The long wait for the return of Virginia basketball ended Saturday as the Blue-White Scrimmage took place at the John Paul Jones Arena. The UVA women’s team opened the day against its men’s practice squad and gave fans their first glimpse of the Amaka Agugua-Hamilton era, while the Cavalier men’s team followed with four quarters of action that shuffled the players halfway through.

Quick highlights from the day included Sam Brunelle’s first 3-pointer, some nice plays from Taylor Valladay, a bevy of triples that spanned the men’s roster, a physical effort from Kadin Shedrick, plenty of flashes from the freshmen, recognition for Nigel Johnson a he battles back from an accident (you can help through this Go Fund Me), and much more. Neither head coach took on full coaching duties as assistants led each group throughout the day. Still, both coaches addressed the fans to thank them for their support.

All in all, the afternoon of hoops gave Hoo fans a healthy dose of hope ahead of the official start of the season next month. Let’s take a look at some take-aways from the day at JPJ.

Men’s Scrimmage

The 3-Point Return

One of the biggest frustrations for the program last year turned out to be 3-point shooting. The Cavaliers made just 5.0 3’s per game (348th nationally) at a 32.3% shooting clip (247th nationally). Ultimately, there were really only two regular shooting threats as Kihei Clark and Armaan Franklin made 54 and 53 triples, respectively, while Reece Beekman and Kody Stattmann sprinkled in 22 and 20 with periodic makes.

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