With legendary Virginia shot-blocker Ralph Sampson sitting courtside, Jay Huff swatted away five Columbia shots, tying his own record at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday.

No. 9 Virginia continues its initial homestand of the season at John Paul Jones Arena Saturday afternoon against Columbia (12 p.m. tipoff, ACC Network).

When Mamadi Diakite announced his decision to return to Virginia for his final year of eligibility last spring, Wahoo Nation let out such a collective sigh of relief that it could have huffed and puffed the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria across the Atlantic.

Virginia men’s head basketball coach Tony Bennett has announced the signings of guards Jabri Abdur-Rahim (Short Hills, N.J./Blair Academy), Reece Beekman (Baton Rouge, La./Scotlandville High School) and Carson McCorkle (Greensboro, N.C./Greensboro Day School) to National Letters of Intent with the Cavaliers.

No. 9 Virginia’s home game against No. 6 North Carolina will be played Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. and broadcast on ACC Network, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced Tuesday (Nov. 12).

For 11th-ranked Virginia, it was just another day at the office. For visiting JMU, it was 40 minutes of hell. Well, at least 20 minutes.

After an impressive 14-point ACC win at Syracuse to start the season Wednesday, No. 11 Virginia returns to Charlottesville for today’s home opener against in-state opponent James Madison (6 p.m., ESPNU).

Virginia fans, and even its coach wondered what this new version of the Cavaliers might be like heading into Wednesday night’s season-opening game at Syracuse.

When the proposal to open up the season with conference games for the first time in ACC history came up, Virginia coach Tony Bennett confessed there was a bit of a “fear factor” that raced through his thoughts.

Virginia got a pair of double-doubles, a solid defensive effort and an overall impressive ACC road win to start the 2019-20 campaign, walking out of the Carrier Dome with a 48-34 win against Syracuse.

Reigning national champion Virginia begins its 2019-20 season with an uncommon ACC road game tonight, as the 11th-ranked Cavaliers travel to Syracuse for a 9 p.m. tip on ACC Network.

No. 11 Virginia opens the 2019-20 season at Syracuse in ACC action on Wednesday. Tipoff at Carrier Dome is scheduled for 9 p.m.

Wahoo Nation held its collective breath last spring after three of its stars all jumped into the NBA draft, only to be followed by teammate Mamadi Diakite.

Only a week from the season-opening game at Syracuse, Tony Bennett addressed a number of topics about his Virginia basketball team, reigning national champions. We will write extensively about all those points throughout the week.

Unbelievable: Virginia’s Improbable Path To A Title will debut on ACC Network on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8 p.m.

Tony Bennett was graciously fielding questions from media at the ACC’s annual Operation Basketball last week in Charlotte.

Virginia fans got a look at the “new Cavaliers” on Saturday during the Blue-White scrimmage and had to like a lot of what they saw.

The Virginia men’s basketball team was selected fourth by a vote of the media in the ACC Operation Basketball 2019-20 Preseason Poll, announced Thursday.

Defending national champion Virginia will have a bit of a different look and feel to the roster with the departures of the “Big Three” of De’Andre Hunter, Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy, along with longtime starting center Jack Salt, all of whom will be playing professionally this fall.

In Octobers past, Tony Bennett would visit the city where he made an NBA team, the place he met his wife, the scene of perhaps his most disappointing moment as a coach, but also somewhere that he dreamed about taking Virginia back to college basketball’s apex.