Basketball News!

Two quick, and BIG updates:

1) Last night, Marial Shayok gave his commitment to Tony Bennett and will play for the Hoos!  That's one of the April Recruiting Wars that we have officially won!

2) The ACC announced its basketball schedules for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.  Here are our opponents:

2014-15 UVA games

Home and Road: Louisville, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and NC State

Home: FSU, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Duke, Pitt

Road: Miami, North Carolina, Boston College, Syracuse, Notre Dame

2015-16 games

Home and Road: Louisville, Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson

Home: North Carolina, NC State, Boston College, Syracuse, Notre Dame

Road: Florida State, Georgia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest, Pitt

A few quick thoughts...

-- Shayok is a huge "get" for the program.  He's a plus athlete, cut from the Justin Anderson mold, but with better ballhandling skills.  He'll be an asset to the packline and in terms of the team's ability to match up with opposing 2s and 3s.  I think Shayok has a lot of star potential.  I'm excited to see him begin his Virginia career next season.

-- I hate that we only get one game against each of Duke and UNC in each of the next two seasons.  Makes it tougher to break up the Tobacco Road hegemony.

-- I like that we'll be facing Louisville twice each season.  That will be a fun contrast of styles, and an exciting rivalry to watch blossom.

Virginia’s ACC Opponents Announced For Next Two Seasons
Cavaliers will play Virginia Tech and league newcomer Louisville home and away in each of the next two seasons

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Atlantic Coast Conference announced today the men's basketball league opponents for all 15 institutions for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Reigning ACC champion Virginia will face each of the 14 conference opponents during the 18-game league schedule that includes nine ACC home games and nine ACC away contests in each of the next two seasons.

In 2014-15, the Cavaliers will play Virginia Tech, Louisville, Wake Forest and NC State two times each. Virginia will host Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, NC State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest at John Paul Jones Arena. The Cavaliers will travel to Boston College, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest for away contests.

In 2015-16, the Cavaliers will play every league opponent and battle Virginia Tech, Louisville, Clemson and Miami two times each during the 18-game league schedule. UVa will host Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia Tech at JPJ. Virginia travels to Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest for away games.

"With the addition of Louisville, the ACC schedule gets even stronger," Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said. “Our fans have played a big part in our success at home and the impact they had in our postseason run this past year was noticeable. We’re certainly going to need them again with the schedule we’ll face moving forward.”

Virginia returns 13 letterwinners, including All-ACC first team selection Malcolm Brogdon (Atlanta, Ga.), from last season's team that captured both the ACC regular season and tournament titles en route to a school-record tying 30 victories and its first trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 since 1995. The letterwinners will be joined by redshirt sophomore Devon Hall (Virginia Beach, Va.) and freshmen Jack Salt (Auckland, New Zealand), B.J. Stith (Lawrenceville, Va.) and Isaiah Wilkins (Lilburn, Ga.).

VIRGINIA’S 2014-15 ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

HOME GAMES (9) – Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, NC State, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest

AWAY GAMES (9) – Boston College, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest

VIRGINIA’S 2015-16 ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE OPPONENTS

HOME GAMES (9) – Boston College, Clemson, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame, Syracuse and Virginia Tech

AWAY GAMES (9) – Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest