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Virginia Basketball Recruiting Targets Rise in Updated ESPN Top 100 Rankings

Matt Newton

Virginia basketball recruiting targets Nate Ament and Keyshuan Tillery both saw their positions rise in the updated ESPN Top 100 rankings for the class of 2025.
Virginia basketball recruiting targets Nate Ament and Keyshuan Tillery both saw their positions rise in the updated ESPN Top 100 rankings for the class of 2025. / Nate Ament/Keyshuan Tillery/IG
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Paul Biancardi updated his ESPN Top 100 rankings for the high school basketball recruiting class of 2025 on Thursday and several Virginia men's basketball recruiting targets rose in the rankings. A total of seven players who have either included the Cavaliers in their most recent cut lists or have scheduled official visits (or have already taken official visits) to UVA are included in the most recent edition of the ESPN Top 100.

Consensus five-star small forward Nate Ament continues to be one of the top overall prospects in the class of 2025. The Virginia native was ranked No. 8 in the Top 100 back in early July and Biancardi now has him ranked No. 4 overall. Ament has taken multiple unofficial visits to UVA and is expected to take an official visit to Virginia on the weekend of September 13th.

JJ Mandaquit, London Jemison, and Keyshuan Tillery were ranked No. 48, No. 49, and No. 50, respectively, in the ESPN Top 100 back in July. In this week's update, Biancardi has moved each of those players up one spot, so Mandaquit is now No. 47, Jemison is No. 48, and Tillery is No. 49. Mandaquit and Jemison are expected to take official visits to Virginia on the weekend of September 27th and Tillery just visited UVA last weekend.

Virginia Basketball Recruiting: Official Visit Season Begins for 2025 Targets

Derek Dixon had the biggest jump of any UVA recruiting target in the ESPN Top 100, moving up five spots from No. 56 to No. 51. A combo guard from Washington, D.C., Dixon took an official visit to Virginia back in April and is expected to announce his college decision by the end of the month.

Finally, two UVA basketball recruiting targets stayed put in the ESPN Top 100, as Washington, D.C. small forward Cam Ward is still No. 53 and Charlottesville point guard Chance Mallory is No. 85. Mallory is expected to visit UVA officially on September 13th, the same weekend as Ament, and Ward is visiting Virginia this coming weekend.

More Virginia Men's Basketball News & Content

Bart Torvik Ranks Virginia as 4th-Most Talented Roster in College Basketball

Virginia Basketball Recruiting: Official Visit Season Begins for 2025 Targets

Virginia Basketball Roster Analysis: Balancing Youth vs. Experience

Column: Why the Kyle Guy Hiring is Great for Virginia Basketball

Virginia Basketball: Evaluating the Strengths & Weaknesses of UVA's Roster

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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.