Virginia Men’s Basketball Announces Braxton Key Is Eligible To Play This Season

By: Chris Horne |

University of Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett announced that Alabama transfer Braxton Key has “received a waiver from the NCAA on Monday (Oct. 22) granting him immediate eligibility,” meaning the versatile and athletic guard will be able to play for the Cavaliers in the 2018-19 season.

The 6’8” guard, a junior, will have two years of eligibility remaining. His availability is big news for an already highly-ranked Virginia squad for several reasons.

Outside of a projected starting five of Ty Jerome (Guard, Jr.), Kyle Guy (Guard, Jr.), De’Andre Hunter (Guard/Forward, R-Soph), Mamadi Diakite (Forward, R-Jr.) and Jack Salt (Center, R-Sr), the Cavaliers had very little in the way of proven experience coming off the bench prior to today’s announcement. Key addresses this concern in a big way. He played in 60 games, including 47 starts, in two seasons with the Crimson Tide. He led Alabama in scoring (12 PPG) as a freshman, chipping in 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game on his way to earning a spot on the SEC All Freshman Team. A knee injury cost Key the first 10 games of his sophomore season. He returned for the team’s final 26 games and averaged 7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game.

Key started 30 games as a freshman and 17 as a sophomore as Alabama reached the 2017 NIT and punched its ticket to the NCAA Tournament in 2018. The Tide reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 last spring, defeating Virginia Tech before falling to Villanova. Key started both NCAA Tourney games.

Beyond experience, Key adds talent, athleticism and versatility. His listed height and weight is 6’8”, 225 pounds. As was evident in UVA’s Pepsi Blue-White Scrimmage earlier this month, he moves very well for his size. Key’s blend of size and athleticism gives Virginia another De’Andre Hunter-type player on the defensive end in terms of versatility. Hunter showed he could guard virtually any position … Key appears to have a similar skillset in that regard, so essentially Virginia boasts another player who can help them keep up with smaller, quicker teams. Against really small teams you could see Key and Hunter playing the 4 and the 5 spots.

Offensively, in the Blue-White Scrimmage Key flashed the ability to knock down 3s and drive the ball to the basket. He is a good passer and has playmaking skills. Consistency from beyond the arc may be the primary question about him on offense, as he made only 25% of his 3s last season after shooting 33.3% from 3 as a freshman.

Virginia, the Associated Press’ preseason No. 5 team in the nation, still needs some of those unproven players to contribute, but Coach Bennett should be breathing a little easier right now. Key could be a starter or a sixth man, and his versatility allows for Bennett to utilize a variety of lineups.

Recruiting Impact

The big story is obviously Key’s ability to help UVA immediately. Looking ahead to the future, though, Key’s waiver being granted means another scholarship spot opens up in the class of 2020. Virginia now has four open spots in that class, as the scholarship situation now projects as follows …

Point Guards (1): Kihei Clark (Jr.)

Wings (4): De’Andre Hunter (R-Sr. – We obviously don’t expect DH to be around by this time, but for now he is projected to be on the roster.), Marco Anthony (Sr.), Kody Stattmann (Jr. – I expect for Stattmann to redshirt in 2018-19 with Key gaining immediately eligibility, but for now I’m projecting him as a junior in case he does play.), Casey Morsell (Soph.)

Posts (4): Jay Huff (R-Sr.), Francesco Badocchi (R-Jr.), Francisco Caffaro (R-Soph.), Kadin Shedrick (Soph.)