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UVA Basketball: Ron Sanchez Extends First Offer to 2026 Four-Star Forward

Matt Newton

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It's crunch time for Ron Sanchez and the Virginia men's basketball team to prepare for the 2024-2025 season, which begins in less than two weeks, but Sanchez turned his attention to the recruiting trail on Thursday afternoon and extended his first scholarship offer as UVA's interim head coach. The Cavaliers offered class of 2026 four-star small forward Manny Green (Ellenwood, GA) on Thursday, Green announced on social media.

A 6'6" wing out of Cedar Grove High School in Georgia, Green is rated a consensus four-star prospect by each of the major recruiting services. 247Sports has Green rated as the No. 56 overall recruit in the class of 2026, the No. 20 small forward in the nation, and the No. 6 player in the state of Georgia.

Virginia was among the first schools to reach out to Green at the beginning of the unlimited contact period for the recruiting class of 2026 and now, Sanchez and the Cavaliers join a list of major conference suitors to offer Green that includes Tennessee, Florida, Auburn, Clemson, Indiana, Missouri, Cincinnati, and Georgia Tech.

Green has an impressive wingspan and good defensive instincts and significantly improved his three-point jumper this summer, which led to the recent increased interest from major conference programs. In July, Green was invited to the Adidas 3SSB All-American camp, where even more big-time programs took notice of his play. The list of schools pursuing Green will likely only grow over the course of his junior season.

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Virginia had previously offered the following 2026 recruits while Tony Bennett was head coach. With the same staff that identified those recruits still on board at UVA, it would be assumed that those scholarship offers are still active at this time:
- four-star center/power forward Latrell Allmond (Richmond, VA)
- five-star shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr. (Fairfax, VA)
- four-star point guard Jonathan Sanderson (Saline, MI)
- three-star point guard Jordan Skyers (Bronx, NY)

While delivering a successful 2024-2025 season is the top priority for Ron Sanchez and his staff, they also have to operate as if they'll still be leading this program for the next several years and can't afford to be left behind on the recruiting trail. As for the class of 2025, Virginia still has one open scholarship spot remaining, but it's unlikely that the Cavaliers will do anything with that spot until the spring, possibly using it to bring in a transfer after the season ends. UVA's top tasks, in addition to winning games this season, is recruiting its own locker room and keeping its lone commitment from the class of 2025, four-star point guard and Charlottesville native Chance Mallory, on board through the time when he officially signs with the school.

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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.