Can Virginia Still Land Chance Mallory? Latest Recruiting Buzz

Coaching under the interim tag has hamstrung Ron Sanchez and the UVA basketball coaching staff when it comes to recruiting. Simply put, Virginia cannot make any semblance of a strong recruiting pitch to a potential prospect when it cannot be said with any confidence that the staff making that pitch will even be at the school a month from now.

With that said, Sanchez and company have still done some solid work on the recruiting trail. Last month, they hosted 20-year-old Bosnian sharpshooter Harun Zrno for an official visit, though Zrno wound up committing to Indiana a couple of weeks later. More importantly, though, the Cavaliers have maintained contact with former UVA commit and Charlottesville native Chance Mallory.

A four-star point guard who plays at St. Anne's-Belfield School, essentially across the street from John Paul Jones Arena, Mallory seemed destined to play at Virginia throughout his recruiting process and that appeared to be coming to fruition when he committed to UVA back on September 20th. Then, Tony Bennett retired about a month later and Mallory understandably decided to decommit and reopen his recruitment on October 29th. Mallory has said that he is still considering Virginia, and while he has since taken visits to Miami, Tennessee, Maryland, and Vanderbilt, he has also attended multiple UVA basketball games, including the game against Duke this past Monday at John Paul Jones Arena, where he sat behind the Virginia bench.

Recruiting analyst Sam Kayser of League Ready reported on Wednesday that Mallory is "hearing the most" from Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Maryland, Tennessee, and Virginia.

MORE INFO: Some highlights from 4⭐️ Chance Mallory. One of the top uncommitted players on the board. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/5bDqb8MXc6
— Sam Kayser - 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) February 19, 2025

Mallory is considered one of the top remaining uncommitted recruits in the class of 2025. He is among the scoring leaders in the state of Virginia and finished the regular season with an outstanding performance at Woodberry Forrest last week, recording 30 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks to lead St. Anne's-Belfield to an 81-53 win. Mallory's team ended the regular season on an 11-game winning streak and is currently 18-7 overall and 10-1 in the region.

Mallory currently has the following ratings according to the major recruiting services:

247Sports: four-star, No. 53 overall, No. 7 point guard, No. 3 in Virginia
On3: four-star, No. 56 overall, No. 8 point guard, No. 3 in Virginia
Rivals: four-star, No. 61 overall, No. 12 point guard
ESPN: four-star, No. 88 overall, No. 18 point guard, No. 4 in Virginia

Mallory is one of just seven players in the ESPN Top 100 for the class of 2025 who has yet to announce his college commitment.

Now, the purpose of this story is not to litigate whether Ron Sanchez should be given the full-time job. Virginia is currently 13-13 overall and 6-9 in the ACC, far below the standard established under Tony Bennett for the last 15 years, but understandable given the circumstances under which Sanchez became the interim head coach. The Cavaliers have five games left, including marquee opportunities against North Carolina, Wake Forest, and Clemson, plus the ACC Tournament to potentially make a case for this staff to be retained.

As for Chance Mallory, given the fact that he is one of very few players of his caliber in the 2025 class who has yet to make his college selection, and combined with the evidence that he is still very clearly considering Virginia in his recruitment, could it be the case that he is waiting to see the Cavaliers stabilize their coaching situation before making his college choice? Back when he decommitted in October, many assumed Mallory would be long gone by the time Virginia either decided to retain Ron Sanchez full-time or hired a new head coach. Now, we could realistically have an answer to that question within the next month, making it very possible that Mallory could hold out until then in order to give Virginia a reasonable chance at gaining his recommitment.

Whether the Cavaliers have a better chance of winning Mallory's recruiting battle for a second time with Ron Sanchez or with a new head coach is up for debate and it's really anyone's guess at this point, but it is objectively a good thing for Virginia that re-landing Chance Mallory is still on the board at this point.

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