Will Ben Vander Plas Be the Latest Transfer Success Story for UVA Basketball?

Vander Plas looks to be the next transfer to make a big impact on the Virginia men's basketball program

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Jun 23, 2022 10:27 AM EDT

Ben Vander Plas, Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball — Ben Vander Plas
Courtesy of Virginia Athletics

The new era of college basketball with the unrestricted transfer portal and immediate eligibility has had some deleterious effects on Tony Bennett's system with the Virginia men's basketball program, specifically on his ability to develop players over the course of a few years such that they maximize their value to themselves and to the team as they become upperclassmen. With the transfer portal providing unlimited opportunities for playing time at other schools, patience and loyalty are in short supply.

In the past few seasons, several players who entered the program with a great deal of potential - Casey Morsell, Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Justin McKoy, Carson McCorkle, Igor Milicic. Jr. - left Virginia after playing two or fewer seasons. However, Tony Bennett has done extremely well to mitigate those losses as well as the early departures of NBA players like Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, and De'Andre Hunter by bringing in talent through the transfer portal.

This past season, Virginia's top two scorers were transfers. Jayden Gardner led the team in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg) and was named to the All-ACC Third Team. And though it took him nearly the entire season to find his stroke, Armaan Franklin's resurgence as a three-point shooter - making 12 of his last 23 three-point attempts in the final three games of the season - was a key factor in UVA's run to the quarterfinals of the NIT.

Gardner and Franklin were hardly the first transfers to end up leading the Hoos on the offensive end of the floor. In the 2020-2021 season, two-thirds of Virginia's sharpshooting front court were transfers Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy. Hauser, who had to sit out the 2019-2020 season after transferring from Marquette under the NCAA's pre-COVID transfer rules, led the ACC in three-point shooting at 41.7% and made the All-ACC First Team, while Trey Murphy achieved a 50-40-90 season (50.3% FG, 43.3% 3pt FG, 92.7% FT) and went on to become a first round pick in the NBA Draft.

Tomas Woldetensae, a JUCO transfer from Indian Hills Community College, led the Cavaliers in made three-pointers in the 2019-2020 season. That team was also led by Alabama transfer Braxton Key, an All-ACC honorable mention in 2020 and a pivotal contributor on the 2019 National Championship team especially as a defender and rebounder.

Even before the era of the transfer portal, which was originally introduced in 2018, Tony Bennett displayed a proficiency for finding players with potential from other programs and making them valuable contributors at UVA. In the 2017-2018 season, Rutgers grad transfer Nigel Johnson played an important role off the bench for the Cavaliers, who won 31 games as well as the ACC regular season and tournament titles.

And of course, the first most significant transfer in the Tony Bennett era was Anthony Gill, who came to UVA after starting in 26 games as a true freshman at South Carolina. Gill wound up being one of the greats to play under Tony Bennett at Virginia, earning Third-Team All-ACC honors in 2015 and 2016 and an All-ACC Defensive Team selection in 2015. He ended his career with a field goal percentage of .582, the highest of any Cavalier in history. Six years later, only Jay Huff (.588) has a better career field goal percentage at Virginia.

Now, Ben Vander Plas looks to become the latest transfer success story for Tony Bennett and the Virginia men's basketball program. Vander Plas entered the portal after spending five years (four seasons + an injury redshirt season) at Ohio. He was named the Freshman of the Year in the MAC in 2019 and then earned Third-Team All-MAC honors in 2020 and 2021, when he led the Bobcats to an upset over No. 4 seed Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Vander Plas was an All-MAC First Team selection this past season after averaging career-highs in points (14.3 ppg), rebounds (6.8 rpg), and steals (1.8 spg). He shot 45.7% from the floor and 33.8% from three on 5.7 attempts per game. Vander Plas is a career 32.5% three-point shooter, but he has the range to shoot from well beyond the arc and even the threat of shooting from that distance will do wonders for Virginia's offense next season.

It is still unclear if he'll crack the starting lineup with UVA returning all five of its starters from a season ago, but Tony Bennett and the coaching staff have several months, as well as a four-game exhibition tour in Italy in August, to figure all of that out. Given his ability to stretch the floor and his experience, it is a near certainty that Ben Vander Plas will get a great deal of playing time and be a critical and valuable piece to the puzzle for Virginia basketball next season.

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