Surviving List Cuts. What's Left on Virginia's 2022 Recruiting Board?
Football season is fast approaching. That also means list cuts for basketball recruits, as they start planning official visits for the weeks ahead. Time to recap who has included Virginia so far, and where things stand with those left on the board.
Making the Cut
Perkiomen (PA) wing Ryan Dunn is down to eight, including the Hoos. He was the ultimate summer blowup. Going from a few mid-major offers to 15 of them from power conferences alone. Coach Bennett staked him out during the final live period in July before quickly extending an offer. They’re serious about him.
Julian Phillips has UVA in his Top 10. A five-star rated combo forward out of South Carolina, he’s moving to Link Academy in Missouri for his senior year. Bennett saw him play several times in July. He never actually announced a scholarship offer, but it’s assumed at this point.
2023 PG Caleb Foster is already moving forward. The Hoos are in his top eight. Duke is considered the favorite. With all respect to the other remaining programs, UVA is the only real challenger left. There’s a good chance his recruitment comes to a very early end.
Two of the payers they offered in July have already eliminated UVA. Forward Malik Reneau left them out of his top seven earlier this month. Wing Brice Sensabaugh is wasting no time, already down to a final four minus the Hoos.
What's Left
UVA has two players committed in the 2022 class, Poca (WV) guard Isaac McKneely and Wauwatosa East (WI) wing Leon Bond. They’ll both be back in town on official visits for the weekend of the home football opener on September 4th.
With the list cuts, there are only four serious targets left on the board. They want to add at least one more to the class. Two would be nice.
Grand Island (NE) forward Isaac Traudt hasn’t publicly released a list of finalists, but he’s down to a handful. He’s reportedly planning a couple more official visits to Creighton and Gonzaga. It’s nearing the final stretch. We’ll just have to wait it out and see what happens. Nebraska and Michigan State are still in it, along with Virginia of course.
Ryan Dunn plans to make an official visit this Fall. The date hasn’t been finalized yet as far as I know. He’ll go to Pitt next weekend, then Minnesota on 9/4. He doesn't seem to be in much of a rush to come to a decision. UVA will be a major contender.
It’ll be an uphill battle for Julian Phillips, but they’re in the race more than people realize. He took June official visits to Florida State, Clemson, and LSU. The Seminoles are considered the team to beat. His coach told me they’re working to set up a visit to Charlottesville.
And we almost forget about Swedish forward Bobi Klintman. It’s been quiet on that front for so long. He’ll be coming over to the US soon to start his senior year at Sunrise Christian in Kansas. UVA has stayed in contact. They'll go see him next month when coaches are allowed back out, and then take it from there.