UVA’s top point-guard target, Christian Bliss, set to visit next week

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia’s top point-guard target from the 2024 recruiting class will be visiting Charlottesville next week and should get a strong look at Tony Bennett’s program.

Christian Bliss, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound 4-star from George School in Pennsylvania, narrowed his list of schools to only four earlier this month, and is scheduled to make official visits to two of them next week: UVA and Xavier. His other two schools are Miami and Villanova.

Bliss was all-state Pennsylvania as a junior and the Non-PIAA Player of the Year. He averaged 20 points, 5.2 assists and shot 56 percent from the field, 43 percent from the 3-point line last season when he broke the school’s single-season scoring record, posting 39 points, and the single-season scoring record of 578 points.

During his spring EYBL circuit play, Bliss averaged 9.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game for the PSL Cardinals.

He is ranked the No. 11 point guard in the nation and the No. 72 overall prospect in the country by On3.com.

Formerly from Archbishop Malloy in New York City, Bliss has been on the radar of college coaches since his 8th-grade year, when St. John’s specifically sent an assistant coach to watch him play. He started for Malloy as a freshman. At George School, Bliss plays for Coach Ben Luber, a former Penn State player.

Bliss officially visited Villanova in April and has had an unofficial visit to Virginia, the weekend when the Cavaliers beat Duke.

Bliss told Joe Tipton, of On3, this about UVA: “I have a great relationship with the coaches. Coach Tony Bennett played in the NBA himself as a point guard so he’s someone I could learn a lot from. Just the way they develop guards like myself is something I really like about them a lot.”