Locker Room Access - Virginia

Virginia has lost their lone 2025 recruit.  Local product Chance Mallory announced on Tuesday that he has reopened his recruitment.  The St. Anne’s Belfield (VA) point guard previously committed to his hometown Wahoos in September, following an official visit.  Mallory is ranked as the 52nd overall player in his class.  

BREAKING: 4⭐️ Chance Mallory, a top-50 recruit in the 2025 class, has decommitted from Virginia, he tells @On3Recruits.

The 5-9 Point Guard and Charlottesville native has reopened his recruitment after Tony Bennett’s decision to retire, but says he will still consider Virginia.… pic.twitter.com/gKuMU0GhRM

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) October 29, 2024

Mallory originally chose Virginia from a group of finalists that also included Clemson, VA Tech, Miami, Villanova, and Tennessee.  He visited Virginia Tech in September, along with his official visit to UVA.  Planned visits to the other finalists were canceled following his commitment announcement.  

He committed to play for former Head Coach Tony Bennett, who recently announced his retirement.  It’s very common for recruits to reopen their recruitment whenever there’s a coaching change.  He still intends to consider Virginia once there’s clarity about who the head coach will be going forward.  UVA is entering this season under the interim leadership of longtime Bennett assistant Ron Sanchez.  

It’s likely at this point that Chance will wait until the late signing period to make a decision.  There will still be an opportunity for him to choose to stay home at UVA.  I’d expect the Hoos to remain a serious contender. By reopening his recruitment instead of making it official during next month’s early signing period, it allows him to be recruited by other schools and consider his options.  There may be different schools involved by then.   

This is the second piece of bad news for the UVA men’s basketball program today.  Following the earlier announcement that senior point guard Jalen Warley will transfer.  The Wahoos begin the 2024-25 season in just eight days when they’ll host Campbell at John Paul Jones Arena.  

It was announced on Tuesday that Virginia senior Jalen Warley has entered the transfer portal.  The former Florida State guard was part of UVA’s prized group of incoming transfers over the offseason.  He departs without playing a single game for the Wahoos.  His plan is to sit out this season as a redshirt, then use his final year of eligibility at his next school.  

Jalen Warley to Leave Virginia Basketball Program https://t.co/j7FS1R8KEz

— Virginia Men's Basketball (@UVAMensHoops) October 29, 2024

Warley was originally a prized recruit, ranked as the 43rd player in the class of 2021, out of Westtown School near Philadelphia.  He never quite lived up to that billing, but was a solid three-year contributor for the Seminoles before transferring this past spring.  As a junior, he averaged a career-best 7.5 points.  

He seemed to be in-line to be the starting point guard at Virginia this season.  Although, it was clearly going to be a timeshare situation.  He started and played 16 minutes in Saturday’s preseason loss to Georgetown, registering 2 points and 1 assist.  

His departure opens an opportunity for young Virginia point guards Dai Dai Ames and Christian Bliss to potentially move into bigger roles to start the season.  Interim coach Ron Sanchez referred to those two along with Warley as the committee of point guards.  Junior Andrew Rohde could benefit as well.  He led the team in assists during the preseason scrimmages. 

Following the retirement of former Head Coach Tony Bennett,  Virginia players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal if they choose.  So far, Warley is the only one to take advantage of that.   The Wahoos begin the 2024-25 campaign in just eight days.  They host Campbell in the November 6th season opener at John Paul Jones Arena.  

This season and the offseason to come could be a hectic time for Wahoo basketball. There’s no better way to keep track year-round than by becoming a Locker Room Access VIP member.  From in-depth recruiting coverage, to summer practice reports, other exclusive content, and perhaps a coaching search ahead.  Get the latest from the people with the contacts to know what’s really happening around the program. 

(Featured Image Credit: UVA Athletics) 

Adding context to the Tony Bennett retirement news, what to expect from a Ron Sanchez coached team, and details from UVA’s first secret scrimmage in this Locker Room Access Intel Report.  

Retirement Basics 

Tony Bennett didn’t hold back at his retirement press conference on Friday.  He explained his decision pretty well.  I recommend watching if you haven’t, linked here.  You may also want to check out Matt Norlander’s article on CBS Sports.  Bennett talked further with him, diving a bit deeper into his reasons and decision timeline.  

The cliff notes version is that Tony isn’t a fan of the current condition of college sports, the wild west lawlessness brought on by the transfer portal and unregulated pay-to-play.  All the extra unpleasant stuff that now goes along with being a college coach burned him out, and he no longer feels he’s the best person for the job.  He made the decision over the long fall break weekend, then gave it one more practice on Wednesday to be sure before moving forward with the retirement announcement.  

Other than presumably Ron Sanchez, now the Interim Head Coach for this season, the rest of the staff along with the players were informed at a 3pm Thursday meeting.  The official press release went out an hour later.  It came about very suddenly and as a total surprise to everybody.  I’ve heard some staff members didn’t care for the timing and/or being kept in the dark.  But they’ll all rally together and get ready for a new season behind Coach Sanchez. 

My 2 Cents  

I don’t think NIL and other changes really caused his retirement as much as it pushed it forward.  The retirement talk started before all that.  He famously promised Isaac McKneely that he would be at UVA for his entire college career.   For a while, everybody believed we were safe until 2026 because of that promise.  And if the system hadn’t gone crazy, I feel sure we would have been.  But as time went on, it shifted to more of a hope that he would hold on that long.  The talk this offseason became one season, maybe two.  You could feel it becoming more definite, then speeding up.  

