Virginia Basketball 2023-2024 Roster Preview: Leon Bond III

What's the floor and ceiling for Leon Bond III coming off of his redshirt year?

Basketball season is upon us. As we march closer to another exciting Virginia men's basketball season, CavaliersNow is previewing UVA's roster player by player in preparation for the 2023-2024 season, which begins on Monday, November 6th against Tarleton State at John Paul Jones Arena. 

Today, we analyze redshirt freshman wing Leon Bond III. 

Click on the following links to read our player previews for the rest of the UVA men's basketball roster: Isaac McKneely | Taine Murray | Anthony Robinson | Dante Harris | Elijah Gertrude | Blake Buchanan | Jake Groves | Andrew Rohde | Jordan Minor | Ryan Dunn | Reece Beekman

Virginia's 2022 recruiting class, which included a quartet of highly-touted four-star prospects, was heralded as potentially legendary. So far, that hasn't been an overstatement. Okay, sure, it's unfortunate for the Cavaliers that Isaac Traudt is no longer with the program. [If you've been living under a rock, Traudt transferred back to his home state of Nebraska to Creighton; not playing in his first and only season at Virginia played a part, but not nearly as much as homesickness did]. But Traudt should still have a good career ahead of him with the Bluejays. 

Meanwhile, Isaac McKneely and Ryan Dunn played significant roles in their freshmen seasons at Virginia, getting valuable playing experience, and setting themselves up for big sophomore leaps as they, in all likelihood, will enter the starting lineup this season. McKneely will be UVA's top perimeter shooter (and one of the best shooters in the ACC) and Dunn has explosive potential for a breakout year, with many tabbing him as a possible dark horse NBA Draft candidate next June. 

And that brings us to Leon Bond III, who redshirted his first season at Virginia and who will finally get a chance to make his official debut in a few short weeks. We're not sure what to expect of Bond since we haven't seen him in a real game yet, but we've seen him throw down some flashy dunks in pregame warmups and he played very well in the Blue-White Scrimmage, which we will discuss more in a moment. Of all the promising newcomers (using the liberal definition of players who haven't appeared in a game for Virginia yet) on this year's UVA roster, Bond might be the one we're most excited to see. We've seen past Cavaliers make big-time immediate impacts coming off of their redshirt years, De'Andre Hunter being the most successful example. If all goes well, Bond could follow that same path. 

Much of the excitement about Bond's potential impact this season comes from the impressive showing he delivered in the intrasquad scrimmage two Saturdays ago. Bond had arguably the top performance of the scrimmage, matching Reece Beekman for the game-high in scoring with 13 points on 6/8 shooting. One of those field goals was a nice catch-and-shoot corner three, a very promising sign that Bond could stretch the floor at the wing position. Bond is long and strong, has excellent body control on drives in the paint, and showed that he can finish smoothly at the rim in the scrimmage. He's also not afraid to take mid-range shots off the dribble if the opportunity presents itself. If Bond can consistently hit his jump shots, the Cavaliers just might have themselves an immensely valuable three-level scorer, but that's the best case scenario. 

Defensively, Bond could end up playing a vital role for Tony Bennett's defense. Bond has the physical tools and potential to be an elite defender, making him a qualified candidate for that fifth starting spot in what could be an incredible defensive unit featuring Reece Beekman, Isaac McKneely, Ryan Dunn, Jordan Minor, and Bond. That lineup would feature a pair of former conference defensive players of the year in Beekman and Minor and two strong candidates for conference all-defensive teams in Bond and Dunn. If they play to their potential, Virginia's defense should be just as smothering as ever. 

I see Leon Bond III as an X-factor for this team. UVA has quite a few lineup variations that Tony Bennett and his staff could play with, but Bond's possible emergence as a key contributor, especially on the defensive end, could make for the best lineup. But it's just so difficult to project if that'll be the case for Bond, since we won't know where on the wide range of possibilities he'll fall until we see him on the floor and see how his raw athleticism and skill potential translate in real games. On the more pessimistic side, there could be serious growing pains and Bond could spend a good amount of time on the bench early on. But he could also shoot out of a cannon, start from day 1, and be a star for this team, following the De'Andre Hunter blueprint. 

Of course, the likely outcome is that Bond will end up somewhere between those two extremes, developing into a solid contributor as the season goes on. Either way, it will be very intriguing to see how Leon Bond III plays in his first season and how he impacts Virginia's success as a team. 

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