2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented the University of Virginia during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Tony Bennett in his tenth year, and played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball
NCAA Tournament National Champions ACC regular season co-champions Battle 4 Atlantis champions
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 2
2018–19 record	35–3 (16–2 ACC)
Head coach	Tony Bennett (10th season)
Associate head coach	Jason Williford (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Brad Soderberg (3rd season) Orlando Vandross (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Blocker-Mover[1]
Base defense	Pack-Line
Captains	Jack Salt Kyle Guy Ty Jerome
Home arena	John Paul Jones Arena

2018–19 ACC men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 2 Virginia	16	–	2		.889			35	–	3		.921
No. 3 North Carolina	16	–	2		.889			29	–	7		.806
No. 1 Duke †	14	–	4		.778			32	–	6		.842
No. 10 Florida State	13	–	5		.722			29	–	8		.784
No. 16 Virginia Tech	12	–	6		.667			26	–	9		.743
Syracuse	10	–	8		.556			20	–	14		.588
Louisville	10	–	8		.556			20	–	14		.588
NC State	9	–	9		.500			24	–	12		.667
Clemson	9	–	9		.500			20	–	14		.588
Georgia Tech	6	–	12		.333			14	–	18		.438
Boston College	5	–	13		.278			14	–	17		.452
Miami (FL)	5	–	13		.278			14	–	18		.438
Wake Forest	4	–	14		.222			11	–	20		.355
Pittsburgh	3	–	15		.167			14	–	19		.424
Notre Dame	3	–	15		.167			14	–	19		.424
† 2019 ACC Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

UVA opened the season with consecutive wins over ranked Big Ten teams, No. 25 Wisconsin (Battle 4 Atlantis) and No. 24 Maryland (ACC–Big Ten Challenge), the latter of which improved Bennett's record in the Challenge to 8–2. An unheralded two-star recruit, 5'9" Kihei Clark from Los Angeles, California, started both games as a true freshman. The team then started the season 16–0 before falling to No. 1 Duke, 72–70.[2] The game was just the fourth in college basketball history between two teams both ranked No. 1, as the No. 4 Cavaliers were voted atop the Coaches Poll before the loss.[2] After a 16–2 ACC record, Virginia won a share of their fourth ACC regular season title in the past six years.[3]

In the ACC tournament, the Cavaliers defeated NC State 76–56, before falling to Florida State in the conference semifinals. Virginia was then awarded the No. 1 seed in the South region and dispatched Gardner-Webb and Oklahoma by healthy margins in the first two rounds in Columbia, South Carolina. They advanced to a Sweet 16 matchup with Oregon and beat Oregon 53–49 to advance to their 2nd Elite 8 under Bennett. In the Elite Eight, they beat Purdue 80–75 in overtime to secure a trip to their first Final Four since 1984. On April 6, 2019, they defeated Auburn in their Final Four matchup by a score of 63–62 on 3 last-second free throws by Kyle Guy, cementing the program's first ever trip to the national championship game.[4] On April 8, 2019, Virginia beat Texas Tech 85–77 in overtime, winning its first national championship.

Previous season

The Cavaliers finished the 2017–18 season 31–3, and 17–1 in ACC play to win both ACC Regular Season and tournament titles. The Cavaliers received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the South region, where they were upset by No. 16 UMBC in the First Round. This was the first time in NCAA tournament history that a No. 1 seed was upset by a No. 16 seed.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Devon Hall	0	G	6'5"	211	RS Senior	Virginia Beach, VA	Graduated/2018 NBA draft
Justice Bartley	2	G	6'5"	212	Junior	Lilburn, GA	Transferred to Maryland Eastern Shore
Trevon Gross Jr.	10	G	6'3"	200	Junior	Jackson, NJ	Transferred to Monmouth University
Isaiah Wilkins	21	F	6'7"	227	Senior	Atlanta, GA	Graduated
Nigel Johnson	23	G	6'1"	182	RS Senior	Ashburn, VA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Braxton Key	2	F	6'8"	225	Junior	Decatur, GA	Alabama

2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Kody Stattmann SG	Cairns, Queensland, Australia	St. Augustine's College	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	N/A	Aug 28, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Kihei Clark PG	Woodland Hills, CA	Taft High School	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	N/A	Oct 2, 2017
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 75
Francisco Caffaro C	El Trébol, Argentina	NBA Global Academy	7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)	N/A	May 1, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Virginia 2018 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "2018 Virginia Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "2018 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "Virginia 2018 Basketball Commitments". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.

