Our look at Virginia’s Blue-White scrimmages from Saturday

By Jerry Ratcliffe

One of the most important things I learned from hanging around some of the best recruiters in the business during my career was to not make quick judgments from watching a team just one time. Most likely, a team isn’t as good as it looks or as bad as it looks in just one game.

I kept that in mind from taking in Virginia’s Blue-White scrimmage at John Paul Jones on Saturday. It was only a 30-minute scrimmage with players switching, so we’ll reserve judgment until further review.

Instead, it was interesting what Tony Bennett told the crowd at the end of the event. Bennett said some things were a little loose that he said will be tightened up.

“We’ve got some work to do,” Bennett said. “This is a team that as the season progresses, will get better and better.”

What I believe will be a strength for this team as the season progresses wasn’t evident in Saturday’s scrimmage — perimeter shooting. The combined teams were off target the entire session, going 4 of 25 from behind the arc (newcomers Jacob Groves, Elijah Gertrude, and returners Leon Bond and Ryan Dunn made the four).

Shockingly, the four players that Bennett hand selected for a 3-point shooting contest as an appetizer to the scrimmage — Isaac McKneely, Reece Beekman, Groves and Taine Murray — were a combined 1 of 13 from beyond the arc during the Blue-White session. Maybe they shot themselves out in the contest, which was unsurprisingly won by McKneely.

One thing was evident in the scrimmage, though, and that was the presence of Beekman, who tested the NBA waters after last season but elected to return for his final year.

UVA associate head coach Jason Williford told us on “The Jerry & Jerry Show” last Tuesday that he had noticed some changes in Beekman since practice started, that the senior guard has taken more of a leadership role and was displaying more confidence after performing well at the NBA Combine.

Beekman, the returning ACC Defensive Player of the Year, seemed comfortable running the team and scored 11 points on a 5-of-9 shooting performance (0 for 2 from downtown) in 30 minutes. Obviously, he will get more touches this season and appears excited for the challenge of producing more and leading this team, which consists of a lot of new pieces.

Here is a scoring breakdown of the scrimmage:
Leon Bond 13
Reece Beekman 11
Ryan Dunn 9
Jordan Minor 8
Jake Groves 7
Dante Harris 6
Anthony Robinson 5
Andrew Rohde 4
Blake Buchanan 4
Elijah Gertrude 3
Christian Bliss 2
Isaac McKneely 2
Taine Murray 0
Tristan How 0
Desmond Roberts 0

Dunn also provided some strong play in the scrimmage (3 of 9 shooting, 1 of 4 from 3-point range), but appeared more comfortable in what will be an expanded role from his freshman season when he showed flashes of brilliance. Already compared to De’Andre Hunter, and already being projected as an NBA Draft candidate after this season, Dunn has clearly improved his ball-handling abilities, which will not only make him more dangerous this season, but will make his teammates better. He had five assists in the scrimmage, the most by any Cavalier.

We had heard raves about Bond coming out of practice sessions last season when he was redshirted, and now we know why. He looked impressive during the scrimmage, leading all scorers with 13 points (mostly on mid-range jump shots a la Jayden Gardner), plus knocking down a 3. Bond, who plays bigger than his 6-5 frame, played two quarters at the four and looked good.

Groves and Rohde, who both should add depth and perimeter shooting strength as the season progresses, were off target Saturday. Groves, who played last season at Oklahoma, was 2 of 7 on the day and 1 of 4 from behind the arc, while Rohde was 2 of 11 overall. Both will be better.

Minor, who was 3 of 6 from the field, played decent defense and was fairly mobile, and will likely take Gardner’s spot down low, although may not possess Gardner’s shooting touch.

Harris, who transferred in from Georgetown, will be a contributor on both ends of the floor. Williford told us that Harris may be a better on-ball defender than Kihei Clark, and he showed glimpses of that Saturday, twice stealing the ball from Beekman, who rarely allows that to happen. Harris was 2 of 9 shooting.

While Virginia’s shooting was off Saturday, it is expected the Cavaliers will become a much more lethal team, particularly from the perimeter.

At this point, it appears that the starting lineup will be Beekman, McKneely, Dunn, Bond and Minor, with several options coming off the bench.

In the women’s scrimmage, it was apparent the Cavaliers were missing two of their top three scorers from last season in Sam Brunelle (grad student) and Mir McLean (senior), both recovering from injuries. When they return, UVA’s frontcourt could be intimidating along with fifth-year Camryn Taylor, the returning leading scorer from last season. Taylor scored 12 points in Saturday’s session.

Speaking of injuries, one of UVA’s star freshmen, Louisa’s 4-star Olivia McGhee, was injured early in the scrimmage and left the arena on crutches.

The Cavaliers’ other star recruit, 5-star Kymora Johnson of St. Anne’s-Belfield, was as advertised. The McDonald’s All-American was comfortable running things from the point and pitched in 10 points in the game, won by her Blue team, 34-24.

Cady Pauley, the sophomore scoring sensation from Missouri, also scored 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Both the men’s and women’s teams begin play next month.