Locker Room Access - Virginia

Ryan Odom and the Virginia men’s basketball program have a big recruiting weekend coming up.  The Cavaliers are expected to have three Top 50 ranked recruits from the class of 2026 in town on official visits, coinciding with the football showdown against Florida State. 

*All rankings from the On3 industry average 

Latrell Allmond

Ranking: 29

Summer stats: 14.7 PPG (54 FG%, 31 3FG%), 7.4 Reb, 1.6 Blk for Team Loaded 

Petersburg (VA) forward Latrell Allmond will make his long awaited official visit to Charlottesville this weekend.  It’ll be his fourth and possibly last official visit following earlier trips to Indiana, Tennessee, and Oklahoma State.  He plans to announce his college choice in mid-October. 

The main competition consists of Indiana and Tennessee.  Their affiliation with Adidas is helpful in this case, as Allmond has strong ties to the brand.  However, Ryan Odom has had past success with players from Allmond’s Team Loaded program. And Virginia’s Director of Recruiting Ahmad Thomas is a former Team Loaded coach himself.  The Hoos have a shot to surprise folks by keeping the in-state prize at home.  

Arafan Diane

Ranking: 19

Summer stats: 18.6 PPG (74 FG%), 10.8 Reb, 1.5 Blk for Iowa United

Iowa United Prep big man Arafan Diane is widely considered the best true big man in the class. The Guinean recently named a final five of Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas, and Houston.  This will be his third official visit, with trips scheduled to all five finalists.  He plans to announce his decision in early November. 

The perceived frontrunner has been Houston.  Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars will get Diane’s last visit in late October.  But it seems to be a fairly open contest between all of the finalists.  Coaches from each school made the trip to see him in recent weeks.  Odom has been involved with Diane since very early in the process.  That relationship paid off with this scheduled visit.  If they could somehow close the deal, it would be a monumental recruiting win for Odom in his first year. 

Bo Ogden 

Ranking: 34

Summer stats: 20.9 PPG (55 FG%, 53 3FG%), 4.5 Reb. 2.4 Ast for ASAK Elite

Combo guard Bo Ogden out of Westlake High in Austin, Texas may be the best shooter in the class.  He knocked down just under 53% from deep on high volume this summer, while converting at an 86% clip from the foul line.   He’s down to a final six of Virginia, Gonzaga, Kansas, Texas, Tennessee, and Purdue.  A decision is expected before November’s early signing period. 

Bo’s dad is on the Texas coaching staff.  It would be fairly surprising if he doesn’t end up choosing the Longhorns.  But Odom and the staff have done a nice job positioning UVA as perhaps the leading alternative, if Ogden chooses to take his own path.  The trip to Charlottesville will be his third official visit.  He’s already been to Purdue and Tennessee.  

What’s Ahead

The official visits won’t end here.  UVA has another top 50 recruit scheduled to visit the following weekend, Link Academy (MO) wing Luca Foster.    

We’re exactly six weeks from the season opener.  That means official practices begin today.  There should be highlights of that on social media later.  And the first exhibition game at Vanderbilt is only a little over three weeks away, on October 16th.  Another year of Wahoo basketball will soon be at hand.  Stay tuned to Locker Room Access for full coverage as always!

(Featured Image Credit: Josie Drumheller/UVA Athletics) 

Football gets underway this weekend.  That means the start of official visit season for basketball recruits.  Coach Ryan Odom has the Wahoos involved with quite a few of the top players in the class of 2026.  In most of the races, Virginia is seen as an underdog.  We’ll see if Odom and the staff can pull off a surprise or two ahead of November’s early signing period.  

Scheduled Visits

There are a pair of recruits with official visit dates locked in, that we know of right now.  There will surely be more added. 

Luca Foster

Link Academy (MO) wing Luca Foster, ranked 37th in the class, is scheduled to be in Charlottesville on the weekend of October 4th.  He released a top nine list, and has so far scheduled visits to six of the finalists.  The tip to UVA will be the last of those scheduled visits.  

Foster is a 6’5” SG/SF, a good athlete and shoots it well.  Ryan Odom and the staff were quick to get involved with him once they took over the helm.  Foster is originally from the Philadelphia area.  Villanova, where he visits this weekend, is clearly a contender.  Michigan and Ohio State seem to be up there as well.  But there’s no clear favorite.  The Hoos will get their turn, and we’ll see where the chips fall.  

Bo Ogden

Virginia offered Westlake (TX) combo guard Bo Ogden back in the spring.  He’s had his official visit locked in for a while already, scheduled for the weekend of September 26th.  Ranked 42nd in the class, Ogden is down to a final six.  He took an early official visit to Purdue.  The only planned fall visit reported so far is to UVA. 

The key fact to know here is that Ogden’s father is on the coaching staff at Texas, positioning the Longhorns as the likely favorite.  So, the odds for everyone else don’t seem very favorable.  It wouldn’t be the first time a recruit chose not to play for his father though.  Ryan Odom will at least get Bo on Grounds to make his case. 

