2017–18 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team

The 2017–18 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Tony Bennett in his ninth year, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2017–18 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 5
APNo. 1
Record31–3 (17–1 ACC)
Head coach
Associate head coachRon Sanchez (9th season)
Assistant coaches
Offensive schemeBlocker-Mover
Base defensePack-Line
Captains
  • Devon Hall
  • Isaiah Wilkins
  • Jack Salt
Home arenaJohn Paul Jones Arena
Seasons
2017–18 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 Virginia 17 1   .944 31 3   .912
No. 9 Duke 13 5   .722 29 8   .784
No. 22 Miami (FL) 11 7   .611 22 10   .688
No. 20 Clemson 11 7   .611 25 10   .714
NC State 11 7   .611 21 12   .636
No. 10 North Carolina 11 7   .611 26 11   .703
Virginia Tech 10 8   .556 21 12   .636
Florida State 9 9   .500 23 12   .657
Louisville 9 9   .500 22 14   .611
Notre Dame 8 10   .444 21 15   .583
Syracuse 8 10   .444 23 14   .622
Boston College 7 11   .389 19 16   .543
Georgia Tech 6 12   .333 13 19   .406
Wake Forest 4 14   .222 11 20   .355
Pittsburgh 0 18   .000 8 24   .250
2018 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

In a year with low expectations from the press, the Cavaliers began unranked but ascended all the way to the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll for the first time since December 1982.[1][a] The team then held on to that ranking through the end of the regular season and became the first ACC team to win 17 conference games. The Cavaliers won the ACC tournament by handily defeating Louisville 75–58, Clemson 64–58, and North Carolina 71–63 in the championship game. In the process the team broke the school's single-season win record, which had twice been tied by Bennett-led teams in the past five years.

ACC Sixth Man of the Year De'Andre Hunter broke his wrist in the ACC Tournament victory, and was announced to be out for the NCAA tournament two days before it began.[2] UVA entered as the No. 1 overall seed, placed in the South regional, but suffered an upset in the first round to UMBC and became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985.[3][4] The first round losses by No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 4 seed Arizona, and second round losses by No. 2 seed Cincinnati and No. 3 seed Tennessee, led to the South Region becoming the first ever to not advance any of its top four seeds to the Sweet Sixteen.[5]

Nevertheless, for taking an unranked team to finish four games above pre-season AP No. 1 ranked Duke and winning the ACC Tournament over North Carolina, Bennett was awarded his third Henry Iba Award for the nation's top coach of the season.[6]

Previous season

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The Cavaliers finished the 2016–17 season 23–11, and 11–7 in ACC play to tie Duke for fifth place. They defeated Pittsburgh in the second round of the ACC tournament to advance to the quarterfinals where they lost to Notre Dame. The Wahoos received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed in the East region. There they defeated No. 12 UNC Wilmington in the First Round before losing in the Second Round to No. 4 Florida.

Offseason

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Departures

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Marial Shayok 4 G 6'5" 196 Junior Ottawa, ON Transferred to Iowa State
Jeff Jones 24 F 6'6" 213 Senior Charlottesville, VA Walk-on; graduated
Jarred Reuter 31 F 6'7" 243 Sophomore Marion, MA Transferred to George Mason
London Perrantes 32 G 6'2" 197 Senior Los Angeles, CA Graduated
Darius Thompson 51 G 6'4" 196 RS Junior Murfreesboro, TN Graduate transferred to Western Kentucky

Incoming transfers

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Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Nigel Johnson 23 G 6'1" 190 RS Senior Ashburn, VA Transferred from Rutgers. Will be eligible to play immediately since Johnson graduated from Rutgers.

2017 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Marco Anthony
#44 SG
San Antonio, TX Holmes High School 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jul 18, 2016 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPN:    ESPN grade: 79
Francesco Badocchi
SF
Milan, Italy Bishop Miege (KS) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Apr 30, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "Virginia 2017 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  • "2017 Virginia Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  • "2016 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  • "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  • "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  • "Virginia 2017 Basketball Commitments". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 9, 2017.

