Virginia Basketball: Cavaliers to headline 2019 Hall of Fame Classic
By Neil Adler
The Virginia basketball team will compete in the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic, an event that will feature some extremely intriguing storylines.
The Virginia basketball squad, fresh off capturing its first-ever national title but also losing multiple key contributors to the NBA Draft, will suit up in the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic, held at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., per a tweet by collegiate-hoops insider Jon Rothstein. Citing sources, Rothstein noted that in the tournament’s first round, UVA will square off with UMass, while Arizona State battles St. John’s. No word as of yet on official dates and times for these juicy match-ups.
The Cavaliers are thought by many of the sport’s prognosticators to seriously contend in the 2019-20 campaign for a second-consecutive trip to the Final Four, although they will have to do so minus redshirt sophomore guard De’Andre Hunter, junior point guard Ty Jerome and junior guard Kyle Guy, as well as possibly redshirt junior forward Mamadi Diakite, who is testing the draft waters but has left open the door to return for another go-round in Charlottesville, Va.
It’s likely that UVA will get viewed as a heavy favorite in its duel with the University of Massachusetts, but the Minutemen recently landed a significant recruiting triumph when they secured the services of 2019 four-star prospect Tre Mitchell, a 6-foot-9 center from the Woodstock Academy in Woodstock, Conn.
The other side of the Hall of Fame Classic bracket has a few fun narratives. For one, the Red Storm and the Sun Devils went toe to toe in the First Four of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, with Arizona State prevailing in what would amount to Big East Conference legend Chris Mullin’s last affair as the head coach at St. John’s. The Sun Devils’ boss, former Duke star Bobby Hurley, reportedly had some interest in the Red Storm’s vacancy but ultimately decided to pass. After a fairly dysfunctional search, St. John’s ended up hiring former Arkansas head coach Mike Anderson.
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Switching back to the Cavaliers, Justin Ferber, a senior staff writer with CavsCorner.com, tweeted that as part of the 2019 Hall of Fame Classic, Virginia will also host Vermont and either Central Connecticut State, Columbia or Rider.