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Taison Chatman Commits to Ohio State, What's Next for Virginia?

Updating the UVA basketball recruiting landscape following Taison Chatman's commitment to Ohio State

Matt Newton

Taison Chatman/IG
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Another one of Virginia's targets in the recruiting class of 2023 has come off the board. Four-star combo guard Taison Chatman announced his commitment to Ohio State on Tuesday night. 

Chatman included UVA in his top five back in mid-July, but in truth, the Cavaliers haven't been involved with the Minneapolis guard in a long time and the Buckeyes have long been considered the favorite to land his commitment. 

Chatman's commitment to Ohio State is significant to Virginia for another reason, though, as the Buckeyes' recruitment of Chatman was undoubtedly a factor in the decommitment of George Washington III. 

Washington is UVA's newest target in the recruiting class of 2023. The Cavaliers were looking at him last fall before he announced his commitment to Ohio State in November of 2021. The Buckeyes have landed commitments from three other class of 2023 recruits since then and have been very publicly recruiting Taison Chatman and Bronny James, who are also combo guards like Washington. Chatman, James, and Washington were all in Columbus for a visit on the weekend of September 3rd when the Buckeyes hosted Notre Dame in football.

Two days later, Washington announced that he was decommitting from Ohio State and reopening his recruitment. 

Virginia was one of the first schools to contact Washington after his decommitment on September 5th. On Tuesday morning, Washington announced a new top five of Louisville, Dayton, Michigan, Wake Forest, and Virginia. There is no timetable yet for a commitment decision from Washington and no official visits have been scheduled, but Tony Bennett did reportedly see Washington in person on Tuesday. 

Louisville and Dayton will certainly get quality looks from Washington, as he is originally from Louisville, but moved this year to play his senior season of high school basketball at Chaminade Julienne in Dayton, Ohio. Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers seem to be working hard to earn Washington's commitment as well. 

Virginia is hoping to land at least one more commit in the class of 2023 to join four-stars Blake Buchanan (Coeur D'Alene, ID) and Elijah Gertrude (Jersey City, NJ). With Washington including UVA in his top five, the Cavaliers are on the most recent cut list for each of their four remaining targets in the 2023 recruiting class: 

SF Andrej Stojakovic (Carmichael, CA)
CG Elmarko Jackson (South Kent, CT)
SG Davin Cosby (Richmond, VA)
SG George Washington III (Dayton, OH)

Shooting guard Davin Cosby was at the top of the list for the Hoos and things seemed to be looking good for them at first as Cosby, a Richmond native, views UVA as his "hometown school." Cosby included Virginia in his final four along with NC State, Alabama, and Wake Forest as announced on Monday. But, with Virginia picking up the commitment of Elijah Gertrude, who is also a shooting guard, it seems Cosby will be headed elsewhere. 

There have been four crystal projections registered on 247Sports in favor of Cosby committing to Alabama, which Cosby visited earlier this month.

Virginia is also still in the mix for Andrej Stojakovic, the No. 17 overall recruit in the class of 2023. His top six is Duke, Stanford, Virginia, Oregon, Texas, and UCLA. Stojakovic has taken visits to UCLA, Oregon, Texas, and Stanford. UVA has yet to host Stojakovic for a visit, but the five-star small forward is adamant that all options are still on the table. 

Finally, four-star combo guard Elmarko Jackson is considering Virginia along with 10 other schools, so he still has some work to do at this point to narrow down his recruitment, but the Cavaliers are hopeful to host him for a visit. 

Edit: Elmarko Jackson announced a top seven on Wednesday and Virginia made the cut along with Texas, Notre Dame, UCLA, Villanova, Kansas, and Miami.

If Davin Cosby does not end up choosing the Cavaliers, as appears to be the case, UVA hopes that one of George Washington III, Elmarko Jackson, or Andrej Stojakovic will be that key third piece of another stellar Virginia recruiting class alongside Blake Buchanan and Elijah Gertrude. 

Stay updated on all the latest Virginia basketball recruiting news, including offers, visits, and commitments here: Latest Virginia Basketball Recruiting News and Updates

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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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