Virginia Basketball: Cavaliers make big splash with top-40 guard Elijah Gertrude

Tony Bennett and Virginia Basketball get commitment No. 2 in the 2023 class in Elijah Gertrude. How big of a pickup is this for the program?

There are a bunch of prospects in the 2023 recruiting class that has risen a ton up the rankings in the past couple of months. One is Elijah Gertrude, a 6’3 combo guard out of New Jersey. He was a three-star prospect with little interest among power conference programs before having a breakout junior campaign in high school.

Gertrude was always viewed as a good defender but his offense, more importantly, his ability to shoot the ball from deep, all of a sudden made him a real top-100 prospect. And 247sports has him ranked in the top-40 overall currently. After getting some new attention, he had a list of five contenders; Kansas, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Virginia, and Rutgers. It looked for a while that one of the two local programs would win out but in the end, the guard picked someone out of state.

Gertrude recently visited Virginia Basketball alongside four-star prospect and fellow commit,  Blake Buchanan. Now, these two are future teammates for the program. And the Cavaliers need another guard in the class, based on what the future roster will look like.

It’s a guarantee that Kihei Clark will be gone after next season, while Armaan Franklin is entering his fourth season in NCAA Basketball and he very well could opt not to take the 5th year. Plus, Reece Beekman is a sneaky NBA prospect and if his scoring takes a jump, may also depart the program based on the draft stocks.

Virginia already has a pair of four-star freshman guards on the roster in Isaac McKneely and Ryan Dunn, both talented shooting guards. The issue is that with the perimeter rotation all back, it’ll be hard to see what they’ll do this upcoming season. Add Gertrude, who is better as an off-guard than someone that can run an offense, and the team with having a crowded underclassmen backcourt.

Still, that’s an issue they’ll deal with later. And if Franklin is gone then the minutes will be mostly available for all involved. With Gertrude in the fold, the Cavaliers can now focus on adding a true point guard in the coming months to round out the 2023 class.