Takeaways from Virginia's Preseason Exhibitions

Virginia officially tips off its first season under new coach Ryan Odom next Monday when they’ll host Rider at JPJ.  Before that, they faced a pair of quality opponents in preseason exhibitions.  The Hoos lost 95-87 at Vanderbilt on October 16th, then bounced back with a home win over Villanova by a score of 75-72 on Friday.  

About As Expected

It’s best not to overanalyze the details of preseason scrimmages.  But at the same time, the results are often indicative of how teams will perform early in the season.  When past UVA teams have started well in November, there were usually hints based on leaked scores of secret scrimmages.  And last year when they were hammered by VCU and Georgetown in October, it was unfortunately a harbinger of things to come.  

This October’s results are pretty well in line with consensus expectations.  They lost a competitive game on the road at Vanderbilt, Kenpom’s 19th ranked preseason team.  And then held on over a younger but very talented Villanova squad, ranked 50th.  That’s not a bad starting point for a revamped Virginia roster in their first year together with lots of room for growth over the course of a season. 

Go-to Scorer

Senior guard Malik Thomas was Virginia’s leading scorer in both preseason scrimmages, going for 18 points at Vanderbilt then following that up with a 16-point performance in the win against Villanova.  He went 5-10 from the field and 3-3 from the foul line on Friday, without committing a turnover.  There’s no full box score available from the Vanderbilt game, but reports suggest he did it in impressive fashion there too.

Malik Thomas just powered through the entire Villanova lineup for an and-one.

Clearly looks like the dynamic three-level scorer UVA was promised.

— Preston Willett (@PrestonWillett) October 24, 2025

Thomas is a 5th year senior transfer from San Francisco.  He led the West Coast Conference in scoring a year ago at just under 20 points per game.  Ryan Odom brought him in to get buckets, to be the go-to scorer on this team.  So far, so good.  He’s stepped into that role comfortably, and seems to have transitioned to the high major level just fine.  

Offense>Defense

Ryan Odom loves offense, as he’s said many times.  Well, he should like this team. They’re loaded with offensive weapons, three-point shooting in particular.  The Hoos sank 10 triples in Friday’s win.  All 11 players who appeared in the game attempted a three-pointer. The entire rotation is a threat from deep, no one can be ignored out there.  

The offensive showings in these scrimmages were far from perfect.  They committed 18 turnovers Friday and missed a bunch of free throws at Vandy.  But this is where not overanalyzing the details comes into play.  The bottom line is Virginia scored well in both games, going for 87 points (in 48 minutes) at Vandy and then scoring at an efficient 1.12 points per possession in the win over Villanova.  It was a fairly balanced attack as well.  

They’re clearly behind on defense, however, allowing 95 points (in 48 minutes) to Vandy and 72 to Villanova. The Hoos committed far too many fouls.  Several players would have fouled out in the Vandy game and Villanova got to the line 22 times.  They also let Villanova grab 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 15 second chance points.  Some of it can be excused by normal early season issues, poor rotations and things that will get cleaned up as the team gels.  But I expect we’ll see that carry over into November.  And even once settled in, this team is just built to be stronger on the offensive end.  

Ten Deep

This is a legitimately deep Virginia team.  Odom has said he feels comfortable using ten players.  Judging from the scrimmages, that’s exactly what he’ll be doing this season.  Ten Hoos logged double digit minutes in the win over Villanova.  And although Odom did stick with the same starting lineup in both games, there isn’t much separation between some starters and the back end of the rotation. 

The starting guards were Dallin Hall, Malik Thomas, and Sam Lewis while Euro imports Thijs de Ridder and Johann Grunloh began the game up front.  Odom has brought prized transfer additions Jacari White, Ugonna Onyenso, and Devin Tillis off the bench.  Quite the luxury.  Freshman Chance Mallory is solidly in the guard rotation.  As is our man Elijah Gertrude, every bit as explosive as we remember.  

Under Odom, who starts doesn’t seem to mean very much.  For example, Sam Lewis had a quiet game and only played 11 minutes on Friday.  Odom turned to Chance Mallory in crunch time. The freshman stepped up and hit a pair of clutch free throws to seal the game.  It’ll be interesting to see how the roles evolve as the season goes.  Particularly in the case of Gertrude, as he continues to work his way back.  I expect Odom will often ride the hot hand, with some players’ minutes greatly varying from game to game. 

Excitement

Virginia fans are excited for the return of Wahoo basketball.  That’s my main takeaway as the season nears.  There was a really good crowd on hand for the Villanova scrimmage.  Fans are as active as ever on social media.  Our Locker Room Access forum is hopping.  After a long drawn out coaching change, there’s a lot of positive energy.  Ryan Odom and his staff have done a great job not only assembling a team worthy of excitement but also getting the fanbase on board.  Wahoos are ready for the start of a new era.  

(Featured Image Credit: Jamie Holt/UVA Athletics)