Virginia Basketball: 2018-19 season preview for the Cavaliers

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 10: Tournament MVP Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 71-63 during the championship game of the 2018 ACC Men's Basketball Tournament at Barclays Center on March 10, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

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Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images /

Key reserves

The reserves for Virginia weren’t too productive in 2017-18 outside of De’Andre Hunter, but that should change with the emergence of Mamadi Diakite and Francesco Badocchi. Diakite is a 6-foot-9 junior that is active and athletic around the paint. In 34 appearances last season, he put up 5.4 points and 3.0 rebounds per game

Badocchi used a redshirt during his freshman season, something Tony Bennett has utilized well in developing his players. He’s a 6-foot-7 forward with an opportunity to bolster the Cavaliers’ frontcourt.

7-foot-1 sophomore Jay Huff is also due to get more time. He averaged 3.4 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per contest as a freshman. 6-foot-4 guard Marco Anthony shot 38.5 percent from 3-point land in 14 appearances. His shooting prowess could come in handy off the bench.

Newcomers Kihei Clark and Kody Stattmann should also earn some time in the backcourt. Clark averaged 19.4 points, 7.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game as a high school senior in 2017-18. Stattmann has had quite the career on the FIBA Circuit for the Australian national team and has versatility for his size at 6-foot-7.

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