Preseason Winding Down for Hoos

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The University of Virginia men’s basketball team’s preseason schedule included closed scrimmages against VCU and Georgetown, the first at John Paul Jones Arena and the second at the John Thompson Athletic Center in Washington, D.C.

The stakes will be higher when the Cavaliers take the court Nov. 6 for their season opener against Campbell at JPJ. That game will count. Newcomers make up about half of UVA’s roster, and his team remains a work in progress, interim head coach Ron Sanchez told reporters Monday afternoon.

“But what I will say is that they are eagerly pursuing the things that we as coaches are teaching, and that’s the exciting part,” Sanchez said. “This is a journey. It’s a process for them to unite and get together. We can’t be so result-oriented after every single practice and say, ‘We’re not here.’ The question is: Are we getting there?

“Sometimes you get there through failure, you get there through a bad practice, you get there through an exciting practice. For us, it’s managing the expectations of ourselves as coaches, but along the way understanding that we have to journey well. But I do like where we are as a team. I really do.”

Sanchez was promoted from associate head coach this month after Tony Bennett retired unexpectedly. Bennett’s decision rocked the college basketball world.

“It was definitely unfortunate, losing a coach like him,” sophomore center Blake Buchanan said Monday. “He’s one of the greatest coaches, I think, of all time, especially what he built here. But I think as a team we’ve done a great job. We’ve really come together. I thought last week we had a great week of practice. Our energy has been high. I think we kind of just say we’ve got to do it as a team. We’ve got to do it for each other. That’s all we’ve got. We’re still going to do it the Virginia way. Coach Sanchez is great. He’s been under Tony Bennett for a long time.”

Sanchez spent nine seasons on Bennett’s staff at Virginia—the final three as associate head coach—before leaving in March 2018 to become head coach at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

After guiding the 49ers to a 22-14 record and the College Basketball Invitational title in 2022-23, Sanchez rejoined UVA’s staff as associate head coach, a title also held by Jason Williford.

“Obviously, he didn’t expect to step into the head coaching job, but we’ve liked Coach Sanchez ever since he stepped on Grounds again for the second time,” junior guard Isaac McKneely said. “I watched a little bit of UVA basketball before I got recruited and all that, so I had known who he was, but I didn’t know him personally. But ever since I got to know him personally, he’s just such a great guy. Obviously a great coach, I think he’ll do a great job, but he’s just an even better person off the court. So I’m really excited to be playing for him.”

Sanchez isn’t a clone of Bennett, McKneely said, but their values are similar.

“The main thing is, nothing’s going to change as far as like the pillars here and the culture that Coach Bennett’s built, because Coach Sanchez was here for most of it,” McKneely said. “So nothing’s changed from that standpoint. But Coach Sanchez has always said that the assistant coaches are the ones that recruited all of us to get here.”

Since Bennett’s retirement, Sanchez said, the coaching staff has “spent a lot of time communicating with parents, with players about the situation at hand. The overall message has been: The University is still here, the program is still here, the need for your talent is still here, and the stage is still here. Most of them have really embraced that.”

Freshman guard Ishan Sharma said Bennett’s decision surprised the players “obviously, but UVA basketball is still UVA basketball. Coach Sanchez is great. He’s been great, so it’s smooth sailing. We’re going to be good.”

IMPACT PLAYER: The Cavaliers’ newcomers include Elijah Saunders, a 6-foot-8, 240-pound junior who spent his first two seasons at San Diego State. Saunders is a capable 3-point shooter who “can guard multiple positions,” Sanchez said.

“He’s got great size, very strong. I think his experience at San Diego State is something that he will really benefit from here, due to the fact that he played on a Final Four team, played big minutes on a very good team. Those are things that we really liked about him as a player. On top of that he’s a phenomenal kid, just a great teammate … and that also bodes well here.”

In some ways, Sanchez said, Saunders reminds him of former UVA standout Anthony Gill. He wouldn’t ask Saunders to defend a point guard, Sanchez said, but that would be his only limitation at that end of the court.

Saunders, who’s from Phoenix, will be asked to “defend some of the better players in our league,” Sanchez said, “because of his physical strength and because of his stance. He’s got great balance. He moves his feet fairly well. We don’t overdo it with him, I think he will be a really, really good defender for us.”

