Odom excited about Virginia’s loaded frontcourt

By Jerry Ratcliffe

There was a twinkle in Ryan Odom’s eyes this week when he described Virginia’s big men in what could be one of the ACC’s most dominating frontcourts.

Seven-footer Ugonna Onyenso, a physical, 247-pound center from Nigeria, played at Kansas State and Kentucky.

Seven-footer Johann Grunloh, from Loningen, Germany, has been carefully watched by NBA scouts since he was 17 years old in 2023.

Thijs De Ridder is a 6-8 Belgian who has signed but hasn’t arrived, awaiting NCAA clearance on how many years of eligibility the 22-year-old will be granted.

How could Odom be anything but excited? Consider that both Grunloh and De Ridder were both projected as NBA second-round draft choices. How many ACC frontcourts can stake that claim?

They both played in European hoops, De Ridder at a higher level, but both of them have played against grown-ass men for the past couple of years, facing former NBA players and former college stars who had found their way across the pond.

There’s also 6-8 redshirt freshman Martin Carrere of France and 6-8 incoming freshman Silas Barksdale from Hampton, along with 6-9 redshirt sophomore Carter Lang.

Those three will be battling for clean-up minutes early on, while the other three could present a nightmare for opponents. When was the last time Virginia featured that kind of physical presence on the floor? Plus, these guys can shoot.

“I’m really excited about our frontcourt,” Odom said. “It doesn’t necessarily look like it right now because they’re not all out there practicing with us, so we’re not going to have the benefit of having an entire summer with the entire roster, and that’s OK. These guys are experienced players and have played at a high level, and will be able to pick things up really quickly.”

Grunloh didn’t show up until Wednesday and De Ridder still hasn’t arrived. Carrere was a late arrival as well.

Still, Odom was eager to talk about the Cavalier big men.

“Grunloh has tremendous size. He’s over 6-11 and has the ability to stretch behind the arc,” Odom said.

The coach was excited about the possibilities because it has been three years since he’s had a center who could shoot 3-pointers, dating back to a good-passing Utah State team that was challenging to guard.

“Certainly [Grunloh] is going to provide shooting, shot-blocking, interior presence, passing, just a level of skill that’s needed at the highest level,” Odom said.

Then there’s Onyenso, who is being called Ugo (short for Ugonna).

“He’s a shot-blocker,” Odom said. “There’s more to his game than that. After having watched him so far, he’s a much better shooter than I even knew. So we’ve been toying with that a little bit. Ultimately his way to impact games is going to be his presence inside.”

De Ridder wasn’t on the practice floor, but everyone is anticipating his arrival, whether it be during the summer session or in the fall.

“He’s a really, really tough player, an all-court player,” Odom said of De Ridder. “He’s a guy that has played a lot of basketball and will be up for the challenge against the competition he’s going to face.”

Two of Virginia’s other players who have been practicing have been impressed with the big men, and can’t wait for the season to come around.

Devin Tillis, a 6-7 grad student from UC Irvine, spent some time with De Ridder when the Belgian made his official visit to UVA a few weeks ago.

“He’s a great dude, super funny, charismatic,” Tillis said. “Everybody here is going to love him. As a basketball player, he’s done it at a high level overseas. He’s a great baller, he can score it at all three levels and he’s gonna be a great defender. He has the physicality and the tools to be an NBA player … obviously, he was on NBA Draft boards.”

Dallin Hall, the 6-4 grad student from BYU who projects as the starting point guard, said he didn’t get to see De Ridder work out or play, but did watch his highlight film and was more than impressed.

“I think he’s going to fit our style of play,” Hall said. “Just as a person, I have a lot of respect for him and how he carries himself and how he treats those around him.”

For a point guard, what a luxury it will be to have De Ridder and Grunloh on the floor at the same time. Talk about an opportunity to make defenses pay if they come out to defend Virginia’s guards. Hall is frothing at the mouth anticipating tons of alley-oop opportunities.

“[Grunloh’s] height alone is obviously exciting, but also Johann’s ability to protect the rim is going to be huge for us defensively,” Hall said. “He’s a super smart offensive player. And then, Thijs, he can really shoot it. He can do a lot of things, like a Swiss Army knife. I was joking about him coming for my point guard spot.”

Odom & Co. have pulled a major coup in luring both Grunloh and De Ridder to Charlottesville.

According to the International Basketball Recruits dashboard, ranking the top 25 international prospects, De Ridder is ranked No. 5 and Grunloh No. 6.

Does it get any better than that?

There were seasons when Wahoo fans would have killed to have two big men of that quality to go along with skilled backcourts.

Ed Borderman of The Netherlands, who evaluates hoops talent on the other side of the Atlantic, wrote this about De Ridder: “No. 1 senior-Euroballer will be preseason All-ACC if he is heading to Charlottesville.”

That prediction was before De Ridder signed with Virginia.

Borderman also wrote: “De Ridder maakte dit seizoen furore bij Bilbao en dat is dus niet onopgemerkt geblrven. De Ridder genoot onder meer van interesse uit Parijs, waar hij de stap naar de EuroLeague zou kunnen maken.”

Now, my Dutch ain’t what it used to be, but I think Borderman means De Ridder is a bad ass.

Grunloh would fit that description as well. Just imaging a 7-footer, 220-pounds, who can drill the 3 and protect the rim, kind of like Jay Huff used to do his final season with Virginia, only this kid is 19. We’re told he’s also extremely dangerous on pick-and-rolls in terms of finding the open man because he’s a really good passer and decision maker.

No wonder there was a twinkle in Odom’s eyes. It’s going to rain twinkles come November.