NCAA Basketball: Analyzing the key 6 teams for 5-star forward Jarin Stevenson
Virginia Cavaliers
2023 class option
There are some blue-blood NCAA Basketball programs on this list but only one of the six head coaches has a national championship ring. Coach Tony Bennett has lost a ton of talent this offseason, including its entire frontcourt. They did add former NEC Player of the Year and Merrimack transfer, Jordan Minor as well as Oklahoma combo forward, Jacob Groves.
The Cavaliers are still waiting on the NBA Draft decisions of Armaan Franklin and Reece Beekman. If both stick around, this roster becomes much more viable next season and Stevenson would be the missing piece in the frontcourt.
2024 class option
Regardless of what they decide, the guards will definitely be gone a year from now, along with both Groves and Minor. The team has a pair of incoming freshmen bigs in both Anthony Robinson and Blake Buchanan but they’re more centers than true forwards. So Stevenson would definitely start as a freshman and have a clear idea of what his role would be.
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The scary part would be how good the roster will be. The only other confirmed long-term pieces for Virginia are guards Isaac McKneely and St. Thomas transfer, Andrew Rohde. So Coach Bennett will need to find plenty of pieces for them to get back to elite ACC status. And finally, considering how there’s always an adjustment period for players to get used to the rather unique system at Virginia, maybe Stevenson should just move up a class and get that process over with.