Virginia returns five starters — Kihei Clark, Reece Beekman, Armaan Franklin, Jayden Gardner, and Kadin Shedrick — from last season’s team that won 21 games and reached the Postseason NIT, but Tony Bennett doesn’t believe that level of returning experience automatically means that the Cavaliers will be elite defensively during the upcoming year.
“Hard to say,” Bennett said Monday on the College Hoops Today Podcast when he was asked if Virginia could take things to a different level defensively this season because of its returning experience. “I feel like last year we were okay defensively in stretches. I really hope those returners take a step defensively. We’ve always had elite defenders at that “four” spot going back to Isaiah Wilkins, Akil Mitchell, Darion Atkins, DeAndre Hunter, and Braxton Key. Then the last couple of years we’ve had some really good skill positions guys there, but defensively we haven’t been the same.”
Virginia gave up an average of just 60.1 points last season, but was only ranked 59th in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com.
“The challenge is going to be how much have our returning guys improved defensively and how quickly our new guys pick things up,” Bennett added. “But to touch that specialness defensively — that’s a decision that each individual and collectively a team has to make. That’s not a comfortable place to go so we’re going to see how willing we are.”
The Cavaliers have the highest percentage of returning scoring among ACC teams and are currently ranked 24th in the ROTHSTEIN 45.