Still in Play

There are five other recruits that have named Virginia as a finalist, and at least one more they’re still involved with. 

Latrell Allmond

In-state prize Latrell Allmond out of Petersburg High included the Hoos on his top nine list.  The 6’8” forward, ranked 34th nationally, has had an offer from UVA for several years.  Tony Bennett and company hosted him on unofficial visits multiple times.  The effort only intensified once Odom took over. 

Allmond has taken one official visit already, a summer trip to Indiana.  Kansas and Tennessee are probably the other main teams in the picture. I do expect UVA to get a turn before his planned decision date in mid-October. 

Arafan Diane

Ranked 18th and considered by many as the best center in the class, Iowa United big man Arafan Diane has UVA in his top twelve.  He plans to announce his college decision in early November, following a round of fall visits.  In a recent interview, Diane said he does intend to visit Virginia.  

There’s been a lot of talk about Houston with him.  He took an unofficial there this summer, and is scheduled to return for an official in late October.  Arkansas is another team to watch.  It looks like there's still a long way to go in this race though.  Plenty of opportunity for Odom to gain ground, assuming that’s necessary.  

Lucas Morillo

Newman (MA) guard Lucas Morillo, ranked 58th, included UVA in his top six this week.  He is an unusually versatile player.  With point guard skills at 6’7”, he can be slotted anywhere from PG to PF in the lineup.  Odom and the staff have been active in his recruitment throughout. 

Morillo has visited Marquette and is currently on a visit to Minnesota.  Other finalists include UCLA, Illinois, and Texas.  While he hasn’t locked in a date yet, Virginia should get a visit at some point this fall.  They’ll have a fair shot.  

Cole Cloer

Odom started recruiting IMG Academy (FL) forward Cole Cloer to VCU, then continued on at UVA.   Cloer named a top eight in July, Hoos included.  Since then, new teams such as Kentucky and Arkansas have joined in.  

This one looks pretty bleak for Virginia.  He initially set a visit date, but then that got scrapped.  At this point, he has a full slate of upcoming visits scheduled that doesn’t include UVA.   But as long as they’re still alive, anything can happen. 

Jayden Hodge

Jayden Hodge grew up in Belgium, but has Virginia roots.  His dad Odell Hodge was an all-time great player at Old Dominion, now an assistant coach there.  UVA extended an offer to the 66th ranked guard over the summer, and now the Hoos are among his eight finalists. 

He took early official visits to Northwestern and Georgetown.  Then this week, there were four more upcoming visit dates reported.  UVA not included.  We didn’t notice a lot of involvement with him over the summer.  It could be that the Hoos are just window dressing, or maybe there’s an opportunity if Odom decides to turn up the volume.  

Dylan Mingo

Not every recruit chooses to name finalists.  Five-star Long Island Lutheran (NY) guard Dylan Mingo hasn’t yet.  Odom and his staff have continued to stay active with him.  The Hoos are at least in the ballgame. 

Mingo recently visited Washington, and he’ll visit Miami this weekend.  Other schools involved include UConn, Baylor, and NC State.  He’s played his recruitment close to the vest, only announcing visit plans just beforehand.  We’ll see if UVA gets a turn.  

What’s Ahead

Coaches will be back out on the road soon.  The recruiting period opens on Wednesday, allowing them to visit prospects at their schools or homes.  We should get reports of them popping up to see some of the names above, and maybe new ones too.  It won’t be only about 2026 recruits.  This is normally when coaches start paying more attention to rising juniors, and likely extend scholarship offers for 2027.  The cycle starts all over. 

Come join us on the Locker Room Access forum to keep track of all the happenings.  From fall recruiting to preseason coverage, it’s the  place to be for the diehard Wahoo Basketball fan.  

(Featured image credit: Josie Drumheller/UVA Athletics)

New coach Ryan Odom and his Wahoos finished summer practices last week.  As usual, I reached out to people around the program to get their takes on how the team is shaping up.  

Team Building Summer

With an almost entirely new team, the coaching staff has concentrated on building team chemistry this summer.  That seems to have been the main emphasis of the summer, just getting these guys used to playing with each other.  They haven’t implemented much of their system in practice.  They’ve just let them play, and get a feel for everyone’s game.  

One person close to the team described it as a honeymoon phase for Odom and the staff.  They’re clearly thrilled to have this opportunity, and they want to make the most of it.  Smiles all around all the time. 

Needless to say, the universal opinion is that this should be a good team.  How good, nobody wants to predict.  But everybody I talked to thinks they have a chance to be a lot better than most of the national pundits are predicting.  And I get the feeling the coaches like that they’re sneaking under the radar. 

Projected Starters

BYU transfer Dallin Hall will surely be the starting point guard.  A couple people called him the team leader, so he’s assumed that role right away.  On the court, it’s as expected.  He brings the veteran floor general presence.  Maybe a little more scoring punch.  One person commented on the way he can create his own shot when needed.   