LEARNING CURVE: In the second game of his college career, 6-foot-11 Blake Buchanan played a major role in UVA’s victory over Florida in Charlotte, N.C. He had other positive moments last season, but Buchanan struggled at times too.

For the season, he shot only 41.4 percent from the floor and 50 percent from the line.

Heading into the offseason, Buchanan was asked to commit himself to “the weight room,” Sanchez said. “He needed to get stronger. You can’t speed up Mother Nature, no matter what you do, so they have to spend time in the weight room kind of working on their physical development. His touch around the basket, his free-throw shooting, some of those things were also part of his skill development package. I do see him making improvements in those areas.”

Buchanan, who’s listed at 227 pounds, said he’s stronger than he was in 2023-24. Reflecting on his freshman season, “I thought I did a lot of good things, being a first-year, especially in this program and under Tony Bennett,” Buchanan said. “Usually a lot of first-years in my position don’t get a lot of playing time, so I thought that was really good for me. Going into the offseason, I think really my biggest thing was just getting stronger and more comfortable, more confident with the ball.”

GYM RAT: Virginia’s first-year class consists of roommates Ishan Sharma, a 6-foot-5 guard from Canada, and Jacob Cofie, a 6-foot-10 post player from Seattle. Sharma can often be found at JPJ putting up extra shots.

“He has something that a lot of people don’t have,” Cofie said. “His work ethic is insane.”

Sharma said basketball helps him clear his mind. “So sometimes I’ll come in at night, before practice, after my class. I’ll try to shoot, get a workout in before or directly after practice. I’m just trying to make use of all the resources here.”

Adjusting to life in the United States hasn’t been challenging for him, said Sharma, whose hometown is Milton, Ontario. “The biggest transition is just the numbers, like kilometers versus miles, Fahrenheit versus Celsius. That’s really it.”

At 232 pounds, Cofie is a physical presence around the basket, but he’s also a capable shooter from the perimeter. “He’s been progressing well defensively, so we’re excited about his ability to guard and rebound,” Sanchez said. “He’s got great hands and really good feel offensively.”

VETERAN PRESENCES: Of Virginia’s returning players, junior guard Isaac McKneely is the only one who averaged more than 4.3 points per game in 2003-24. At 12.3 ppg, he was second on the team in scoring behind Reece Beekman (14.3 ppg).

McKneely improved significantly from 2022-23 to 2023-24. The next step for him, he said, is “being more aggressive, taking more shots, maybe scoring more points, and just being more of a leader. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve been trying to do this offseason: be more vocal in practice or scrimmages, whatever it is. Just be more vocal, because I’m one of the oldest, most experienced guys. So these guys trust me to be that leader and that’s what I’ve been trying to be.”

McKneely and senior swingman Taine Murray are the only scholarship players who have been in the Cavaliers’ program more than two years.

“They have to play kind of a coach’s role, especially in the locker room,” Sanchez said, “understanding that some young players come in with the idea that we’re just going to come in and shoot and fly around. No, in the system you can get your shots, but they have to be what we like to call predictable shots.

“Our offense and our defense are definitely married. They go hand-in-hand together, and if there’s any friction between the two of them it won’t bode well. So we do have to do a good job explaining to those young guys or the new guys what it is that we’ve done here that’s allowed us to have success, and the complement between the offense and the defense and how they work well together is really important for those guys to understand.”

ON THE MEND: Elijah Gertrude, who averaged 9.4 minutes per game for the Hoos as a freshman guard in 2023-24, is recovering from a torn ACL and won’t play this season. He suffered the same injury as a high school player in New Jersey, so he knows well what a grind rehabilitation can be.

“It’s definitely not an easy process, definitely not something easy to be going through,” Gertrude said. “It’s tough, but I’ll say this time it’s a lot easier, just being here at UVA with the resources we have.”

He works closely with head athletic trainer Ethan Saliba and strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis.

“I’d definitely say it’s easier just having the resources and the full support behind me here,” Gertrude said. “When I was home, it was a lot different.”

To receive Jeff White’s articles by email, click the appropriate box in this link to subscribe.