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UVA Basketball: What to Make of Virginia's Secret Scrimmage Loss to VCU

Matt Newton

Virginia Athletics
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Let's play a game of Overreaction or Not an Overreaction.

Virginia was reportedly blown out by VCU 71-49 in a "secret scrimmage" over the weekend and some people are taking that to mean that the sky has already begun to fall for the UVA basketball program heading into this interim season with Ron Sanchez. That final score was posted online by Jon Rothstein and a few other college basketball accounts and many quickly came to the conclusion that Virginia was finished, even going as far as to insinuate that Bennett retired because he thought his team was bad... Give me a break.

So, Virginia suffered a lopsided defeat to an experienced VCU team in a preseason scrimmage. What should we make of it?

The short answer is: absolutely nothing.

For starters, the final scores of these preseason closed-door scrimmages are pretty meaningless and yet overreactions to these scores being leaked on Twitter have become a favorite annual tradition for college basketball fans in the waning weeks before a new season begins. Not being able to actually see these scrimmages and what happened in them to produce these final scores makes it essentially useless to try to glean any significant takeaways. Teams are often tinkering with different lineups and probably aren't showing their entire hand.

There were also some extenuating circumstances for Virginia in this particular scrimmage. The Cavaliers were reportedly without the services of Isaac McKneely, their leading scorer from last year's team and one of the top three-point shooters in the country, as well as Kansas State transfer guard Dai Dai Ames and redshirt freshman guard Christian Bliss, both of whom are expected to be key rotation players for UVA this season. Hooz Got Next, who is very plugged in with this kind of insider info, confirmed the absences of McKneely, Ames, and Bliss in the scrimmage.

Then there's the idea that Virginia was obviously still reeling from the shocking departure of Tony Bennett. The scrimmage happened less than 48 hours after the team was informed of Bennett's retirement and just one day after his emotional press conference.

While these preseason scrimmages are valuable tools for each team to measure where they are as the season approaches, it seems, at least to me, to be a pointless exercise to attempt to draw meaningful conclusions from the final scores of these scrimmages, and especially in a case like this where there are other factors to be considered.

VIDEO: Ron Sanchez Intro Press Conference as UVA Basketball Interim Head Coach

As an example of how much weight should be given to these secret scrimmage results, recall that Virginia beat UConn "soundly" in a preseason scrimmage before the 2022-2023 season. We didn't make a huge deal about that result for the same reason. That year, the Cavaliers were relatively successful in the regular season but were bounced in the first round, while Dan Hurley's Huskies won the first of back-to-back national titles.

Also, for those concerned about the players who did not play in Virginia's scrimmage against VCU, and in particular those who wondered if Isaac McKneely's absence was indicative of a potential transfer portal entry during the 30-day window opened by Tony Bennett's retirement, please see below:

More Virginia Basketball News & Content

UVA Basketball Head Coaching Candidates: Is It Ron Sanchez's Job to Lose?

Round Robin: Reacting to Tony Bennett's Retirement From Virginia

Why Did Tony Bennett Retire? UVA Basketball Coach Explains Decision

Ron Sanchez Named Interim Head Coach of UVA Basketball

UVA Basketball: Tony Bennett's Retirement Opens Transfer Portal for 30 Days

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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.