Tony’s hope had been to make one last run.  That’s what everyone around the program had said for the past few years.  He wanted to build a team capable of having Final Four aspirations.  I think he probably felt like the current group was a year away from maybe having a shot, often talking about the two-year window with the core of his team. In a way, things might have been going according to plan.  He just didn’t have enough gas left in the tank for two more years of dealing with all the extra BS that goes along with the job in today’s environment.  

As he alluded to, the staff shielded him as much as possible from NIL dealings.  It couldn’t be done completely though.  Each year, NIL has become more and more a part of the recruiting process.  At first, coaches were forbidden from direct involvement.  Then that changed, and it became a job requirement to negotiate with a recruit’s family or their agent.  This offseason in particular, it ramped up.  Before, NIL was only a topic in transfer recruiting for the most part.  Coaches only needed to deal with it for a month or so each year.  Now, it’s a central part of every high schooler’s recruitment too.  There’s no escape.  

The signs were there that the end was near.  His involvement in recruiting scaled way back the last couple years.  For the most part, they’ve just been trotting him out to be seen and when it was time to close the deal.  Assistants were making most of the decisions.  He skipped several evaluation weekends, which would have been unthinkable before. Then the most obvious sign came this fall when he didn’t bother to begin the 2026 recruiting cycle.  There was no point, he wouldn’t be around when they enrolled.   

Some of that may have had to do with his disillusionment with the way recruiting had changed too.  Bennett always built personal relationships with recruits.  He was terrific at it, because it was sincere.  By the time new players arrived, there was already a close bond.  He enjoyed being a mentor, even to recruits that didn’t choose Virginia.  That’s why he was so successful at getting them on the rebound as transfers.  At his press conference, he said something about relationships becoming more transactional. I think that probably bothers him more than the headaches of today's recruiting process.  

Interim Coach

Ron Sanchez was named Interim Head Coach for this season.  It’ll be a tryout, allowing him the opportunity to prove himself.  In the meantime, Athletic Director Carla Williams said they will start a national search for the next head coach.  If Sanchez can pull this team together and have a good season, winning a game in the NCAA Tournament would be great, he’ll have a good chance at winning the job.  If not, they’ll go in a different direction.  Most likely, we won't get a definite answer until at least March.  

There probably won’t be much of a noticeable difference under Sanchez.  He’s obviously very much a Bennett disciple. The real challenge will be keeping the team together and dealing with the inevitable adversity that hits over the course of the season.  These players didn’t sign up to play for him, and the staff didn’t join to serve under him.  It would be easy for them to slack off when times get tough.  This season will be a real test of Sanchez’s leadership ability.  

I will be curious if roles are a little different than under Bennett.  It’s only natural for a coach to prefer the players he’s chosen.  We may see Sanchez’s recruits benefit from the change.   I would expect freshman Jacob Cofie to get more of an opportunity.  Perhaps a longer leash for Elijah Saunders, another Sanchez recruit.  On the flip side, Jalen Warley and Blake Buchanan may not be as secure in their roles as before.  Bennett had preferences that worked in their favor, and that might not be the case with Sanchez in charge.  

Recruiting

Early word is that it looks like St. Anne’s Belfield (VA) point guard Chance Mallory will remain committed to Virginia.  The news is still fresh, he hasn’t had a lot of time to think yet, so there's no guarantee. But from what I’ve heard, he’ll likely sit tight for now while seeing how this season and the coaching situation unfolds.  And if so, that’s the best we can hope for right now.  

Other than that, recruiting will pretty much be non-existent until there’s a new head coach in place.   Sanchez will probably do some relationship building with 2026 recruits, in anticipation of getting the job.  We could have an occasional visitor for games.  But there’s just very little that can be done until there’s coaching clarity.  

Next spring is probably going to be wacky no matter what happens.  We’re much more likely to lose transfers after the season.  An almost total reset isn’t out of the question if a new coach is brought in. Even if Sanchez is kept as head coach, there could be other staff turnover and that could lead to transfers.  Just enjoy the season, then brace for a storm and hope it’s mild.  

Secret Scrimmage

UVA took it on the chin in their first secret scrimmage on Saturday, losing 71-49 at home to VCU.  The box score is posted up in the previous Intel forum thread if you’re interested.   Not much good to report.  They were thoroughly outplayed, shooting 32% to VCU’s 50%.  The Hoos committed 18 turnovers, just a lousy performance.  But not totally unexpected under the circumstances. 

Virginia was without three players.  Isaac McKneely, Dai Dai Ames, and Christian Bliss were all sidelined with what I was told were minor injuries.  Starting center Blake Buchanan also left the game after logging only 8 minutes.  So, they were obviously missing some key guys.  Still, you’d hope for a more competitive score.  

Elijah Saunders was a bright spot, scoring an efficient game-high 19 points.  And freshman Jacob Cofie chipped in 8 points and 5 boards.  They were the only two over 4 points.  TJ Power and Ishan Sharma had horrendous shooting performances, going a combined 1-19 from the field.  Other than Cofie logging 20 minutes, probably a result of Buchanan needing to leave the game, there didn’t seem to be any surprises in terms of role.  With so many players missing, it’s hard to draw conclusions.   

What’s Ahead

We’ll see if the Hoos can bounce back in this Saturday’s secret scrimmage at Georgetown.  The Hoyas won their first closed-door game against Maryland, so they might be better than people expect.  I doubt we’ll get a box score this time, but there should be at least some tidbits to pass along.  

Unless there are surprises ahead the next few weeks, this will probably be the last official Intel Report of the offseason.  We’ll keep the VIP forum threads running of course, so check there for updates all season long.  My sincere thanks to all the loyal subscribers who’ve stayed along for the ride.  It’s been a wild offseason.  I'm ready to get back to basketball.