It will be surprising if anyone other than San Francisco transfer guard Malik Thomas leads the Wahoos in the scoring this season.  Tony Bennett was quoted as saying “That guy is a bucket”. What has surprised some people is that he’s pretty solid defensively, likes to take on the challenge.  

North Dakota State transfer guard Jacari White looks like he’ll be the secondary scorer in the backcourt.  I asked the same question about the mid major transfers, whether there was any concern about their game translating.  In Jacari’s case, there’s no worry at all.  He may not average 17 points, but he’ll do fine in the ACC.   Their best player in transition, one source said, loves to run the floor and spot up for three. 

Belgian forward Thijs de Ridder arrived too late to enroll in summer school, so he wasn’t allowed to take part in practices.  But he’s still been around for everything else, the unofficial type stuff.  Pick-up games and all that.  There’s a lot of excitement about him.  A couple people who’ve seen him told me they expect him to be UVA's best player this season, one of them went so far as to say he could be All-ACC.  

I asked everyone I talked to the same question, which one player will be better than fans expect?  The answer was nearly unanimous.  Ugonna Onyenso.  “I don’t know how Kansas State screwed that up”, one person said.   It looks like UVA will get a version much closer to what he was at Kentucky, where he led the SEC in blocked shots as a sophomore.  And as has been reported, he’s regularly  knocked down open three-pointers in practice.  That’s unexpected from a guy who’s only attempted one in his career.   

Rotation Locks

Toledo transfer guard Sam Lewis is a lock to have a big role.  But off the upperclassmen transfer additions, he seems to be one that the jury is still out on.  People didn’t mention him unless I brought him up.  Usually, that means he hasn’t stood out this summer.   When talking about the rotation though,, it’s a given that he’s up there.  One person suggested that Lewis is still figuring out his place, and is sometimes too passive.  

UC-Irvine transfer forward Devin Tillis might be the most popular guy on the team.  He’s just happy to be at UVA, and all about doing whatever he can to help them win.  “Tillis is a joy to be around”. On the court, one source described him as “super solid”.  A very competitive and crafty player who manages to overcome any physical shortcomings.  He’ll be a big part of things this year. 

German center Johann Grunloh is a special talent.  He’s dazzled at times with his finishing ability.  “Unreal coordination for his size”, one person said.  It’s expected that he’ll have an adjustment period to the college game. And he was late arriving this summer, so he’s still a little behind the others.  The coaches are really happy with the center duo of Grunloh and Onyenso.  They’ll probably split time close to even unless one of them really separates himself.  

Everyone included freshman guard Chance Mallory when projecting a rotation. I heard he had some struggles early on, then found his groove as the summer went on.  It’s a similar story as with past freshmen.  One source even named him as the player most likely to exceed fan expectations this year.  At minimum, he’s in-line for a backup point guard role.  Everything points to him being the four-year contributor we all hoped for when he committed.  

Others

As you know, sophomore guard Elijah Gertrude returned this summer from his second major knee surgery.  The good news is that he is every bit the ridiculously explosive athlete as before.  He’s looked like his old self, providing some jaw-dropping highlights in practice.  They’ve been extremely careful with him though.  He’s missed a lot of practice, anytime there was the slightest discomfort.  Because of that, it’s too soon to guess where he’ll stack up. 

VCU transfer Martin Carrere was another late arrival this summer, after spending time with the French national team.  He’s been a little banged up too, nothing serious.  Interestingly, Odom seems to view him more as a guard than a forward.  Most of us projected him as a stretch-4 type.  Maybe that will end up true down the line.  But at least this summer, he’s exclusively been a 3-man. 

Freshman forward Silas Barksdale will probably just be a depth piece this season, but the future looks good for him.  The older players have been impressed by the way he competes.  “Don’t let his looks fool you, that kid is a dawg." Odom is high on him.  He’s not the greatest athlete, but he plays hard all the time.  And he’s been working on expanding his offensive game, developing a three-point shot. 

The coaching change may have boosted the status of sophomore center Carter Lang.  With Bennett, he was labeled as another walk-on and probably wouldn’t have had much hope of escaping that.  Under Odom, he’s talked about the same as the other guys.  The team has a lot of respect for Carter.  There will always be players in front of him, but he may have a better chance now of earning a role at some point in his career.  

What’s Next

This is the break between summer school and the start of the fall semester.  August is a quiet time on the recruiting front too.  Class of 2026 recruiting looks like tough sledding for the Hoos right now.  There’s been a lot of list cuts.  UVA has made a few, and been trimmed from a few.  By the end of the month, most of the group with offers should have their visits scheduled and we’ll see where things stand. 

Coaches will also be back on the road in early September, for open gym season.   Odom has a history of paying calls on recruits to offer new scholarships at that time, so the board probably isn’t completely settled yet.  

Appreciate you all sticking with us on Locker Room Access.