RALEIGH, N.C. – Virginia takes the court in Raleigh on Saturday in search of its second Sweet 16 in three years. When it does, junior London Perrantes’ play against Butler likely won’t be flashy. It often isn’t. While he’s been more assertive offensively this season, he likely won’t be in takeover mode. He rarely is.
But game after game, season after season, Perrantes is the steady presence at point guard that makes Virginia tick. In his three years in Charlottesville, UVA has joined the nation’s elite programs. That rise started with an unexpected run to double ACC Championships in 2014 when the Hoos swept the league’s regular season and tournament titles.
That run nearly didn’t include Perrantes. In preseason practice, former Cavalier Justin Anderson fell on top of the then freshman point guard. He injured a shoulder badly enough that there was significant concern about his availability that season.
“He injured his shoulder. We thought he was going to be done for the year,” UVA coach Tony Bennett said this week. “We thought he separated his shoulder. It was a really bad injury. Justin Anderson fell on him. Swelled up. He was out two, three weeks. I remember how it changed the dynamics of our team. We were laboring in the practices. It was before our first games, actually but we didn’t look the same at all and it was him. He just stirred the pot. He made everything kind of work out. He got guys the ball. He understood it plus he shot the ball well. He had a decent knowledge of the defense, and then when he got back and got more experience, it took our team I think to another level.”
“I actually sat out for a pretty long time – 4 to 6 weeks I think I sat out,” Perrantes said. “It was pretty serious. I haven’t thought about it until you said it right there. That was the first time I got ran over by Justin and never again.”
As Bennett noted, Perrantes didn’t come back at full strength immediately and he didn’t ascend to full-time starter upon his return to practice either. In fact, he didn’t start two of the final three games of 2013. The last one came on Dec. 30, 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee. In that now fabled game, Tennessee destroyed Virginia to the tune of an 87-52 score. The Hoos stood at 9-4. They had lost 3 times over the past 5 games.
A lot changed after that moment. Joe Harris drove to Bennett’s house. Akil Mitchell became a defensive menace. Malcolm Brogdon assumed a larger scoring role on offense. Oh, and, London Perrantes moved into the starting lineup for good. When available, he’s been entrenched there in every game since.
It’s part of a remarkable run since Jan. 1, 2014. In that time, the Cavaliers own a 78-13 record, including this season’s 27-7 mark. They haven’t lost a single game by double digits, the widest margin being a 69-62 defeat at Florida State earlier this year.
If Perrantes doesn’t make it back from that shoulder injury his freshman season, does the rise begin? Would the Hoos be in Raleigh in search of the Sweet 16 again? It’s a set of ‘what ifs’ that UVA never had to contemplate with the Los Angeles native’s return.
“It’s been a crazy experience,” Perrantes said. “Coming all the way across the country, leaving everything I had, just going out and taking a leap of faith. This is what I wanted to do to be in these situations. That’s why I came to the University of Virginia to be able to play in games like this and be able to play for a team like this. When I came to Virginia I really just wanted to come in and play some minutes just to help the team win, and I ended up getting a bigger role and just been running with it, and just trying to have the best experience with the team and now I’m here. So it was a big leap of faith but it’s been working out well for me.”
