ACC breakdown: Virginia's success will be put to test this season

For the last five years, Virginia has ruled the ACC. With a national championship banner and three regular-season ACC titles, the Cavaliers have earned the nickname “new blood” for all of their success. It is a play on the “blue blood” teams that have been dominating college basketball for decades like Kentucky, UCLA, North Carolina and Duke.

But Virginia’s run of success and new blood status may be put to the test this season. On3’s KJ Smith breaks down why.

Vigirnia lost key players

Virginia’s big three consisted of Trey Murphy III, Sam Hauser , and Jay Huff All three players averaged double digits. All three players also left for the NBA. Murphy III Murphy was selected with the 17th pick in the 2021 NBA draft, Hauser and huff both went undrafted but signed two-way contracts with the Celtics and the Wizards.

The Cavaliers have a purposefully slow and methodical offense. Scoring 10 points is just as good as scoring 20 for any team in America. They won’t always be the highest-scoring team because of how they move the ball around to find the best option. They make up for their low scoring by having a lockdown defense. Forcing their opponent to milk the clock and use a lot of time per possession.

Coach Tony Bennett is combatting this issue by signing transfers like Armaan Franklin who was was the 2nd most improved scorer in the Big Ten (+7.7) after averaging 11.4 points in 20 starts at Indiana. Virginia also landed Jayden Gardner, who was East Carolina’s leading scorer last year with 18.3 points per game. However, these players don’t compare to the NBA caliber players the Cavaliers had last season.

Virginia’s saving grace

Virginia’s saving grace will be point guard Kihei Clark and combo guard Reece Beekman. Clark is a 5-foot-9 senior point guard. Clark is the most experienced guard in the country. He started in almost every game since a freshman and helped lead the 2019, 2020 and 2021 teams. Beekman is a returning sophomore guard who started in starting 20 games last year. Beekman led the team steals in last year and had the second best assist/turnover ratio in the ACC.

Both guards never get rattled and rarely turn the ball over. Bennett and the Cavaliers will rely heavily on the championship experience from Clark and leadership between both guards to win games this season.