Mallory: ‘I never wanted to leave Charlottesville’

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Chance Mallory was crushed when Tony Bennett stepped down as Virginia’s basketball coach last October, but his love for the Cavaliers program still carried a pulse.

Mallory, who grew up in the shadows of UVA, had committed to the program, noting that playing for Bennett was a dream come true. The 5-foot-9 playmaker had carved out a reputation as one of the nation’s top point guard prospects in the recruiting class of 2025, posting one eyepopping performance after another at nearby St. Anne’s-Belfield for coach Damin Altizer.

Household name college coaches were regular visitors to the St. Anne’s gym, some flashing some big NIL numbers at the prep superstar. Even though Mallory painfully decommitted from Virginia late last October, not long after Bennett’s decision to leave basketball, the homegrown guard still felt a tug in his heart for UVA.

He reopened his recruiting and waited to see what Virginia might do after the season. New suitors stepped in with a final five of Tennessee, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt and, of course, UVA.

On Saturday, a day after news leaked that Virginia had hired VCU coach Ryan Odom as its new leader, Mallory announced his decision to a gym filled with fans and supporters.

Sitting at a table, surrounded by family, Mallory sent ripples through Wahoo Nation when he revealed his choice (see attached video), pulling off a jacket to show off a Virginia basketball shirt as the crowd went wild. The entire Mallory family did the same, adding to the excitement.

Chance Mallory is staying home.

Chance Mallory is a Wahoo! pic.twitter.com/8zvO6p4lH6

— Jerry Ratcliffe (@JerryRatcliffe) March 22, 2025

“Virginia was always kind of in the back of my heart because coming here was my main choice,” Mallory said after his announcement. “I didn’t want to leave Charlottesville. I really didn’t want to go nowhere.”

Still, his mom, Dorie, said that even she was uncertain as late as yesterday where Chance would choose.

Perhaps the key was Virginia hiring Odom, and the timing was perfect. Mallory had announced some time ago that he would be making his choice on March 22. Odom’s VCU team was in the NCAA field and lost Thursday in Denver, perhaps pushing back UVA’s ability to close the deal. Had VCU kept winning, everything might have gone sideways with Mallory’s decision.

There’s no question that Mallory was hoping Virginia would hire Odom.

As St. Anne’s Altizer said Saturday, “[Odom’s hiring] was huge. I think the stars have aligned. It was kind of God’s timing. This week, I was personally a huge BYU fan on Thursday, just because I’m not sure how things would have shaken out.”

Aligned indeed. Arguably, Saturday was the brightest day in Virginia basketball since the 2019 natty. Odom was officially announced as the coach earlier in the day, capped off with Mallory’s announcement in the afternoon.

“It’s not a new chapter, it’s a new book,” Altizer said. “I’m excited that Chance is going to be there from day one.”

Mallory would not fill a book with words — he is most always taciturn — but rather with deeds. His statistics are jaw-dropping.

He has known Odom and staff for a long time. Altizer noted that VCU was the most active early on in pursuing the St. Anne’s star. Mallory pointed out Saturday that knowing Odom was definitely a factor.

“He’s a great coach. He recruited me, so I have known him and I feel like it was a right fit with me and my playing style,” Mallory said.

Odom likes a faster tempo and a harassing defense, something that definitely works for Mallory’s talents.

“Just the way [Odom] plays, fast-paced with smaller guards, playing defense, shoots a lot of 3’s, stuff like that,” Mallory said. “I feel like he’s coached a lot of short guards at UMBC, so I feel like I could fit in. We really haven’t talked about specifics.”

Odom called Mallory on Friday, and the two met sometime Saturday morning.

“We were just catching up, stuff like that,” Mallory said. “I told him I was coming. He was excited, just like I am. We’re excited to work with each other. I feel like we can help each other out a lot.”

Mallory said he wanted to be part of a rebuild of the Virginia program, to bring back the excitement of 2019.

“I don’t like to lose,” Mallory said. “I know I’ll have to get faster, stronger for college basketball.”

Altizer doesn’t think that will be much of an issue for a kid who is both mentally and physically tough, and not afraid of challenges.

“Chance is a winner,” Altizer said. “He’s played one style here. He’s played one style in AAU and obviously had committed to Coach Bennett with the slower style. I don’t know if I’ve ever been around a kid who values winning as much as he does.”

Altizer has developed several college players during his stint at St. Anne’s, so he has a good measuring stick of talent and heart.

“He’s going to be a winner and he’s going to find ways to impact the game, whether it’s scoring or assists or being a great teammate on the bench, because he’s just that caliber of a kid.”

Playing the waiting game wasn’t easy for Mallory his senior season for the Saints. He was coming off an injury that prevented him from playing summer ball, had an injury that nagged him early on this past season. Some of his teammates experienced season-ending injuries, which placed even more of a burden on Mallory, the senior leader.

He was a marked man from day one of the season, and expectations were through the roof. But he handled it. He would play in a game one day and then drive to Knoxville or elsewhere the next day for a college visit, but none of it detracted from his game or his goals.

“People were obviously constantly bothering him,” Altizer said. “You know, ‘What are you going to do? Have you made any decisions? Do you have any visits set up?’”

Not to mention calls, texts, etc., from college recruiters trying to sway him toward their school.

“So my thing was to Chance, ‘Use the gym as your sanctuary. This has always been where you’ve come, so when we’re in practice and games, love it like you did when you were a little kid, when you first picked up a basketball and you were shooting around in the park,’” Altizer said.

“I think he showed tremendous maturity through the entire season and that’s a testament to him being able to stay present with us every time he was here in the gym.”

Through all that, Mallory still managed to average 25.4 points per game, 6.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists in addition, and finished his career at St. Anne’s with a 56-4 record, which made him the Virginia Private League’s all-time winningest player.

Like Mallory said, “I don’t like to lose.”