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Virginia Target Derek Dixon Announcing Decision, Do the Hoos Have a Chance?

Matt Newton

Katie Goodale / USA TODAY NETWORK
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Consensus four-star point guard Derek Dixon will announce his college decision on Friday, September 27th at 3pm ET. Virginia is technically still in contention for the 6'3" standout from Gonzaga College High School (Washington, D.C.), but in reality, the Hoos haven't really been in the hunt for quite some time.

Dixon picked up an offer from UVA in the summer of 2023 and took an official visit to Grounds last spring. He included Virginia in his top six in late July and even has the Hoos listed among his four finalists along with Pitt, North Carolina, and Vanderbilt.

It's all a formality, though, as it seems Dixon is headed to Chapel Hill to join the Tar Heels. Colby Giacubeno, a 247Sports contributor who most recently made accurate Crystal Balls projecting Chance Mallory to Virginia and former UVA target Keyshuan Tillery to Cincinnati, is one of two 247Sports recruiting analysts who have registered Crystal Ball predictions in favor of UNC landing Dixon's commitment.

Furthermore, Mallory's commitment to UVA means the Cavaliers already have a point guard in this class and they are undoubtedly now looking to other positions to fill their final open scholarship spot.

Though there is little suspense with Dixon's commitment, Virginia is very much in the mix for a few other targets in the class of 2025. Four-star forward Cam Ward (MD) visited UVA earlier this month, has also taken visits to Notre Dame, Marquette, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, and Maryland, and still has visits scheduled to Michigan State and Alabama. He'll likely announce his decision sometime in the next month.

Four-star forward Tre Singleton (IN) has the Cavaliers in his top eight along with Clemson, Northwester, Butler, Xavier, Louisville, Notre Dame, and Purdue. Singleton is visiting Notre Dame this weekend and has visits scheduled to Virginia and Clemson next week, but Louisville and Purdue are the top challengers at this point.

Finally, Virginia is still in the hunt for five-star forward and Virginia native Nate Ament, who is ranked No. 4 overall in the ESPN Top 100 for the class of 2025. Ament has visited UVA unofficially and is still expected to come back for an official visit at some point, but it seems he intends to let his recruitment play out through his senior year. Virginia hasn't had much success recruiting players of Ament's caliber, and with more than 30 major conference programs in the mix, including Duke, UConn, North Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky, the Cavaliers shouldn't hold their breath on this one.

We'll keep track of all of the UVA basketball recruiting developments on Virginia Cavaliers On SI.

More Virginia Basketball News & Content

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Virginia Basketball Roster Analysis: Balancing Youth vs. Experience

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

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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.