Louisville basketball: Post NBA Draft deadline ACC power rankings
By Jacob Lane
4. Virginia
Departing: DeAndre Hunter, Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, Jack Salt, Marco Anthony (Transfer)
Notable returnees: Braxton Key, Kihei Clark, Mamadi Diakite, Jay Huff
Newcomers: Kadin Shedrick, Casey Morsell, Justin McKoy
The reigning National Champions lose their four best players from 2018-19 and somehow will still be a preseason top four ACC team; kudos to Tony Bennett.
The Hoos will have to replace the scoring and defense of DeAndre Hunter, leadership and big shot making of Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy, and the inside presence of Jack Salt, none of which will be easy, but with incoming talented freshmen Casey Morsell and Kadin Shedrick, along with returnees and championship contributors Braxton Key, Kihei Clark, and Mamadi Diakite – they are in a good position to compete for years to come in the ACC.
As per usual, the Cavaliers will likely have a few players go from bench warmers or redshirts to overnight contributors/stars. Watch for 6’7″ knockdown shooter Kody Stattman to become a candidate to drop 30 on Louisville out of nowhere, as well as 7’0″ redshirt freshman Francisco Caffaro, an international recruit who has real potential to follow in the footsteps of Diakite for Virginia.
In order to be a top four team next season, Virginia will need Braxton Key and Mamdi Diaktie to go from bench contributors to stars, something I believe both can do under the coaching of Tony Bennett.