Dai Dai’s nastiness is exactly what Virginia needs

By Jerry Ratcliffe

We all saw it during Virginia’s two losses in the Bahamas. The Cavaliers were dominated by more experienced, much more physical and athletic teams, nationally ranked teams from Tennessee and St. John’s.

UVA just doesn’t have an abundance of those qualities on its roster, an element that is holding this team back. Ron Sanchez is hoping that sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames can change that.

Ames is a 6-foot-1 point guard who grew up on the inner-city courts of Chicago. He has swag, he has toughness, he has game. As Sanchez said of Ames, “he has some boogy to his game.”

In Friday’s three-guard lineup that Virginia threw at visiting Holy Cross, Ames stood out with a team-high 16 points (6 of 9 shooting, including 2 of 2 from the arc), an assist and no turnovers in 27 minutes-plus. He’s a three-level scorer who can create shots for himself and for teammates, and loves to play defense (“I get mad at myself if someone scores on me,” Ames said).

“He’s got the inner-city Chicago game to him, which is fun,” Sanchez said of the Kansas State transfer. “You watch him, he does some things that are enjoyable to watch for sure. I’m encouraging him to continue to be that guy … you don’t have to conform to us. You be you, and we’re just going to put you in space to allow you to do that.”

The beauty of the three-guard lineup has added more flow to the offense and fewer turnovers, one of the main objectives upon the team’s return from the Bahamas. Ames, who wasn’t a big scorer as a standout freshman at K-State last year, is finding more freedom to hunt his shot at Virginia.

He was surrounded by more experienced players, more scorers at Kansas State, so that was something he didn’t have to focus on, but don’t let that fool you. Ames can score.

As a 2023 Jordan Brand Classic All-American at Kenwood Academy in Chicago, he averaged 21 points a game and shot 53 percent in leading his team to the No. 1 ranking among Illinois high schools. He once scored 65 points in one game.

As Sanchez said, “Dai Dai, you be you.”

“I’m looking for my shot more (at Virginia),” Ames said Friday. “At Kansas State, I was more in a pass-first role.”

No more. Sanchez likes the aggressiveness, the toughness, the mentality, the nastiness if you will.

“If Dai Dai can syringe some guys with some of that kind of nastiness,” Sanchez said, chuckling before finishing his thoughts. “It’s just in his DNA. I think we have a couple of guys that have more in them, but definitely, if [Ames] could become infectious with the team with that behavior … and I as well as the staff, we’re asking him to be that and asking guys to mimic that. I think it’s a great attribute to who he is as a player and if he can continue to use it wisely, we will definitely benefit from it.”

Ames has always been confident, since watching the game as a youngster, inspired by observing Kyrie Irving on TV, how Irving created shots and used his dribble to reach his spots to get shots.

As a fifth-grader, he played on the eighth-grade team and was always a tough cookie.

“It was tough, you know, playing against the top schools in Chicago,” Ames said. “The crowds be at you and the gyms were real small, so like it would be people standing up, talking to you. So it was real tough.”

Didn’t stop him from getting where he wanted to go, and so when it came time to go to the next level, Ames had plenty of suitors: Notre Dame, Michigan State, Illinois, Oklahoma and Maryland before he chose Kansas State, where he was considered a prize catch.

While he’s a confident scorer, Ames said his favorite part of basketball is defense, where he believes he has done a good job of grasping Virginia’s Pack-Line.

Should he continue to enjoy scoring nights anywhere close to Friday’s output, the Cavaliers will be that much tougher to defend.

Holy Cross coach Dave Paulsen pointed out the scoring and zero turnovers, but added to those thoughts and elaborated on Ames’ game.

“If he can stop behind a ball screen, hit a 3, he seems to be pretty explosive and dynamic getting to the paint and had a couple of floaters,” Paulsen said. “That just puts a lot of pressure on your defense.”

That’s exactly what Virginia needs right now as the Cavaliers brace for another road test against another SEC team, at Florida in the ACC-SEC Challenge next week.

Dai Dai, you be you … the nastier, the better.