Resetting the Virginia Basketball Recruiting Class of 2023

Where does UVA stand with its remaining targets in the recruiting class of 2023?

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Aug 9, 2022 1:27 PM EDT

In this story:

Virginia men's basketball head coach Tony Bennett — Where does UVA stand with its remaining targets in the recruiting class of 2023?
Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

This weekend brought two big announcements on the basketball recruiting front, as two of Virginia's targets in the class of 2023 announced their college decisions. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Hoos were left empty-handed at the end of the weekend as both Trey Green (Xavier) and Jamie Kaiser (Maryland) committed to other schools. With those two names off the board, let's reset where things stand for UVA's remaining targets in the recruiting class of 2023.

Before discussing what's next, let's recap what's happened so far in this recruiting cycle.

The Cavaliers thought they had secured their first commit back in the spring with London Johnson (Norcross, Georgia), but the four-star point guard delayed his commitment announcement on several occasions and now appears to be headed to the NBA G League Ignite team, although he remains uncommitted at this point.

Blake Buchanan (Coeur D'Alene, Idaho) became Virginia's first verbal commit in the class when he chose the Cavaliers over Gonzaga on July 3rd. The 6'10" forward's commitment to UVA has looked better and better as he has continued to shine on the floor this summer.

Since then, Virginia has not earned any more commitments but the Hoos have made the cut lists for several prospects in this class. Four-star forward Milan Momcilovic (Pewaukee, Wisconsin) included UVA in his top six, but ultimately chose Iowa State over Virginia, Michigan State, UCLA, Minnesota, and Louisville. UVA also made the final cut for four-star point guard Trey Green (Mooresville, North Carolina) and four-star wing Jamie Kaiser (Burke, Virginia). Green never visited Virginia and committed to Xavier, while Kaiser ended his recruiting saga by choosing Maryland over UVA and Indiana.

Virginia also offered Cameron Christie (Rolling Meadows, Illinois), who accomplished a rare feat by keeping his recruitment private and not making any announcements about cutting his list. Instead, the three-star shooting guard announced on July 29th that he was committing to Minnesota.

With those offers off the table, UVA has active offers out to seven remaining players in the class of 2023 - five of whom have included the Cavaliers on their most recent cut lists.

Four-star guard Taison Chatman (Minneapolis, Minnesota) included UVA in his top five when he cut his list back on July 16th. Freddie Dilione (Raleigh, North Carolina), a four-star guard and 247Sports' No. 1-ranked player in North Carolina, still has 10 schools on his latest cut list, including Virginia. Four-star wing Andrej Stojakovic (Carmichael, California), the son of former NBA star Peja Stojakovic, announced his top six on July 29th and included Virginia along with Duke, Stanford, Oregon, Texas and UCLA. As announced on Saturday, Virginia made the top five for Elijah Gertrude (Jersey City, New Jersey), ranked a four-star combo guard by On3.

Most recently and perhaps most significantly, four-star TJ Power (Shrewsbury, Massachusetts) announced his top five on Monday and Virginia made the cut for the highly-coveted forward along with Duke, North Carolina, Boston College and Iowa. The consensus No. 1 prospect in Massachusetts, Power has established himself as one of the best overall players in this recruiting class and perhaps the best shooter in the country this summer. He cut out several big-name programs with his final five, including Kansas, UCLA, and Indiana. Power has a great relationship with Tony Bennett and has been a fan of the UVA basketball program for a long time. Virginia is still in the running but the battle for Power's commitment will only get more intense as he looks to announce his decision sometime in September.

Additionally, Tony Bennett and company are still in pursuit of two other prospects. Davin Cosby (Richmond, Virginia), a top five prospect from the state of Virginia, picked up an offer from UVA on July 26th. Cosby has scheduled a visit to Charlottesville for August 26th. UVA is also pursuing guard Elmarko Jackson (Richland, New Jersey) as an answer to the program's 'point guard of the future' question. Jackson has offers from more than 20 major programs and has plans to announce a cut list very soon.

Stay updated on all the latest Virginia basketball recruiting news, including offers, visits, and commitments here: Latest Virginia Basketball Recruiting News and Updates

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