This season’s squad, on the other hand, features five starters in addition to an infusion of reinforcements including transfer Ben Vander Plas and a freshman class that Bennett said has grown exponentially through spending extended time together. internationally.
“It was a great experience,” Virginia goaltender Kihei Clark said at ACC media day Wednesday. “I think as a team, just to be able to have those 10 days before the trip, the official training, to be able to leave for two hours full board is really important, just to be ahead of a lot of the teams who don’t not get to practice like that.
Schools are allowed to travel abroad for exhibition matches every four years, although the coronavirus pandemic has interfered with this schedule.
Prior to last summer, the Cavaliers’ last overseas trip was to Spain in 2016, providing an invaluable bonding opportunity for members of the squad that won the school’s first and only national championship in 2019.
Clark was a freshman that season and remembers how close players like Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter, the core that pushed the Cavaliers to the national title, grew after he returned from Spain, where Bennett was able to provide further instructions regarding the defense of the pack line.
Connectivity throughout the regular rotation also produced one of the most memorable sequences in program history during the NCAA Tournament Regional Finals when Clark chased down a loose ball and passed it to Mamadi Diakite, whose buzzer jumper forced overtime against Purdue.
Virginia then cruised to an 80-75 win to advance to the Final Four in Minneapolis.
“Kihei and I have been together forever, it’s true, which is a good thing, a good thing,” Bennett said. “Last year our depth wasn’t great, and we probably didn’t shoot the ball to the level we needed, so we tried to improve in those areas, but experience is gold, I think, in college basketball, and we have that.”
A chance to pursue another national championship contributed to Clark’s decision to return for a fifth year. So did long conversations with Bennett and his teammates, including Jayden Gardner, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer last season.
Gardner was transferred to Virginia from East Carolina before the start of 2021-22, and although his midrange pullover, soft touch around the rim and rebound at both ends immediately benefited the Cavaliers, his level of comfort with the pack line took a lot longer to blossom.
Gardner’s mastery of Bennett’s signature defensive lineup has since reached such a level of expertise that new teammates, especially those in the frontcourt, seek Gardner’s insights into one-on-one guarding, Help side rotation and positioning in the painted area.
“I think this year just the defense is slowing down for me and getting used to it and knowing where to be and also encouraging the young guys as they go through their freshman year because I went through it,” Gardner said. “I think it’s been a big step for my development defensively, being ahead of the game, ahead of the curve, so I’m excited for this team.”
Virginia’s other starters besides Gardner and Clark are also upperclass. Guard Armaan Franklin, transferred last year from Indiana, is a senior; center forward Kadin Shedrick is a redshirt junior; and point guard Reece Beekman is a junior.
Vander Plas, a projected top reserve in the frontcourt, arrives from Ohio University as a graduate student, and Argentina center Francisco Caffaro, a redshirt senior, started at times last season.
The only freshman expected to receive significant playing time is Isaac McKneely, a 6-foot-4 guard twice named West Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. McKneely also knows the pack line, having played defense with similar principles in high school.
“Me personally, that’s probably the oldest team I’ve had,” Bennett said. “I think why Virginia and even where I was before as an assistant or head coach, Washington State and other stops, we’ve had mature teams, teams that have had guys in their senior years who have grown through the experience of playing. Again, that’s always been the formula.
