During October, the John Paul Jones Arena hosted Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, and Virginia volleyball for the first time. The UVA basketball teams played intrasquad scrimmages during the month too, but when the calendar flips to November, Hoo hoops will be back on the floor.
With the men’s team just one week away from tipoff against Tarleton State on Monday, Nov. 6 and the women’s team set for an exhibition this Thursday before its own tipoff on Wednesday, Nov. 8 against Maryland Eastern Shore, the Cavaliers hosted local media day on Monday. The Virginia teams seem to be sharing a theme entering the season as both work to blend a lot of new faces with some familiar returning players.
That theme? Work now for the eventual payoff.
For Tony Bennett and his Hoos, the offseason felt like a reset of sorts so it’s not surprising to hear that approach in play. Reece Beekman returned for a senior season at Virginia and Taine Murray remained as another upperclassmen entering at least a third year in the program, but otherwise the scholarship roster is mostly made up of a lot of UVA recruited talent still early in their careers or transfer portal acquisitions. The returning players that committed to the program out of high school are sophomores Isaac McKneely and Ryan Dunn as well as redshirt freshman Leon Bond III.
Newcomers include freshmen Blake Buchanan, Elijah Gertrude, Anthony Robinson, and Christian Bliss. Of that quartet, Buchanan has the inside track to the biggest role according to Bennett. Transfer additions include Jake Groves and Jordan Minor as one-year players plus sophomore Andrew Rohde. Dante Harris is another transfer, but he joined the program last season.
All told, it’s a group with only two players that have logged more than 500 career minutes at Virginia.
“I talk to all these guys about our team this year – the long game. The long game,” Bennett said. “I know that doesn’t sound but that’s what I think our season is. The long game. There might be some ups, downs, but can you be good in the long game and become something at the end. Can your career, the long game. That’s what’s going last. All this it’s got to be so fast, things have to happen right away – no, no, the guys that are lasting for us in their professional careers have dedicated themselves to the long game.”
For Agugua-Hamilton and her Cavaliers, the roster contains more returning players but several new pieces are in the mix too. The returnees include Yonta Vaughn, Mir McLean, Kaydan Lawson, Camryn Taylor, Alexia Smith, Cady Pauley, Sam Brunelle, and London Clarkson. That group features six players listed as seniors or graduate students and Coach Mox said it is up to their leadership to inject some urgency into the team.
Virginia added a freshman class that includes two hometown prospects and an overseas recruit. Olivia McGhee and Kymora Johnson represent two local schools (Louisa County and St. Anne’s-Belfield) as guards with high-scoring reputations. Edessa Noyan joined the program from Sweden. UVA also brought in three transfers. Taylor Lauterbach came in from Kansas State to be a part of the frontcourt, while Jillian Brown and Paris Clark add to the backcourt as transfers from Northwestern and Arizona, respectively.
Between the newcomers and some preseason injuries, it may take some time for things to gel. Regardless, however, Agugua-Hamilton encourages her team to work in the moment for team rewards down the road.
“I think the grit kind of goes with our philosophy – grind now, shine later,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “Focus in on the work, focus in on being better, the things you can control. Your energy, your effort, how hard you go, attention to detail, things like that. You can’t always control is the ball falling in tonight, but there are a lot of things you can control. I think how they’ve been approaching practice.”
