Cavaliers Now

Ohio Transfer Ben Vander Plas Commits to Virginia Basketball

Vander Plas announced his commitment to Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers on Saturday

Matt Newton

Ohio transfer Ben Vander Plas has committed to the Virginia basketball program, he announced on social media on Saturday afternoon. 

"Excited for my next chapter - Go Hoos," Vander Plas said in a tweet. 

The 6'8", 232-pound forward visited UVA a week ago and was considering the Cavaliers as well as Ohio State, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Virginia Tech, and Illinois. 

Ben Vander Plas enjoyed a successful career at Ohio. After redshirting his first season in 2017-2018, Vander Plas was named the 2019 Freshman of the Year in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), earned All-MAC Third Team honors in 2020 and 2021, and was named to the All-MAC First Team this season after averaging career-highs in points (14.3 ppg), rebounds (6.8 rpg), and steals (1.8 spg). He shot 45.7% from the floor and 33.8% from three on 5.7 attempts per game and led the Bobcats to a 25-10 season and a quarterfinal finish in the College Basketball Invitational. 

In 2021, Vander Plas led No. 13 seed Ohio to a 62-58 upset over No. 4 seed Virginia in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. He recorded 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the victory, which was Ohio's first NCAA Tournament win since 2012.

The performance Vander Plas had against the Cavaliers was one of the more intriguing storylines to come out of the March Madness bubble in 2021, given his family's connections to Tony Bennett. His father, Dean Vander Plas, was teammates with Tony Bennett at Green Bay-Wisconsin, where they played under Dick Bennett and led the Phoenix to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1991. The Bennett and Vander Plas families are close. Dean and Mary Vander Plas attended the wedding of Tony and Laurel Bennett in 1996 and they named Ben, whose full name is Bennett Vander Plas, after Dick Bennett and his family.

Those family connections likely played a large role in this commitment as now, Vander Plas will come to Charlottesville to play his final season of college basketball for Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers. 

Virginia adds Vander Plas to a team that returns each of its top six scorers from a season ago and brings in a talented recruiting class of four-stars Isaac McKneely, Isaac Traudt, Leon Bond, and Ryan Dunn. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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