How much more relaxing did that make your offseason?

Yeah, I mean, maybe a little bit more, for sure.

I mean, the year before, our initial year at UVA was a little bit of a whirlwind.

That's an understatement.

Having to sign an entirely new roster was definitely challenging.

But our staff, assistant coaches, did an unbelievable job of targeting guys that fit UVA, fit our program, really good players, and committed to having a great season.

And so we were fortunate to have one.

How much does your confidence in your roster influence your comfort in scheduling as difficult as you did?

Given your roster, you return eighty three percent of it from last year's a cc tournament runner-up how much more relaxing did that make your offseason effect

yeah i mean maybe a little bit more for sure i did the year before our initial year uv a was was uh... a little bit of a whirlwind that's an understatement but Having to sign an entirely new roster was definitely challenging.

But our staff and assistant coaches did an unbelievable job of targeting guys that fit UVA, fit our program, really good players, and committed to having a great season.

And so we were fortunate to have one.

And this year, we're fortunate to have guys back, to have not only guys that played a ton of minutes and the four guys that are here today, Tess, Sam, Chance, and Johan.

We also had some guys that didn't play as much that were developing in their games.

helped us more in practice than they did in the games that still decided to stay as well.

How much does your confidence in your roster influence your comfort in scheduling as difficult as you did?

Just what's it like, you know, kind of being in Chance's aura, for lack of a better term right now?

Yeah, Chance is Chance.

He's just a beautiful person.

You know, he's somebody that's high character.

His parents, his sisters, you know, all helped in the maturation process for him.

His coaches, both, you know, at STAB and then also in AAU, helped develop him in addition to his father on the court and made him the player that he is.

He's one of the toughest players I've ever coached.

Can you talk a little bit about how your staff has been able to help you retain the talent that you have when everybody's coming after them?

What attributes can they exhibit for you?

Yeah, I think we have more options that I'm going to have to work through, quite honestly.

And they're all competing every day.

They're in a dogfight, you know, these guys to try to earn their way into that top nine, ten, you know, spot.

And we have guys that can rim protect.

You know, certainly that's not going to change for us.

That's something that we really value.

What DNA does your team need to match up with those guys in Shire's style of play and potentially overtake them?

What attributes can they exhibit for you?

Yeah, I think we have more options that I'm going to have to work through, quite honestly.

And they're all competing every day.

They're in a dogfight, these guys, to try to earn their way into that top nine, ten spot.

And we have guys that can rim protect.

You know, certainly that's not going to change for us.

That's something that we really value.

What DNA does your team need to match up with those guys in Shire's style of play and potentially overtake them?

in the country?

So much.

I mean, it's hard to pick one thing.

If you want to play at the highest level, If you want to play in a program that's won a national championship and has been to Final Fours and had plenty of NBA players, which everyone wants to play in the NBA that plays in our game at our level, at a place where you're going to compete for championships within your own league and at a place where you get this world-class education within a community that embraces sports.

They certainly embrace our program in a big way.

JPJ is packed.

We're so thankful for our fans and students and supporters.

Who was Ryan Odom then?

When you look at this roster, um, I imagine you're excited about what you got.

Yeah, there's no question about it.

Um, we are gonna challenge ourselves much more in the non-conference than we did last year.

Some big, big games that all these guys wanna play in.

Our fans wanna see them.

Uh, and so that's exciting for- for us to be able to get ready for that.

Uh, we've gotta be better, you know, than we were last year if we wanna advance deep in the NCAA tournament, try to cut down the nets, you know, in our own conference.

Yeah.

What are your thoughts on the roster you've put together for '26, '27?

We're really excited about it.

Um, you know, we, we, we feel like we've, we've touched on the areas of concern that we needed, uh, you know, to focus on, to, uh, add to the roster that we already have, and the returning guys.

Um, you know, each of the returning guys have gotten better in their own right.

Um, you know, you start with the, the, the four guys that, you know, played significant minutes.

Chance has gotten much better.

His body's in tip-top shape, ready- To play bigger minutes, longer stretches.

What are the biggest keys to not just, again, having another great season at Virginia, but advancing a little bit further in March Madness in 2027?

Where do you kind of want to see their game kind of evolved this year? Test Johan Chance and Sam.

Yeah, for Tess, it's slowing down a little bit, and he's really doing a nice job with that.

The shooting, he's a good shooter.

We always want to shoot the ball at a higher clip and be more of a knockdown.

I think more than anything for him is being a closer for us.

At times, it doesn't mean he has to take the shot, but having the balance to be able to you know, finish when it's one-on-one and it's there or get fouled or, you know, make the right pass or get somebody else a cleaner look because they're so much – they're threatened, you know, by him.

And in order to do that, you have to slow down.

We dived into a little bit of it earlier on in the show, but getting back to Ryan

How do you even process what that was? That was a

hard one.

I just saw him just a second ago and I said, I know everybody's saying it, but I'm sorry about how that ended.

And, you know, we play this sport and we all coach and we give everything we can to it.

You know, as coaches, you just, you know, you have one chance with that particular team and some of these kids that you coach because, you know, he's got Boozer there for one year and some of these other guys that, you know, he's only going to be able to coach them.

in that season and you just hate it for them because they get one chance at it and um you know obviously UConn had to make the shot you know they had to make the play there to to to have it go their way and so you have to give them credit there's no question about it but Duke had such a special year, and Coach Shire just did an amazing job.

I marvel at his ability to follow Coach K in that situation, and to do it the way he's done it with such class and grace and a competitive spirit has been really fun to see.

I guess, how do you... put into context march knowing how important it is for the sport but also how small of a sample it's

I'm curious, do you think you helped them win the championship the year after? That if you don't beat them as the 16, they don't win it all the next year?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I would go that far, but I think it didn't hurt.

When you go through hard times like that and situations like that, you're either going to stand up and work a little bit harder and be a little bit tougher and be a little bit more connected, or you're going to you know, uh, you know, go away from one another.

And, and I think we know what happened, you know, they were determined team and they were a connected team and they had the best leader in the country at that time in college basketball.

And, uh, you know, he led our program back to the promised land and, and where they deserve to be because that group of people that he put together there and, and mentor during that time, uh, they were destined to do something special, uh, And I'm really excited that, you know, we were a very small part of that experience.

What is the sell around Virginia basketball right now?

Yeah, I think certainly the tradition.

You're going to sell the tradition of excellence that has existed.

I'm curious, do you think you helped them win the championship the year after? That if you don't beat them as the 16, they don't win it all the next year?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I would go that far, but I think it didn't hurt.

When you go through hard times like that and situations like that, you're either going to stand up and work a little bit harder and be a little bit tougher and be a little bit more connected, or you're going to go away from one another.

And I think we know what happened.

They were a determined team.

And they were a connected team.

And they had the best leader in the country at that time in college basketball.

What is the sell around Virginia basketball right now?

And the game has changed, and the landscape has changed, but given how well your first season is going, how did you go about, and how were you able to connect with guys and get a buy-in so quickly?

quickly?...

Yeah, I think it's, it, it takes time, and, uh, you have to accelerate that process right a- right away.

All coaches do.

We do it in different ways.

Uh, we actually took a trip in August after our preseason, uh, or summer workouts, and, and went on a trip to DC and hung out.

No pressure of playing a game, uh, just spent time together there in DC before everybody went on their way on vacation for a couple weeks.

What do you remember about that game?