2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2019 recruits
Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Casey Morsell #11 SG	Washington, D.C.	Saint John's College High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Apr 6, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 85
Kadin Shedrick PF	Holly Springs, NC	Holly Springs High School	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	200 lb (91 kg)	Aug 20, 2018
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Justin McKoy SF	Cary, NC	Panther Creek High School	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	225 lb (102 kg)	Apr 15, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN: N/A   ESPN grade: NR
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Virginia 2019 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "2019 Virginia Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "2019 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018. "Virginia 2019 Basketball Commitments". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 24, 2018.

Roster

2018–19 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Kihei Clark 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) 155 lb (70 kg) Fr Taft Charter HS Woodland Hills, California F 1 Francesco Badocchi 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Fr Bishop Miege HS Milan, Italy F 2 Braxton Key 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Oak Hill Academy/Alabama Decatur, Georgia G 5 Kyle Guy 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Lawrence Central HS Indianapolis, Indiana G 10 Jayden Nixon (W) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Choate Rosemary Hall Charlottesville, Virginia G 11 Ty Jerome 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Iona Preparatory School New Rochelle, New York F 12 De'Andre Hunter 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 222 lb (101 kg) RS So Friends' Central School Philadelphia, Pennsylvania G 13 Grant Kersey (W) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 160 lb (73 kg) Jr Albemarle HS Charlottesville, Virginia C 22 Francisco Caffaro  7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 233 lb (106 kg) Fr NBA Global Academy El Trébol Santa Fe, Argentina G 23 Kody Stattmann 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 178 lb (81 kg) Fr St. Augustine's College Bentley Park, Australia G 24 Marco Anthony 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 228 lb (103 kg) So Holmes HS San Antonio, Texas F 25 Mamadi Diakite 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) RS Jr Blue Ridge School Conakry, Guinea F 30 Jay Huff 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) RS So Voyager Academy Durham, North Carolina C 33 Jack Salt (C) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 250 lb (113 kg) RS Sr Westlake Boys HS Auckland, New Zealand F 45 Austin Katstra (W) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 214 lb (97 kg) So Albemarle HS Charlottesville, Virginia	Head coach Tony Bennett (Green Bay) Assistant coach(es) Jason Williford (Virginia) Brad Soderberg (UW–Stevens Point) Orlando Vandross (American International) Strength and conditioning coach(es) Mike Curtis (Virginia) Athletic trainer(s) Ethan Saliba (Kansas) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench
C	Jack Salt	Jay Huff
PF	Mamadi Diakite
SF	De'Andre Hunter	Braxton Key
SG	Kyle Guy
PG	Ty Jerome	Kihei Clark

Schedule and results

Source:[5]

