Virginia will play at Vanderbilt in exhibition game

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s basketball team will get two early-season tests with the addition of an exhibition game at Vanderbilt on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Nashville.

The Cavaliers previously announced they will host Villanova in an exhibition at John Paul Jones Arena on Friday, Oct. 24, scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

Vanderbilt is coached by former JMU coach Mark Byington, who took over the SEC program last season and led the Commodores to a 20-13 record, 8-10 in the league. It was the first time Vandy had qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 2017.

Byington previously led JMU for four seasons, and once served as a UVA assistant coach on Pete Gillen’s staff in 2004-05.

The NCAA changed its policy in allowing schools to host up to two exhibition games against other Division I teams. Prior to this season, public exhibitions were restricted to playing non-Division I opponents without a waiver. Those waivers were granted under the conditions that proceeds were donated to charity.

This exhibition will be held at Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gym with starting time and ticket information to be announced later.