What Remains for Virginia? Following Ryan Dunn’s NBA Draft Departure?
Although it has been anticipated for a few weeks, Ryan Dunn’s 2024 NBA Draft declaration is now official. The only noteworthy thing about the news, which the 6’8″ sophomore forward announced on Tuesday morning, was that he did not indicate that he is keeping his college eligibility. Instead, he told ESPN that he is “ready for the next level” and that he is “all-in” on the NBA, effectively ending his time at Virginia.
The goal of this post isn’t to argue for or against Dunn’s decision; in my opinion, Dunn made the right choice to declare at this time because it is extremely unlikely that his draft stock would have improved with one more year at UVA. Rather, we’re here to examine the implications of Dunn’s NBA departure for Virginia’s offseason personnel decisions and their anticipated roster for the upcoming campaign.
The Cavaliers now have three available scholarship spots for the 2024–2025 season, starting with UVA’s scholarship situation for the upcoming season. Below is a summary of the personnel changes Virginia has made this offseason:
Anticipated departures:
G NBA Draft pick F Reece Beekman, Sr. NBA Draft pick F Ryan Dunn (So.) Jordan Minor (Gr.): No longer eligible
F Jake Groves (Gr.): ceased to be eligible
RS Fr. G Leon Bond III – Transfer Website
G Ishan Sharma (incoming freshman) and F Jacob Cofie (incoming freshman) are anticipated additions.
The Virginia scholarship roster for the 2024–2025 campaign is listed below, arranged by position and with information on each player’s remaining eligibility:
PG: Christian Bliss (4 years), Dante Harris (2 years)
SG: Elijah Gertrude (three years), Ishan Sharma (four years), and Isaac McKinley (two years).
SF: Taine Murray (one year), Andrew Rohde (two years)
Jacob Cofie, fourth year PF
C: Anthony Robinson (4 years), Blake Buchanan (3 years)
Just two players from Virginia’s regular starting lineup from the previous campaign will be back: Andrew Rohde and Isaac McKneely. Six starts went to Blake Buchanan, two to Taine Murray, and one to Dante Harris. Based only on scoring average, the Cavaliers are losing 62.3% of their scoring from the previous season and four of their top five scorers. With an average of 12.3 points per game, Isaac McKinley leads the returning players in scoring, followed by Andrew Rohde, who averages 4.3 points per game. The outlook for Virginia’s offense is dire for a team that had a terrible time scoring points last season.
The other side of the ball is perhaps even more worrisome, as the Cavaliers triumphed 23 games, placed third in the ACC, and made it into the NCAA Tournament in spite of their offensive shortcomings. This season, Virginia’s defense proved to be exceptional once more, finishing third in scoring defense and seventh nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency. Reece Beekman and Ryan Dunn, who placed first and second in the ACC Defensive Player of the Year voting and were the first two players listed on the team, undoubtedly contributed significantly to Virginia’s success on the defensive end. Tony Bennett’s system and the linked team defense UVA put on the court also had a significant role in that.
Although Dunn led the ACC in blocks and could roam the floor to protect the rim, disrupt passing lanes, and just find ways to get to the ball, he probably had a bigger defensive impact on Virginia than Beekman, who was arguably the best guard defender in the nation when it came to guards on the ball. According to Danny Neckel, the resident UVA sports statistician, Dunn was the only player in the nation with at least a 10% block percentage and at least a 3% steal percentage.
Whatever you think of his offensive output—or lack thereof—Ryan Dunn’s defensive presence on the court will be greatly missed by Virginia come playoff time.
That Illinois-Chicago wing is listed as one of Tony Bennett’s potential Dunn replacements on the transfer portal makes some sense. Toby Okani, who averaged more than two blocks and one steal per game the previous season, has joined Dunn in an elite group of defenders. The 6’8″ graduate transfer earned a spot on the Missouri Valley Conference All-Defensive Team with an average of 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. Okani is expected to travel to Virginia early in the upcoming week.
Joshua Jefferson, a transfer forward from Saint Mary’s, paid a visit to UVA last weekend as well. Despite calling it “a great visit” in an interview with Houston Wilson of CavsCorner, Jefferson plans to visit Iowa State and TCU one more time before deciding.
At least one of the three scholarship spots available for the upcoming campaign will go to a player who can play power forward. The only power forward on the team for the upcoming season will be incoming freshman Jacob Cofie, following the departures of Jake Groves and Ryan Dunn.
With rising sophomore center Blake Buchanan and Anthony Robinson coming off of a redshirt year, the Cavaliers will want more assured production from Cofie’s position as well as more depth, size, and experience overall in the front court. Cofie should have a semi-significant role in his first season.In the upcoming weeks, Virginia should add at least one transfer forward. It appears that every day, the UVA coaching staff contacts new transfer targets through the portal. Follow every player the Cavaliers are said to have been in contact with via the transfer portal by clicking this link: Virginia Basketball: Live Tracker/Transfer Portal Contact