2018 recruiting class

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US college sports recruiting information for 2018 recruits
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Kody Stattmann
SG
Cairns, Queensland, Australia St. Augustine's College 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) N/A Aug 28, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    Rivals:    247Sports:     ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: NR
Kihei Clark
PG
Woodland Hills, CA Taft High School 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) N/A Oct 2, 2017 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:    RivalsN/A   247Sports:     ESPNN/A   ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

Roster

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2017–18 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Devon Hall (C) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 211 lb (96 kg) RS Sr Cape Henry Collegiate School Virginia Beach, Virginia
F 1 Francesco Badocchi   6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Bishop Miege HS Milan, Italy
G 2 Justice Bartley 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 212 lb (96 kg) Jr Montrose Christian School Lilburn, Georgia
G 5 Kyle Guy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) So Lawrence Central HS Indianapolis, Indiana
G 10 Trevon Gross Jr. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 202 lb (92 kg) Jr St. Benedict's Prep School Jackson, New Jersey
G 11 Ty Jerome 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Iona Preparatory School New Rochelle, New York
F 12 De'Andre Hunter 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) RS Fr Friends' Central School Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
F 21 Isaiah Wilkins (C) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 227 lb (103 kg) Sr Greater Atlanta Christian Atlanta, Georgia
G 23 Nigel Johnson 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 182 lb (83 kg) RS Sr Riverdale Baptist School
Kansas State
Rutgers
Ashburn, Virginia
G 24 Marco Anthony 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 228 lb (103 kg) Fr Holmes HS San Antonio, Texas
F 25 Mamadi Diakite 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) RS So Blue Ridge School Conakry, Guinea
F 30 Jay Huff 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS Fr Voyager Academy Durham, North Carolina
C 33 Jack Salt (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Jr Westlake Boys HS Auckland, New Zealand
F 45 Austin Katstra (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 214 lb (97 kg) Fr Albemarle HS Charlottesville, Virginia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Strength and conditioning coach(es)
Athletic trainer(s)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Depth chart

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Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Jack Salt Jay Huff
PF Isaiah Wilkins Mamadi Diakite Austin Katstra
SF Devon Hall De'Andre Hunter Justice Bartley
SG Kyle Guy Marco Anthony
PG Ty Jerome Nigel Johnson Trevon Gross Jr.

[7]

