Next Up - Virginia In Cameron

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Feb 27, 2026 - 19:30
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Next Up - Virginia In Cameron
Feb 24, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Duke Blue Devils center Patrick Ngongba (21) passes as Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Brady Koehler (6) and forward Ryder Frost (7) defend during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

Date 1/28 || Time 12:00 p.m. || Venue Cameron Indoor Stadium || Video ESPN

Soon we’ll have votes for ACC honors and when it comes to ACC Coach of the Year, we think there are four legitimate candidates: Luke Loucks of Florida State, Jai Lucas of Miami, Jon Scheyer of Duke, and Ryan Odom of Virginia.

You could make an argument for all four. Loucks has done an amazingly good job. Remember, there was a stretch where FSU was losing game after game by 20-30 points. No more: Florida State is a very tough out, despite not having much of an inside presence (looking at you, Wake Forest).

Miami is #3 in the ACC in Lucas’s first year as a head coach – highly impressive.

Scheyer lost all five starters from last season and is 26-2 and #1 nationally, without massive portal additions. Keep in mind that among the lost starters are Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, the top two rookies in the NBA. Scheyer has a great chance at ACC Coach of the Year.

And so does Virginia’s Ryan Odom.

Odom rebuilt Virginia from a dreadful first year after the Tony Bennett era came to an abrupt end last October. The Cavaliers are a sterling 25-3, with losses to Butler (early), Virginia Tech (rivalry game), and UNC.

Odom went out and built a really good team in short order. He brought a couple of guys with him from VCU in Martin Carrera, who is not playing much, and Chance Mallory.

Mallory, a 5-9 native of Charlottesville, wanted to play for his hometown team, but ultimately committed to VCU. When Odom took the Virginia job, convincing Mallory to switch to Virginia wasn’t that difficult.

This team is entirely rebuilt from last year, with only Elijah Gertrude back.

The starters are 7-0/238 lb. freshman Johann Grunloh, 6-9/238 lb. Thijs De Ridder, 6-7 junior Sam Lewis, 6-4 grad student Dallin Hall, and 6-5 grad student Malik Thomas.

The bench is pretty productive too. Mallory is coming off the bench, which is a luxury. Then you have 7-0/245 lb. senior Ugonna Onyenso, 6-3 grad student Jacari White, and 6-7/240 lb. senior Devin Tillis.

The immediate problem Virginia presents is interior defense: the Wahoos had 12 blocks against NC State last time out. Grunloh had 8; his backup, Onyenso, had 4.

Toss in De Ridder, and Virginia presents some real challenges. Odom’s frontcourt arguably isn’t as good as Michigan’s, but it’s really good, particularly on defense. And DeRidder is a load offensively, too.

And look at the guard play: Hall has been solid, but Virginia’s best point guard is Mallory – and he comes off the bench. Lewis, Thomas, and White are all good too.

White is hitting 46.8% of his threes. Lewis? 39.5%. Tillis? 38.5%. Thomas, Hall, and DeRidder are all competent from outside.

Virginia has left Bennett’s pack-line defense behind. Odom runs mostly man-to-man D and he loves fast-paced basketball.

Duke has faced somewhat similar teams before. UNC has a large front line that got the Blue Devils in foul trouble. So did Louisville and, most recently, Michigan. Staying out of foul trouble is really important in this one too.

Obviously, Cameron Boozer will be their main target and they’ll focus on him, but that should leave options open for Patrick Ngongba and others, notably Isaiah Evans, but also Nik Khamenia and Dame Sarr.

Duke will try to disrupt Virginia’s ball handling with Caleb Foster and Cayden Boozer, both of whom are capable defenders. But Sarr has emerged as one of the best on-ball defenders in the country, and at 6-8, he is a real problem for Hall and nearly a foot taller than Mallory.

Obviously, as noted above, Virginia will go after Boozer, but he has shown all year that he’ll get his share of points, rebounds, and assists, too.

If Virginia double-teams and traps Boozer, he’s a good enough passer to make them pay. That could translate into opportunities for a number of players but perhaps most of all, Evans.

Evans has improved enough this season that he doesn’t lose minutes when his shot isn’t going. He’s become a highly effective penetrator and a surprisingly good defender. If he has a big offensive game, it makes things much more difficult for Virginia.

This may not be a huge factor, but it’s interesting: Maliq Brown is from Culpeper, which is about 30 miles from Charlottesville. He’s not exactly a hometown kid, but he’s bound to be familiar with C-ville and the university. Call it a hunch.

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