Virginia Basketball Offers Scholarships To Class Of 2022, Class Of 2023 Wing Prospects

By: Chris Horne |

The second and final June live evaluation period concluded Sunday (June 27) at 6 p.m. The University of Virginia men’s basketball program has since extended two new scholarship offers, including one to DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) class of 2022 wing Tyrell Ward.

Ward, who measures in around 6’6”, 175 pounds, named a top eight in May but announced on June 25 that his recruitment is “100% open.” Georgetown, Georgia, Indiana, LSU, Maryland, Miami, Virginia Tech and Xavier made up the top eight. Since his most recent declaration, Ward has landed offers from Louisville and UVA.

Ward performed well at DMV Live Session I and II events that occurred each of the past two weekends at DeMatha Catholic. We know Cavalier head coach Tony Bennett scouted some of Session I, which took place June 18-20.

A consensus 4-star prospect, Ward, who is described as DeMatha’s “do-it-all man” by Hilltop Hoops, is rated the no. 45 overall prospect in the class of 2022 by Rivals.com and the no. 107 prospect in his class by 247Sports. Virginia Tech, which recently hired longtime DeMatha Catholic head coach Mike Jones as associate head coach, is the favorite according to 247Sports’ Crystal Ball feature. Ward made an unofficial visit to Xavier last week.

Ward will participate for New World AAU on the Adidas basketball circuit next month.

Virginia has five scholarships available in class of 2022 recruiting. Ward becomes the fourth uncommitted prospect to hold an offer from the Hoos, joining point guard Austin Nunez, wing Bobi Klintman, and forward Isaac Traudt.

Virginia’s First C/O 2023 Offer Goes To Philly Wing

Justin Edwards, a 6’7” wing prospect out of Philadelphia, claimed an offer from Virginia basketball on Sunday (June 27) evening. He becomes the first member of the class of 2023 to land an offer from the Hoos.

UVA becomes the ninth school to offer Edwards this month, joining Penn State, U-Conn, Rutgers, VCU, St. John’s, Pitt, Marquette and South Carolina. He previously boasted scholarship offers from DePaul, Virginia Tech, Seton Hall, Temple, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Miami, Maryland and Washington State. Edwards received the U-Conn offer while in Storrs (CT) on a visit.

Rivals places the lefty wing no. 21 in his class in the nation, while 247Sports ranks him as the no. 59 overall prospect, the no. 15 small forward, and no. 2 in Pennsylvania in the class of 2023. Edwards was named to the 2021 Pennsylvania Class 5A first-team all-state squad after helping Imhotep to a Public League Championship title this spring.

Virginia coaches, including Coach Bennett, paid close attention to Edwards at the Philly Live event this past weekend. Ari Rosenfield reported seeing UVA represented at an Imhotep game on Sunday. The Philly Live Twitter page reported Coach Bennett’s presence during Saturday’s matchup between Imhotep and Camden. According to Andrew Slater, Edwards poured in 26 points in his team’s loss to Camden, which features 5-star point guard DJ Wagner.

Edwards plays for Team Final (PA) on the Nike EYBL circuit. Endless Motor Sports posted a short highlight clip of the sophomore standout (No. 3 in the black jersey) in AAU action earlier this spring.

What’s Next

From a scouting perspective, attention turns towards the AAU circuit and the upcoming three evaluation weekends in July (July 8-11, July 16-18, July 23-25). Don’t be surprised if UVA extends more offers as a result of the scouting in June. If not, look for more to come throughout July.

Click here to view our Basketball Scholarship Picture Page, which includes a rundown of the projected rosters in 2021-22 and 2022-23 as well as confirmed scholarship offers.