I was out of contact yesterday so this is my first opportunity to read about the Chance commitment this board, and I’m honestly surprised there hasn’t been more discussion or excitement. I think this is a huge pickup for Virginia. He has an opportunity to be our best offensive weapon since 2019.
I know that folks have Kihei PTSD. But, really, the only thing similar about Kihei and Chance is their size. Kihei was a low-ranked high school prospect who far surpassed anyone’s expectations. Chance is a Top 50 prospect (or Top 75, depending on your preferred ranking service) and a legitimate three-level scoring threat. It sets up Virginia next year to have a roster filled with both snipers and explosive athletes.
Gotta remember with Kihei, he played a ton in part because we didn’t have a ton of other ACC-level guard options for a lot of those years.
Chance is coming into a backcourt that could have as many as six incumbents in Bliss, Dai Dai, Rohde, McKneely, Sharma, and Gertrude. He ideally won’t need to be pressed into any level of action as an underclassman he isn’t ready for and isn’t earned by beating out equally talented competition.
Yeah the bullish case for Chance’s early playing time is basically KG in 2016-17. Cracked a veteran guard rotation by bringing something no one else could.
I suspect any projections of guard play will depend on Bliss’ development. If he lives up to expectations, I imagine that the 1 & 2 combinations will be Bliss & Ames, Bliss & Gertrude, or Bliss & Mallory (Not terribly unlike Beekman & Clark). The 3 spot being McKneely, Sharma, and, depending on match-ups, Power. The 5 would belong to Buchanan. Saunders, Cofie, Power, and Robinson ought to share the 4 spot in some unknown order of priority, and one, or more, might also sub for Buchanan… Again, all that would depend on match-ups. Of course, it’s all wild speculation for the moment, but the potential for numerous roster combinations is a bit refreshing after the last few years. Now, if the staff can just keep this roster intact until then… Oh, and then there are the unknown player additions yet to come.
Mallory has the traits of an elite shooter and his highlights show an array of ways he can create his own shot, both off the ball and off the dribble. We’ll see how the efficiency translates, he might be a rather inefficient microwave his first year or two while he adjusts to the college level, but the traits are there.
The height issue is obviously very real, but a lot of players have deficiencies coming into college that bring similar levels of concern, if not worse. Mainly, a lot of guys you wonder how they are going to create good looks in college. But thats not a concern with Mallory. He’ll create looks for himself.
Very happy with the get, I kind of figured he’d end up committing once he shut things down back before the summer started.
