St. Anne’s-Belfield (Charlottesville, VA) star guard Justin Taylor received a flurry of scholarship offers this past June, around the time Division 1 men’s basketball coaches could have unlimited phone and social media contact with the class of 2022.

Butler, Marquette, Maryland, NC State, Richmond and Virginia Tech were among the schools that offered Taylor at that time, joining schools that offered earlier such as George Washington, Liberty and Old Dominion. Missing from the list was the University of Virginia, although head coach Tony Bennett made sure the local product knew he was interested.

“Coach [Jason] Williford contacted me at midnight (on June 15, the first day of unlimited contact). Coach [Tony] Bennett texted me too,” Taylor said in an EDGE article on June 25. “Two days later, Coach Bennett called me. He said he wanted to wait until the madness slowed down. I had a really good conversation with him. He wants to be patient and take his time with me. He said he is definitely interested. Virginia is definitely one of those schools that does not offer you right away. [Coach Bennett] made an emphasis on the call that just because they don’t offer right away doesn’t mean they are not interested. When they offer, it means they really want you.”

This past Saturday, the 6’6”, 208-pound sharpshooting guard learned that he is indeed a priority for the Cavaliers.

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