Coach’s Corner Notes: Bennett Talks Hall, Badocchi, & Scott’s Return

Devon Hall had a career-high 25 points in UVA’s win over NC State. ~ Photo by Kris Wright

Devon Hall’s improvement, Francesco Badocchi’s redshirt season, ‘teachable moments’ … Virginia basketball head coach Tony Bennett discussed these topics, among others, on his ‘Coach’s Corner’ radio show on Monday, January 15.

Devon Hall

You get to a Virginia game early enough, you’ll see Devon Hall out on the court, going through his usual pregame shooting routine. It’s a small glimpse into the large amount of work the redshirt senior has put in during his time as a Cavalier. It’s work that has paid off big-time for Hall, whose final season in an orange and blue uniform is, so far, his best.

Through 17 games, the Virginia Beach (VA) native is posting career bests in points per game (12.7, up from 8.4 PPG last season), field goal percentage (48.3%, up from 40.8% last season), 3-point field goal percentage (47.5%, up from 37.2% last season. He’s only three 3-pointers away from tying his career-high for 3-point makes in a single season.) and free-throw percentage (91.8%, up from 77.6% last season).

“Just has slowly improved,” Bennett said of Hall. “He has put the work in. There’s no magic formula.”

“The work you have to put in, it’s borderline obsessive to attacking your craft and mastering the skill and just owning it,” Bennett said. “People don’t understand the real work. Guys will put the time in, but there’s another level that I saw in Malcolm and other ones. [Hall has] owned it. Everybody works hard, but there’s another level. It’s a heart and mind thing we always talk about. He’s paid the price. The time he gets there, his routine and what he does, and that has been consistent from his redshirt year. He’s put the time in and he’s gotten better.”

Francesco Badocchi Update

While Hall has been front and center for the Cavaliers, one player we haven’t heard much about this season is Francesco Badocchi, a redshirting first year forward.

Badocchi, a native of Milan, Italy, attended Bishop Miege in Kansas the final two years of his high school career. The 6’7”, 185-pound forward committed to Virginia over Illinois in the spring of 2017, and before he arrived in Charlottesville he knew he would likely redshirt this year. Sure enough, following offseason knee surgery, Badocchi is redshirting. He has recovered from surgery to be able to practice and is working on building strength, among other things, as he eyes next season.

“He’s long-armed, six-seven-ish,” Bennett said, describing the Italian native’s game. “He’s real quick. Quick off the floor and quick with his feet. He’s shown flashes. Just like you see the flashes we saw last year with De’Andre (Hunter) and Jay (Huff). He’s shows some nice things. You know, when I was looking who can be similar to Isaiah (Wilkins) in terms of understands the defensive concepts, is continuous, I think he has some … and I’ve been saying, ‘Study [Isaiah], how he plays the game offensively and defensively.’ My hope is [Badocchi] is gonna do some of those things. He’s improving his outside shot. He’ll make some 3s in practice. Good passer. He’s got to continue to add strength, but he’s really good to have.”

Teachable Moments

Though Georgia Tech isn’t in the same category as NC State, North Carolina or Syracuse in terms of offensive rebounding, Bennett knows his Cavalier team needs to do better on the defensive boards. UNC and Syracuse had 19 offensive rebounds apiece against the Hoos, five better than their per game average. UVA fared better against NC State but still allowed the Wolfpack to secure 14 offensive rebounds, roughly its per game average. Georgia Tech enters tonight’s contest averaging 10.59 offensive rebounds per game, good for no. 174 in the nation.

Additionally, Virginia hasn’t done as well in the turnover category in two of its past three games. The Hoos still rank no. 2 in the nation in turnovers, surrendering just 9.35 per contest, but had 11 turnovers against North Carolina and 15 against NC State.

“We gotta keep getting better,” Bennett said, referring initially to recent offensive rebounding trend. “That’ll bite ya. Some of those rebounds, you couldn’t do anything about ‘em. The Syracuse game we were coming over and blocking shots. But there were a few where we didn’t hit and hold our blockouts long enough, pursue the ball with the kind of aggressiveness that we should’ve. We were loose and sloppy with the ball. You know, Ty having six turnovers (against NC State). He’s been playing really good basketball, but that stuff won’t stand. There’s some teachable moments. You know the old saying, ‘Don’t accept in victory what you would not in defeat,’ and I think there’s some teachable moments in that.”

Coach Bennett added that these kinds of mistakes will “show up at the wrong time,” but he believes his team understands this.

Scott Returns To UVA

Former Virginia basketball star Mike Scott was in JPJ to see the Cavaliers take down NC State. ~ Photo courtesy of Matt Riley of Virginia Sports

Current Washington Wizard Mike Scott returned to Charlottesville to catch his former team in action against NC State. Bennett said he wasn’t aware Scott would be there, but was happy he was.

“It was so good to see him,” Bennett said of Scott. “I told him I was so proud, been proud of him.”

Another former Hoo, Evan Nolte, attended the Syracuse game. Cavalier alums returning to Grounds is something Coach Bennett truly appreciates.

“I said, ‘I love it when you guys come back,’” Bennett said. “Whether you’re a superstar, you were a walk-on, a limited minute guy, that matters not, just to see … I said I hope you guys will always come back because that matters so much to the staff and the coaches.”

“So good to see that starting to happen more and more,” Bennett said of his former players returning to Grounds for games, workouts, etc, and connecting. “That makes you feel really good.”