It never ends. Every aspect of society is crumbling as the good ole days become 1 day further removed from wherever we are headed. College Basketball is no exception
The hope is that we have a good season with the roster we just compiled (A+ job Odom, now lets just see if they gel) and then we build a roster next off season that is more balanced for immediate AND long term program building.
multi year Forward heavy short list as I think front court is going to be the clear need even if we get GrĂĽnloh and De Ridder 2nd year.
-Cam Ward Michigan St (Izzo retirement rumors/Maryland kid so staff have connections)
-David Punch TCU (Dixon retirement rumors/ Texas kid so staff have connections even more so with Aldrich. Odom’s VCU was in Punch’s top 5 and we have been contacting kids from his HS)
-Kareem Stagg Georgia (Mike White is mid, Virginia kid who was on Boo Williams and had a VCU offer from Odom. Also an IMG alum and with Cloer and Peck at IMG, contact with their coaches will be happening anyways).
-Derek Dixon UNC. Cause F it why not. Chance Gertrude Lewis +2 HS kids + a portal guy for guards
I think they did a good job of that this year considering every single roster spot was open.
Multi year guys brought in: - yes I know doesn’t mean they will all stay that long.
4 years - Carrere, Mallory, Barksdale, GrĂĽnloh
3 years - Gertrude, Lang, Roberts
2 years - Lewis, DeRidder
1 year - Hall, Thomas, White, Tillis, Onyenso
Could easily see potential starters next year:
Mallory, Gertrude, Lewis, Barksdale or Carrere and one of DeRidder or GrĂĽnloh
Still pretty skeptical of Barksdale and Carrere’s impact at UVA. Could be serviceable and solid 2-3 years down the line but in keeping with Odom’s want for UVA to be elite I don’t think he settles on that lineup next year. Especially when we have the resources to attract better talent and momentum off hopefully an exciting season.
Wait… are you saying that a starting lineup that includes:
Soph Mallory, Junior Gertrude, Senior Lewis and Soph GrĂĽnloh is not elite?
What are we even talking about?
We don’t know how those 4 will pan out. And Im not sure Carrere or Barksdale currently project to be what we need at the 4 the following season but we’ll see
Yeah definitely agree with you here.. I hope I’m wrong, but Carrere especially projects as a future rotation guy at best to me. Not seeing starter at UVa in his future.
Barksdale, I’m a little higher on, but I feel like he could get sidelined by Allmond or someone pretty quickly.
I think Carrere could be a bit better than some are assuming. He was actually a pretty nice get for VCU. He has a solid international play resume. Not a superstar or anything but he’s shown enough to make me think he shouldn’t be written off yet. And obviously Odom brought him along for a reason.
As for Barksdale, I think he’s going to have a role. He has nice size and once he converts the baby fat into muscle, if nothing else he’s a guy that will have a presence in the paint and rebound at a high level.
Given we literally haven’t seen 2 of them play in college, 1 of them had limited minutes as a first year and coming off a serious injury, and one making a big jump in competition.. don’t think it’s crazy to not call them elite..
And would be surprised if either of those start as a 4 as an underclassman.
I know Ive mentioned Cam Ward, but Im really curious to see how Jordan Scott does at Michigan St.
Found it so strange that Tony didn’t even offer and Maryland backed off after offering with his mom being a Maryland alum. But then you had Tom Izzo in those awkward photos showing up to South Lakes in Reston eating lunch in the school cafeteria with him. Wonder who will be right in the end
Adding Jacob Cofie to the list. He has a good year but USCWest underperforms and decides to part way with Musselman. Cofie decides 3 schools is a lot and decides to come back to UVA.
Maybe only if Calhoun goes? Dude has stuck it out over 3 different coaches (Odom redshirted him during his last year at Utah St). Though maybe there’s a relationship there that helps since he recruited him. Also, this article (from the Utah St student newspaper, so take with a grain of salt) outlines a lot of reasons why he would stay there: Hometown hero: Mason Falslev - The Utah Statesman
“I just want to be close to home, close to my family, playing in front of my family and friends,” Falslev said. “I met my wife here and [it’s a] super special place. I want to live here when I’m older, so I would love to finish my career here.”
Quotes and dreams are fun until Money Man Odom texts you “$1.5 mil take it or leave it”. He’s gonna “Charlottesville is an incredible place and I truly believe Odom can take my game to the next level” real quick
I’ll be a bit surprised if there are any seven figure offers for 2026 commitments, and I really, really doubt that we’ll see big money offered to true frosh. Especially this year. Things have changed.