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 6, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra	No. 5	Towson	W 73–42	1–0	20 – Jerome	10 – Hunter	6 – Clark	John Paul Jones Arena (13,807) Charlottesville, VA
November 11, 2018* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra	No. 5	George Washington	W 76–57	2–0	20 – Tied	6 – Jerome	7 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (13,574) Charlottesville, VA
November 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra	No. 4	Coppin State Battle 4 Atlantis campus-site game	W 97–40	3–0	20 – Hunter	7 – Key	6 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (13,971) Charlottesville, VA
November 21, 2018* 9:30 pm, ESPN2	No. 4	vs. Middle Tennessee Battle 4 Atlantis Quarterfinals	W 74–52	4–0	15 – Tied	8 – Hunter	9 – Hunter	Imperial Arena (1,115) Nassau, Bahamas
November 22, 2018* 4:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	vs. Dayton Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals	W 66–59	5–0	23 – Hunter	6 – Tied	2 – Tied	Imperial Arena (2,258) Nassau, Bahamas
November 23, 2018* 2:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	vs. No. 25 Wisconsin Battle 4 Atlantis Final	W 53–46	6–0	20 – Hunter	9 – Hunter	5 – Jerome	Imperial Arena (2,249) Nassau, Bahamas
November 28, 2018* 7:30 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at No. 24 Maryland ACC–Big Ten Challenge	W 76–71	7–0	18 – Guy	7 – Salt	4 – Hunter	Xfinity Center (17,950) College Park, MD
December 3, 2018* 7:00 pm, ACCN Extra	No. 4	Morgan State	W 83–45	8–0	15 – Tied	9 – Key	5 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (13,397) Charlottesville, VA
December 9, 2018* 1:30 pm, ACCRSN	No. 4	VCU	W 57–49	9–0	15 – Guy	8 – Jerome	4 – Key	John Paul Jones Arena (13,648) Charlottesville, VA
December 19, 2018* 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 5	at South Carolina	W 69–52	10–0	25 – Jerome	9 – Salt	7 – Jerome	Colonial Life Arena (12,291) Columbia, SC
December 22, 2018* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra	No. 5	William & Mary	W 72–40	11–0	18 – Hunter	10 – Jerome	4 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) Charlottesville, VA
December 31, 2018* 1:00 pm, ACCRSN	No. 4	Marshall	W 100–64	12–0	30 – Guy	8 – Tied	4 – Tied	John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) Charlottesville, VA
ACC Regular Season
January 5, 2019 3:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 4	No. 9 Florida State	W 65–52	13–0 (1–0)	21 – Guy	6 – Tied	6 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) Charlottesville, VA
January 9, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 4	at Boston College	W 83–56	14–0 (2–0)	18 – Tied	9 – Key	5 – Guy	Conte Forum (5,738) Chestnut Hill, MA
January 12, 2019 12:00 pm, Raycom	No. 4	at Clemson	W 63–43	15–0 (3–0)	13 – Guy	8 – Tied	5 – Jerome	Littlejohn Coliseum (9,242) Clemson, SC
January 15, 2019 8:00 pm, Raycom	No. 4	No. 9 Virginia Tech Commonwealth Clash	W 81–59	16–0 (4–0)	21 – Hunter	5 – Tied	12 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) Charlottesville, VA
January 19, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at No. 1 Duke ESPN College GameDay	L 70–72	16–1 (4–1)	18 – Hunter	6 – Tied	4 – Jerome	Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC
January 22, 2019 9:00 pm, ACCRSN	No. 3	Wake Forest	W 68–45	17–1 (5–1)	12 – Tied	8 – Salt	5 – Tied	John Paul Jones Arena (14,273) Charlottesville, VA
January 26, 2019 1:00 pm, CBS	No. 3	at Notre Dame	W 82–55	18–1 (6–1)	19 – Hunter	9 – Jerome	6 – Jerome	Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN
January 29, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 3	at No. 23 NC State	W 66–65 ^OT	19–1 (7–1)	15 – Hunter	8 – Key	6 – Jerome	PNC Arena (18,211) Raleigh, NC
February 2, 2019 2:00 pm, Raycom	No. 3	Miami (FL)	W 56–46	20–1 (8–1)	14 – Hunter	9 – Salt	6 – Clark	John Paul Jones Arena (13,978) Charlottesville, VA
February 9, 2019 6:00 pm, ESPN	No. 3	No. 2 Duke ESPN College GameDay	L 71–81	20–2 (8–2)	16 – Tied	10 – Key	4 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (14,629) Charlottesville, VA
