Former Wahoos Reach Out To Current Team Members

By Jerry Ratcliffe

When the confetti-covered Cavaliers were climbing the ladder to cut down the nets at Barclays Center in Brooklyn last March, the expanded Virginia basketball family was there to celebrate another ACC Tournament championship.

Joe Harris, a former Wahoo and a member of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, led the parade of former UVA players on hand to watch the championship. Several former Cavaliers poured out onto the court to observe their guys enjoying the moment.

As Harris said on “The Jerry Ratcliffe Show,” (archived on this site if you missed it) a few weeks ago, once you’re a Cavalier, you’re always part of the Virginia basketball family.

That fact has certainly been evident throughout the season and now into the postseason as former players, some in the NBA, some not, some players who have even transferred to other schools, have reached out in support of this current Virginia team.

Every college basketball team sports t-shirts emblazoned with “Family,” but at Virginia it really is true.

“That’s one of the special things about this program is how all the former players really just buy into this program and want to give back and come back and hang out with us and mentor us in any way they can,” said present UVA guard Kyle Guy. “That’s a brotherhood that this university and program has, and we’re thankful for that.”

Point guard Ty Jerome said he has stayed in touch with everybody that he’s played with at Virginia, including transfers Marial Shayok and Darius Thompson.

“I speak to Devon (Hall) almost every day. I speak to London (Perrantes) all the time, Isaiah (Wilkins) all the time,” Jerome said. “We have a relationship with all those guys who have left.

“And even the guys we haven’t played with, like Malcolm (Brogdon), Joe (Harris), and Justin (Anderson),” Jerome added. “I spent weekends with them, too. So our alumni base, basically everyone reaching back and wanting to see all of us succeed is great.”

Prior to the NCAA tournament, Brogdon, who plays for the Milwaukee Bucks, texted Jerome and advised not to put too much pressure on himself, but to continue to lead the group, just be himself and trust his work. After the win over Gardner-Webb in the first round, Brogdon followed up.

“Now, go make it through the weekend,” Brogdon texted.

“Just little things like that, where he didn’t have to text me,” Jerome said. “He’s going through his own rehab process right now, and for him to be worried about or be concerned about what we’re doing, shows how selfless he is and shows what a great group of guys have come through here.”

Tony Bennett, of course, has coached all those guys, and said it means everything to him that his former players, NBA or otherwise, are still inspiring his present players.

“It kind of leads back to the question why you want success for the young men that you coach, because I know the kind of young men they’ll become, and I know how they’re going to pour back into the program and what they’re about,” Bennett said. “When you have a healthy alumni base or former players that are helping your current players, or just come back and work out with strength coach, and they keep in touch with us, that’s some of the most rewarding stuff as a coach, I would say. That’s the stuff that’s going to last.”

It’s not unusual to see former players in the crowd at John Paul Jones Arena throughout the season, even players that didn’t play for Bennett, but are part of the Virginia family. Ralph Sampson was in the crowd at Columbia, S.C., last weekend. Wally Walker was at the last home game of the season.

“I see that with my father (former coach Dick Bennett) when guys from whatever teams he had, his high school (and college) players, they’ll still go and visit with him,” Tony Bennett said. “They’ll play a round of golf, or they’ll just go and sit, and my mom will make them their hot fudge sundaes she used to make when my dad would recruit them.

“They’ll sit and tell stories and send me notes and all that,” Tony continued. “That’s the good stuff. That’s the lasting stuff.”

Bennett and his former players are bonded together through experiences, both on and off the court, and that’s the rewarding part of the game for him. Most coaches feel the same, but with Bennett you just know it’s meaningful.

“There’s a lot of things that can be challenging, but those are the memories, and I think a lot of reason why many of the coaches do it and go through the things we go through,” the Virginia coach said. “We’ve got great former players all the way from my first year here up until now.”

Guy said that in his conversation with Wilkins before the tournament that the former ACC Defensive Player of the Year told him to take care of business but to remember to have fun.

“We’re all open ears for that kind of stuff — sometimes we don’t listen to Justin Anderson, but all the other players,” Guy chuckled, taking a playful jab at Anderson, who is known to be a bit of a chatterbox. “I’m just kidding.”

Family members can poke at each other a bit without being offensive. That’s what family is all about. Virginia has a big family.