Jespy Says Goodbye

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia men’s basketball head coach Tony Bennett announced Monday (April 15) that sophomore guard Paul Jesperson (Merrill, Wis.) is leaving the Cavaliers’ program.

“Paul has decided to leave the Virginia basketball program and transfer to another school,” Bennett said. “We’d like to thank him for the past two seasons and wish him well in the future.”

The 6-6 Jesperson averaged 3.5 points and 1.7 rebounds in 56 career games at Virginia. He started 33 of 35 games in 2012-13, averaging 4.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Jesperson tallied a career-high 12 points in Virginia’s 80-69 win at Maryland on Feb. 10.

“I would really like to thank my coaches, teammates and all of my supporters for the opportunity I had at UVa,” Jesperson said. “They made my time here unforgettable and I’m extremely grateful for that. I wish them the best and I’m looking forward to continuing my college career at my new school.”

Jespy earned solid playing time (25.7 minutes per game) this past season, but the writing was on the wall that he was soon going to see more time on the bench in favor of Brogdon and the two freshmen point guards.  So, in light of an obviously shrinking role, he opted to cut and run.  I don't begrudge him that at all.  In fact, I'm gracious for what he did give us in two seasons of work, and I'm glad he's opening up this scholarship for us to pursue a big man as part of the 2014 class.

I really have two main highlights from Jesperson's time at UVA:

1) His lockdown defensive effort on Scott Wood when we beat NC State in the JPJ this season.

2) His 4-for-4 performance from 3 in our road win over Maryland.  (In fact, did you know that Jespy hit at least one triple in each of our last 12 games prior to the NIT?  He wasn't a good shooter in terms of how the shot looked or how big of an impact he made from a points-per-game perspective, but he dialed up a .370 clip from deep this season.  That's not horrible.  His 4.7 points per game in almost 26 minutes of playing time was pretty horrible.)

Anyway, I wish Paul Jesperson the best of luck in his continued adventures.

Now... what to do with this spare scholarship that just opened up?  

2014 big man recruit, Paschal Chukwu.  He's 7-foot-2.