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance)
city, state
Non-conference regular season
Nov 10, 2017*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
UNC Greensboro W 60–48  1–0
 16  Guy   8  Wilkins   3  Guy  John Paul Jones Arena (13,855)
Charlottesville, VA
Nov 13, 2017*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
Austin Peay
NIT Season Tip-Off Campus-Site Game
W 93–49  2–0
 19  Hall   8  Wilkins   4  Anthony  John Paul Jones Arena (12,995)
Charlottesville, VA
Nov 17, 2017*
4:00 pm, CBSSN
at VCU W 76–67  3–0
 29  Guy   8  Wilkins   7  Jerome  Siegel Center (7,637)
Richmond, VA
Nov 19, 2017*
1:00 pm, RSN
Monmouth
NIT Season Tip-Off Campus-Site Game
W 73–53  4–0
 23  Hunter   8  Hunter   3  Tied  John Paul Jones Arena (13,472)
Charlottesville, VA
Nov 23, 2017*
4:00 pm, ESPNU
vs. Vanderbilt
NIT Season Tip-Off Semifinals
W 68–42  5–0
 18  Guy   5  Diakite   4  3 Tied  Barclays Center 
Brooklyn, NY
Nov 24, 2017*
7:30 pm, ESPNU
vs. Rhode Island
NIT Season Tip-Off Championship
W 70–55  6–0
 19  Wilkins   8  Salt   3  Tied  Barclays Center 
Brooklyn, NY
Nov 27, 2017*
9:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 18 Wisconsin
ACC–Big Ten Challenge
W 49–37  7–0
 17  Guy   10  Wilkins   2  Tied  John Paul Jones Arena (13,911)
Charlottesville, VA
Dec 2, 2017*
12:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 18 Lehigh W 75–54  8–0
 21  Guy   6  Wilkins   8  Johnson  John Paul Jones Arena (13,594)
Charlottesville, VA
Dec 5, 2017*
7:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 15 at No. 18 West Virginia L 61–68  8–1
 19  Hall   5  Wilkins   6  Hall  WVU Coliseum (12,816)
Morgantown, WV
Dec 16, 2017*
2:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 16 Davidson W 80–60  9–1
 22  Johnson   8  Wilkins   5  Hall  John Paul Jones Arena (13,910)
Charlottesville, VA
Dec 19, 2017*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 13 Savannah State W 78–47  10–1
 17  Jerome   7  Wilkins   5  Johnson  John Paul Jones Arena (13,597)
Charlottesville, VA
Dec 22, 2017*
7:00 pm, ACCN Extra
No. 13 Hampton W 82–48  11–1
 15  Guy   9  Wilkins   4  Johnson  John Paul Jones Arena (13,328)
Charlottesville, VA
ACC Regular Season
Dec 30, 2017
2:00 pm, RSN
No. 9 Boston College W 59–58  12–1
(1–0)
 31  Jerome   14  Wilkins   3  Hall  John Paul Jones Arena (14,538)
Charlottesville, VA
Jan 3, 2018
9:00 pm, ACCN
No. 8 at Virginia Tech
Commonwealth Clash
W 78–52  13–1
(2–0)
 14  Hunter   7  Tied   5  Jerome  Cassell Coliseum (5,945)
Blacksburg, VA
Jan 6, 2018
1:00 pm, ESPN
No. 8 No. 12 North Carolina W 61–49  14–1
(3–0)
 16  Hall   7  Hunter   7  Hall  John Paul Jones Arena (14,401)
Charlottesville, VA
Jan 9, 2018
8:00 pm, ACCN
No. 3 Syracuse W 68–61  15–1
(4–0)
 22  Guy   9  Wilkins   8  Hall  John Paul Jones Arena (13,625)
Charlottesville, VA
Jan 14, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 3 NC State W 68–51  16–1
(5–0)
 25  Hall   6  Wilkins   6  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,317)
Charlottesville, VA
Jan 18, 2018
8:00 pm, ACCN
No. 2 at Georgia Tech W 64–48  17–1
(6–0)
 17  Hunter   7  Hunter   5  Jerome  McCamish Pavilion (8,600)
Atlanta, GA
Jan 21, 2018
6:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 2 at Wake Forest W 59–49  18–1
(7–0)
 17  Guy   7  Hall   4  Guy  LJVM Coliseum (10,014)
Winston-Salem, NC
Jan 23, 2018
7:00 pm, RSN
No. 2 No. 18 Clemson W 61–36  19–1
(8–0)
 14  Hall   5  Tied   3  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,149)
Charlottesville, VA
Jan 27, 2018
2:00 pm, CBS
No. 2 at No. 4 Duke W 65–63  20–1
(9–0)
 17  Guy   8  Hall   7  Jerome  Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)
Durham, NC
Jan 31, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 2 Louisville W 74–64  21–1
(10–0)
 22  Guy   10  Wilkins   9  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,310)
Charlottesville, VA
Feb 3, 2018
4:00 pm, ACCN
No. 2 at Syracuse W 59–44  22–1
(11–0)
 15  Hunter   6  Wilkins   6  Jerome  Carrier Dome (27,083)
Syracuse, NY
Feb 7, 2018
7:00 pm, RSN
No. 2 at Florida State W 59–55  23–1
(12–0)
 17  Hall   6  Diakite   3  Hall  Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (10,657)
Tallahassee, FL
Feb 10, 2018
6:15 pm, ESPN
No. 2 Virginia Tech
Commonwealth Clash/College Gameday
L 60–61 OT 23–2
(12–1)
 16  Hall   8  Jerome   4  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (14,593)
Charlottesville, VA
Feb 13, 2018
9:00 pm, ESPN
No. 1 at Miami (FL) W 59–50  24–2
(13–1)
 22  Hunter   7  Salt   7  Jerome  Watsco Center (7,333)
Coral Gables, FL
Feb 21, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN2
No. 1 Georgia Tech W 65–54  25–2
(14–1)
 18  Jerome   6  Salt   5  Jerome  John Paul Jones Arena (13,873)
Charlottesville, VA
Feb 24, 2018
4:00 pm, ESPNU
No. 1 at Pittsburgh W 66–37  26–2
(15–1)
 14  Hunter   10  Hunter   4  Hall  Peterson Events Center (6,534)
Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 1, 2018
8:00 pm, ACCN
No. 1 at Louisville W 67–66  27–2
(16–1)
 21  Jerome   9  Hall   4  Hall  KFC Yum! Center (19,413)
Louisville, KY
Mar 3, 2018
4:00 pm, ACCN
No. 1 Notre Dame W 62–57  28–2
(17–1)
 17  Hall   6  Tied   6  Hall  John Paul Jones Arena (14,205)
Charlottesville, VA
ACC Tournament
Mar 8, 2018
12:00 pm, ESPN/ACCN
(1) No. 1 vs. (9) Louisville
Quarterfinals
W 75–58  29–2
 19  Guy   7  Guy   5  Hall  Barclays Center (17,732)
Brooklyn, NY
Mar 9, 2018
7:00 pm, ESPN/ACCN
(1) No. 1 vs. (4) No. 19 Clemson
Semifinals
W 64–58  30–2
 15  Guy   8  Salt   10  Jerome  Barclays Center (18,157)
Brooklyn, NY
Mar 10, 2018
8:30 pm, ESPN/ACCN
(1) No. 1 vs. (6) No. 12 North Carolina
Championship
W 71–63  31–2
 16  Guy   6  Jerome   6  Jerome  Barclays Center (18,157)
Brooklyn, NY
NCAA tournament
Mar 16, 2018*
9:20 pm, TNT
(1 S) No. 1 vs. (16 S) UMBC
First Round
L 54–74  31–3
 15  Tied   5  Wilkins   2  Jerome  Spectrum Center (17,943)
Charlotte, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
S=South region.
All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415161718Final
APRVRVRV181516139832 (1)2 (1)2 (1)2 (17)2 (16)1 (42)1 (48)1 (65)1 (65)Not released
CoachesRVRV^2515121614983222 (8)2 (8)3 (5)2 (3)1 (17)1 (32)1 (32)5

