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Virginia Looking to Craft a Potential Dream Scenario for Its 2023 Recruiting Class

The Cavaliers have already signed a pair of four-star recruits, but they are working to add as many as two more talented players to their 2023 recruiting class

Matt Newton

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The 2023 recruiting class for the Virginia men's basketball program has been set since early November, when the Cavaliers officially signed four-star recruits Blake Buchanan (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) and Elijah Gertrude (Jersey City, New Jersey) to National Letters of Intent. UVA had signed a four-player class in 2022 and the program was only guaranteed to lose three scholarship players from the 2022-2023 roster, so the recruiting class of Buchanan and Gertrude seemed to be sufficient for 2023. 

Then came what some could call a "mass exodus" as Virginia not only lost its three graduating seniors (Kihei Clark, Jayden Gardner, Ben Vander Plas), but also lost three players to the transfer portal (Francisco Caffaro, Isaac Traudt, Kadin Shedrick), and two more to the NBA Draft (Reece Beekman, Armaan Franklin). Beekman has kept open the option of returning to college for another year and has until May 31st to make that decision. But as it currently stands, Virginia is losing a staggering eight scholarship players from this past season's roster. 

The UVA coaching staff has begun the process of filling those holes through the transfer portal, landing one commitment so far in the form of Merrimack forward and Northeast Conference Player of the Year Jordan Minor, who announced his transfer to Virginia on April 13th. The Cavaliers are expected to chase more targets in the transfer portal in the coming weeks, but the UVA coaching staff has also turned its attention back to the high school recruiting trail, where Tony Bennett and company have been not-so-secretly crafting a potential dream scenario with a couple of possible last-minute and big-time additions to the incoming recruiting class. 

Over the weekend, four-star shooting guard Blue Cain (Knoxville, Tennessee) took a visit to Virginia. A 6'4" sharpshooter who attends IMG Academy in Florida, Cain initially committed to fellow ACC basketball program Georgia Tech last June, but requested a release from his National Letter of Intent last month following Georgia Tech's firing of head coach Josh Pastner. With one of the best shooters in the country suddenly reopening his recruitment, Cain has heard from a number of major conference programs in the last few weeks, UVA among them. Cain took a visit to Georgia last week, visited Virginia over the weekend, and is currently (Monday, April 17th) on a visit to Florida. 

Cain is ranked the No. 97 overall prospect in the country, the No. 17 shooting guard in the class of 2023, and the No. 8-ranked recruit in the state of Florida by 247Sports. With the current construction of their roster, the Cavaliers find themselves in serious need of a guard who can shoot and Cain fits that bill exactly. Cain has yet to set a timetable for his decision, but expect Virginia to be heavily in the mix to land his commitment, potentially adding a massive piece to UVA's already impressive 2023 recruiting class. 

Earlier in April, Virginia also hosted Jarin Stevenson (Pittsboro, North Carolina), a consensus top-30 overall prospect in the recruiting class of 2024. A 6'10", 200-pound power forward, Stevenson has an impressive combination of forward-like size and guard-like ball-handling skills that make him extremely dangerous on the offensive end of the floor. Rated a five-star by 247Sports, Stevenson is ranked the No. 12 overall recruit in the country, the No. 1 power forward in his class, and the No. 2 player in North Carolina. The fact that the Cavaliers are even in the mix for Stevenson is remarkable as he would be by far the highest-rated recruit to commit to Virginia in the modern era of recruiting. 

Stevenson has been offered by Virginia, NC State, Wake Forest, Georgetown, and Missouri, but North Carolina has long been considered the favorite to land Stevenson's commitment. Stevenson's mother, Nicole (Walker) Stevenson played for the UNC women's basketball program in the 1990s and Stevenson lives less than 20 miles from Chapel Hill. He has taken unofficial visits to Duke and North Carolina and official visits to Missouri and Georgetown. Still, the momentum the Cavaliers have begun to accumulate in pursuit of Stevenson suggests that they have more than a slim chance of stealing the North Carolina native from the Tar Heels. 

Tony Bennett's first scholarship offer for the recruiting class of 2024 went to Stevenson back in January of 2022. Since then, Stevenson has visited UVA twice unofficially and then again for his official visit two weekends ago. Stevenson has built a strong relationship with Tony Bennett and the Virginia coaching staff and, as evidenced by the multiple videos Stevenson has posted to social media this week recapping his visit to UVA, the interest the Cavaliers have shown in him is well-reciprocated. 

The most intriguing aspect of Stevenson's recruitment is that he is reportedly considering reclassifying to the recruiting class of 2023. That would mean that he would commit, sign, and enroll in college by this fall. This could potentially work in Virginia's favor as given the team's substantial roster needs, particularly in the front court, UVA could sell Stevenson on potentially having a significant role in his freshman season should he reclassify and commit to the Cavaliers. 

There is no guarantee that Virginia will land a commitment from either Jarin Stevenson or Blue Cain, as there is strong competition in the recruitment for both players. But given the recent developments with both players taking visits to UVA, it's certainly not out of the question that the Cavaliers could possibly land commitments from both. Should Cain pledge to Virginia and should Stevenson make the decision to reclassify to 2023 and do the same, Tony Bennett and the Wahoos would welcome a 2023 recruiting class to Grounds this summer that would feature Blake Buchanan, Elijah Gertrude, Blue Cain, and Jarin Stevenson, giving UVA one of the strongest recruiting classes in the country. 

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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