UVA Basketball Lands "Recommitment" From Chance Mallory

Matt Newton | Mar 24, 2025

Chance Mallory/IG

Ryan Odom has his first recruiting victory as head coach of the UVA men's basketball program. Class of 2025 four-star point guard and Charlottesville native Chance Mallory announced his commitment to Virginia on Saturday in a ceremony at St. Anne’s-Belfield School, choosing the Cavaliers over Maryland, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech.

It's a full-circle moment for Mallory, who commits to UVA nearly sixth months to the day after he first announced his commitment to the Cavaliers back on September 20th. Mallory played his high school ball at St. Anne's-Belfield School, just across the way from John Paul Jones Arena, and seemed to fulfill his destiny by pledging to Virginia entering his senior year. Then came Tony Bennett's retirement and Mallory decommitted from Virginia and reopened his recruitment shortly thereafter.

Mallory made it clear at that point that he was still considering Virginia and he was seen in attendance at multiple home UVA men's basketball games throughout this season. Meanwhile, his recruiting stock remained sky-high, as Mallory is still a consensus four-star prospect according to each of the major recruiting services and both On3 and 247Sports have Mallory rated as a top 10 point guard and top 60 overall player in the country in the class of 2025. Until his commitment to Virginia on Saturday, Mallory was one of just eight players in the 2025 ESPN Top 100 who had yet to announce his college decision.

Chance Mallory Current Recruiting Ratings
247Sports: four-star, No. 54 overall, No. 7 point guard, No. 3 in Virginia
On3: four-star, No. 56 overall, No. 8 point guard, No. 3 in Virginia
Rivals: four-star, No. 61 overall, No. 12 point guard
ESPN: four-star, No. 88 overall, No. 18 point guard, No. 4 in Virginia

Mallory's commitment to UVA comes just hours after Ryan Odom was officially hired as Virginia's head coach. Odom comes to UVA after spending the last two seasons at VCU, where he led the Rams to the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament titles and a No. 11 seed in the NCAA Tournament. A head coach for 10 years, Odom has taken three different programs to the NCAA Tournament (UMBC, Utah State, VCU), reaching the Big Dance in his second season at each school.

This is a major recruiting victory to open the Ryan Odom era of Virginia basketball. Odom will have to hit the ground running in his new job, as the transfer portal is set to open on Monday, March 24th. Odom will have to work quickly to finalize his staff, which will likely include most of his staff from VCU, and then begin to have conversations with players on the current UVA roster about potentially remaining with the program moving forward.

More Virginia Basketball News

Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates

UVA Basketball Roster Turnover Prediction: What to Expect This Offseason

Report: Virginia Guard Dai Dai Ames Plans to Enter Transfer Portal

Blake Buchanan Set to Enter the Transfer Portal

Virginia at the Crossroads: Where do the Hoos go from here?