*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings.
Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll at the same time the AP did.

References

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  1. ^ Casadonte, Lane; Robertson, Sean (February 12, 2018). "Virginia ranked #1 in new AP college basketball poll". Richmond, VA: WTVR-TV. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  2. ^ Rollins, Khadrice (March 13, 2018). "Virginia's De'Andre Hunter Will Miss NCAA Tournament Due to Broken Wrist". www.si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  3. ^ Hale, David M. (March 16, 2018). "UMBC does the unthinkable, becoming the first 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed". www.espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  4. ^ Tracy, Marc (March 17, 2018). "Virginia Without Hunter Falls to UMBC". The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  5. ^ Leonard Hamilton: Upsets Almost Like a Revolution, accessed March 19, 2018
  6. ^ Forgrave, Reid (March 17, 2018). "UMBC loss will define Virginia's Tony Bennett, but no one's better equipped to handle it". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "Game 4 v. Monmouth, Charlottesville, Va. (John Paul Jones Arena)" (PDF). p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.

Notes

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  1. ^ The Cavaliers also became the first team in the AP Poll era, dating to the 1948–49 season, to rise to #1 despite losing a game in the prior week (at home in overtime to Virginia Tech). Virginia's rise was aided by the previous #1 and #3 teams, respectively Villanova and Purdue, also losing at home.