Carolina big man Shaver plans to make official visit to Virginia

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Add another big man to Virginia’s growing list of upcoming visitors in former North Carolina center Will Shaver, who plans to make an official visit to Charlottesville in the near future.

The 6-foot-10, 260-pound, Alabama native already has three visits set to Belmont, Liberty and UAB by April 17, so a trip to UVA will likely occur soon afterward. Shaver entered the transfer portal on March 26 and has quickly drawn a lot of attention, including from Florida, Vanderbilt, Clemson, Nebraska, BYU, Colorado, San Francisco and others.

A one-time No. 24 center prospect in the nation according to 247Sports, the 3-star Shaver was also the No. 3 overall prospect in the state of Alabama for the recruiting class of 2021.

Mistakes were made along the way with Shaver enrolling early at Carolina when the Tar Heels were about to make their run to the national title game two seasons ago. Both of Shaver’s roommates, both teammates, transferred out and he was in a four-bedroom apartment alone.

Redshirted and somewhat forgotten, Shaver missed almost the entire campaign this past season when he broke a bone in his left foot during a Dec. 20 practice, requiring surgery in early January. Up until then, he had only played in three games.

He was a player that was supposed to provide depth for Carolina in the frontcourt. Shaver can rebound, score around the basket, set screens then roll to the bucket. He can also shoot from the 3-point line.

Originally, Shaver signed with UNC — he was Hubert Davis’ first commit — choosing the Heels over Kansas, Purdue, Wake Forest, Iowa and Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, Robert Jennings, a 6-7, 225-pound forward from Texas Tech, announced he will officially visit UVA on April 14-16. He is also considering Maryland, Saint Louis, Utah and Texas Tech now that the Red Raiders have made a coaching change, hiring former North Texas coach Grant McCasland.

Jennings, who has three years of eligibility remaining, was originally recruited by Virginia in the class of 2022, where he was the No. 52 power forward in the country and the No. 17 overall prospect in the state of Texas. He played in 30 games with the Red Raiders last season, starting four.

Also, another power forward, 6-8 Jordan Minor of Merrimack, is officially visiting Virginia today (Wednesday) and Thursday. The 240-pound forward is a grad transfer, who also has visits planned at Florida Gulf Coast, Iowa and Seton Hall.

Minor averaged 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game last season when he was the NEC Player of Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

Michigan’s Hunter Dickinson, the No. 1-ranked player in the transfer portal, scheduled a zoom meeting with Kentucky’s basketball program Wednesday.