting any time in reaching out to some of the best prospects in the class. Two of the elite players in the class are forward Marcus Spears Jr (Dynamic Prep, TX) and point guard Nasir Anderson (Norcross, GA).

Spears is going to be one of the most highly-coveted players in the entire class. Per the 247Sports Composite, Spears Jr is ranked as the No. 8 player in the country, the No. 3 power forward in the country, and the No. 2 player in the state of Texas. He has offers from LSU, Indiana, Miami, Oklahoma State, SMU, Tennessee, Texas, and Kentucky. The 6'7 180 LBS forward is a dynamic talent who would instanly lift whatever program he opts to attend.

Anderson is a player who is starting to get a lot more attention and it is well deserved. He is a shifty guard who can run an offense well and does a tremendous job at setting up his teammates. Per 247Sports, he is the No. 40 player in the country, the No. 9 point guard in the country, and the No. 4 player in the state of Georgia. He has offers from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Missouri, and Georgia State.

The 2027 class is still a ways away from really taking shape, but Virginia is going to be doing whatever it can to get into contention for some of the best players in the class.

Virginia Basketball is hoping that the 2024-2025 season was just a blip on the radar. The Cavaliers had to deal with pretty extraordinary circumstances last season, with legendary head coach Tony Bennett retiring right before the season and it felt like a throw away year from the start. Now, former VCU coach Ryan Odom is running the show in Charlottesville and the Cavaliers have been getting some of the best talent in the transfer portal. Is that going to result in a much improved team, perhaps one that can finish in the upper tier of the ACC? That is the hope.

Does Odom have the roster to do that? He had to dig into the transfer portal to find some impact players and CBS Sports analyst David Cobb recently graded each first year coaches roster, giving the Odom a "B":

"If nothing else, Virginia's 3-point shooting in Year 1 under Ryan Odom should be solid. Jacari White (North Dakota State), Malik Thomas (San Francisco), Devin Willis (UC Irvine) and Sam Lewis (Toledo) each shot better than 39% from deep on at least 3.3 attempts per game last season. Protecting the rim shouldn't be an issue, either. Ex-Kansas State and Kentucky big man Ugonna Onyenso and German freshman Johann Grunloh will bring ample height to the front line."

The coaches who received an A were Iowa's Ben McCollum, NC State's Will Wade, and Texas A&M's Bucky McMillan.

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Jackson Caudell
JACKSON CAUDELL

Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell

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