Nearing Crunch Time for UVA as Fall Recruiting Opens
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.
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(Featured image credit: Josie Drumheller/UVA Athletics)