BREAKING: STAB’s Mallory commits to Virginia

By Scott Ratcliffe

Just days after taking his official visit to the University of Virginia, Charlottesville’s own Chance Mallory announced Friday that he will be attending his hometown college.

Mallory, a 5-foot-9, 170-pound point guard, was born in Charlottesville and starred at St. Anne’s-Belfield School right down the road, and UVA head coach Tony Bennett has been hot on the local talent’s trail for quite some time. The Cavaliers extended an offer to Mallory last summer and have remained in close contact ever since.

Mallory, listed as a 4-star prospect by every major recruiting service, is rated the No. 52 overall player in the 2025 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He’s rated as the eighth-best ‘25 point guard in the nation and the second-best player in the state.

After trimming his list to six — UVA, Virginia Tech, Miami, Clemson, Tennessee and Villanova — in June, Mallory had originally planned to visit a few more finalists and announce his decision around Halloween, on his father Joe’s birthday.

However, the STAB senior surprised everyone and chose to fast-track his choice and focus on his final year of high school.

Mallory held offers from 17 schools, including VCU, Butler, Maryland, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, UCF, Seton Hall, Liberty and Radford. He suffered an unfortunate injury and wasn’t able to showcase his skills this past summer, but had made his impression on college coaches the year before, enough to steadily climb up the class rankings.

As a junior with the Saints last season, Mallory averaged 26 points (sank 85 triples) to go along with 4.8 assists, 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 steals per contest, producing 10 double-doubles alongside Austin Williford, the son of UVA Associate HC and former Wahoo standout Jason Williford.

Mallory led St. Anne’s to a 26-4 record and a trip to the VISAA Division I state championship appearance, where the Saints fell against powerhouse Paul VI for a second-straight season. In 2022-23, Mallory helped the team to a school-record, 27-win campaign.

“He’s a hometown kid who grew up going to Coach Bennett’s camps and going to every local camp in town, and for UVA to offer was really special for everybody,” said STAB coach (and another former Cavalier) Damin Altizer last summer. “So that was a little bit extra special because it was the team he grew up watching.”

In one game against Collegiate, he exploded for 40 points and 22 rebounds, and had another three-game stretch where he racked up 103 points (23, 44 and 36, respectively).

Mallory, already the all-time leading scorer in STAB history with a full season remaining, made his splash on the national scene playing for Team Thrill on the UAA circuit, catching the attention of NCAA recruiters with his savvy ball-handling skills and elite shooting ability. He’s always been the smallest guy on the floor, but Altizer advises to not let his size fool you.

“Obviously, everybody talks about his height at 5-9, 5-10,” Altizer said. “For him to be able to have proven just how talented he is, and he can impact [major college teams], it’s pretty surreal.”

Altizer pointed out that Mallory not only made the Saints’ varsity roster as a 5-1 eighth-grader, but ended up starting by the end of the season.

“After that season, we were like, well, unless something happens and he gets injured, he’s going to start every game from here on out — you just knew,” the coach explained with a grin. “He’s been a captain since he was a freshman and he’s that kid. It’s earned, and the kids vote on it, and even when he was a freshman, he was the one that guys were looking to, and then the skill and the numbers, they all speak for themselves.”

Altizer couldn’t help but smile when asked about Mallory’s then-career-high in rebounding during his sophomore year.

“He was fresh off… the day before, he’d had a triple-double and we were like, how can he top that?,” explained Altizer. “Next day, he turns around and has 30 [points] and 16 [boards], and we’re like, ‘Well, that’s how you top it.’”