February 11, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at No. 8 North Carolina Rivalry	W 69–61	21–2 (9–2)	20 – Tied	6 – Key	11 – Jerome	Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, NC
February 16, 2019 2:00 pm, Raycom	No. 4	Notre Dame	W 60–54	22–2 (10–2)	22 – Guy	10 – Hunter	3 – Tied	John Paul Jones Arena (13,448) Charlottesville, VA
February 18, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 3	at No. 20 Virginia Tech Rivalry	W 64–58	23–2 (11–2)	23 – Guy	7 – Guy	6 – Jerome	Cassell Coliseum (9,275) Blacksburg, VA
February 23, 2019 12:00 pm, Raycom	No. 3	at No. 18 Louisville	W 64–52	24–2 (12–2)	26 – Hunter	8 – Guy	5 – Jerome	KFC Yum! Center (17,529) Louisville, KY
February 27, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 2	Georgia Tech	W 81–51	25–2 (13–2)	19 – Jerome	8 – Diakite	6 – Clark	John Paul Jones Arena (14,094) Charlottesville, VA
March 2, 2019 2:00 pm, Raycom	No. 2	Pittsburgh	W 73–49	26–2 (14–2)	17 – Guy	6 – Huff	5 – Hunter	John Paul Jones Arena (13,452) Charlottesville, VA
March 4, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	at Syracuse	W 79–53	27–2 (15–2)	25 – Guy	7 – Guy	14 – Jerome	Carrier Dome (29,052) Syracuse, NY
March 9, 2019 4:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	Louisville	W 73–68	28–2 (16–2)	24 – Jerome	6 – Guy	6 – Jerome	John Paul Jones Arena (14,629) Charlottesville, VA
ACC Tournament
March 14, 2019 12:30 pm, ESPN/Raycom	(1) No. 2	vs. (8) NC State Quarterfinals	W 76–56	29–2	29 – Guy	7 – Key	10 – Jerome	Spectrum Center (19,691) Charlotte, NC
March 15, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN/Raycom	(1) No. 2	vs. (4) No. 12 Florida State Semifinals	L 59–69	29–3	13 – Hunter	5 – Salt	4 – Guy	Spectrum Center (20,116) Charlotte, NC
NCAA Tournament
March 22, 2019* 3:10 pm, TruTV	(1 S) No. 2	vs. (16 S) Gardner–Webb First Round	W 71–56	30–3	23 – Hunter	9 – Diakite	6 – Jerome	Colonial Life Arena (15,417) Columbia, SC
March 24, 2019* 7:45 pm, TruTV	(1 S) No. 2	vs. (9 S) Oklahoma Second Round	W 63–51	31–3	14 – Diakite	9 – Tied	3 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena (16,332) Columbia, SC
March 28, 2019* 9:59 pm, TBS	(1 S) No. 2	vs. (12 S) Oregon Sweet Sixteen	W 53–49	32–3	13 – Jerome	11 – Diakite	6 – Jerome	KFC Yum! Center (19,831) Louisville, KY
March 30, 2019* 8:49 pm, TBS	(1 S) No. 2	vs. (3 S) No. 13 Purdue Elite Eight	W 80–75 ^OT	33–3	25 – Guy	10 – Guy	7 – Jerome	KFC Yum! Center (21,623) Louisville, KY
April 6, 2019* 6:09 pm, CBS	(1 S) No. 2	vs. (5 MW) No. 14 Auburn Final Four	W 63–62	34–3	21 – Jerome	9 – Jerome	6 – Jerome	U.S. Bank Stadium (72,711) Minneapolis, MN
April 8, 2019* 9:20 pm, CBS	(1 S) No. 2	vs. (3 W) No. 9 Texas Tech National Championship	W 85–77 ^OT	35–3	27 – Hunter	10 – Key	8 – Jerome	U.S. Bank Stadium (72,062) Minneapolis, MN
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South, MW=Midwest, W=West. All times are in Eastern Time.

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	5 (2)	4 (2)	4 (2)	4 (1)	4 (1)	6 (1)	5 (1)	4 (4)	4 (4)	4 (5)	4 (6)	3 (3)	3 (4)	3 (4)	4	3	2 (15)	2 (21)	2 (23)	2 (5)	Not released
Coaches	5 (1)	5^ (1)	4	4	4	3 (1)	3	1 (10)	2 (11)	1 (11)	1 (13)	3	3	3	4	3	3	2–T (2)	2 (5)	2 (1)	1 (32)

*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings
^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll.

References

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNIXs2DJxF4
2. RJ Barrett leads No. 1 Duke past No. 4 Virginia 72–70, accessed January 19, 2019
3. Wang, Gene (9 March 2019). "Virginia basketball clinches ACC title share, but honoring Jack Salt was 'more important'". The Washington Post. Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
4. https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2019-04-06/virginia-auburn-score-kyle-guy-free-throws-send-cavaliers
5. "2018-19 Men's Basketball Schedule". virginiasports.com. University of Virginia. Retrieved February 28, 2019.

Notes