Virginia Basketball: Preview of Cavaliers 2020-21 depth chart
Centers
Starter – Jay Huff (26 mins/game)
Other SFs – Kadin Shedrick (10 mins/game) and Francisco Caffaro (4 mins/game)
The loss of Mamadi Diakite hurts this frontcourt, but what it does is create more opportunities for the 7’1 Jay Huff (8.5 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast). Huff’s 57% field goal percentage was the best of the Cavaliers and frankly, he did not shoot it enough. While not to the degree of Hauser, Huff can also stretch the floor. His 36% 3-point percentage was third-best on the team.
His role as a defensive enforcer in the paint may be where Huff shows the most value, however. He was fourth in the ACC in blocked shot in 19-20 and along with Clark is the leader of what is the best defense in the country.
Huff is going to contend for all ACC honors in 2020-21, but he may have more help than anyone realizes at the center position.
There is a story in Charlottesville that the entire ACC needs to keep an eye on. That story is the development of Kadin Shedrick. The former top 70 recruit had some bulking up to do, and between Diakite, Braxton Key, and Huff, there just weren’t enough minutes to go around in the Virginia frontcourt, so he took a redshirt in year one as a Cavalier.
If Shedrick can prove to be as good as advertised there is potentially a lot more than 10 minutes a night in store for him. I see scenarios where he can get time at the 4-spot as well, giving Hauser an opportunity to play small forward as matchups dictate.
If a guy like Shedrick can emerge as a dominant player off the bench, the case for Virginia as the best team in the ACC becomes even easier to make. Due to the expected offensive transformation, this is a team that looks much more like it did in its national championship campaign of 18-19.
Next. Each conference top returning shooter for 2020-21. dark
They won’t be as talented as that squad was, but it is realistic we could be looking at back to back National Champions for the first since Florida did it in 2006 and 2007.