Cloudy skies. Low 56F. Winds light and variable..
Cloudy skies. Low 56F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: September 28, 2026 @ 9:59 pm
Virginia guard Sam Lewis takes a shot against Vanderbilt during Sunday’s exhibition game in Charleston, S.C.
Virginia guard Sam Lewis takes a shot against Vanderbilt during Sunday’s exhibition game in Charleston, S.C.
Virginia’s first tune-up tilt is in the books.
Underneath the sun-soaked sky at Credit One Stadium in Charleston, S.C., the Cavaliers suffered an 82-73 loss in their outdoor exhibition to Vanderbilt.
“It was such a unique experience for our team and our staff,” UVa coach Ryan Odom told reporters in South Carolina afterward.
Cavaliers guard Elijah Gertrude said he grew up playing basketball outside in the parks of Jersey City, New Jersey, so Sunday was nothing new for him.
“It was a tough environment being out in the sun,” Gertrude said, “but doing something that you love, you’ve got the fans here and they were showing love. So, I was doing something I did [growing up] without fans and support, so this was something I dreamed about.”
Returning Hoos standouts Thijs De Ridder and Johann Grünloh scored 8 points each, but Gertrude paced UVa with 13 points while Vanderbilt was led by Jayden Leverett’s 15 points. He was 7-of-8 from the field. Commodores star Tyler Tanner chipped in with 13 points.
Odom used every player on his roster who was available on Sunday, giving heavy minutes to his bench.
“It’s strange right now, playing a college basketball game in September,” Gertrude said. “But it’s something that we wanted and something we were looking forward to. We had been playing against each other all summer leading up to this and it was good having a chance to play against someone else one time to see where we’re at, what we have to work on and what we have to learn.”
Here are four takeaways from the Cavaliers’ first exhibition tilt:
Loyola Marymount transfer guard Jan Vide, a 6-foot-6 native of Slovenia, handled the bulk of the ball-handling responsibilities for the Hoos against the Commodores and he looked comfortable doing so.
Vide scored 8 points, dished out three assists, had a steal and grabbed a rebound.
He filled in as the starting point guard on Sunday with projected starter Chance Mallory sidelined due to an ankle injury, Odom said.
At Loyola Marymount, Vide started 27 games last season and he averaged 12.1 points per game. His four assists per contests were sixth most in the West Coast Conference.
So, if Odom and his Hoos are ever in a situation when they need to go bigger at point guard or they want to play the 5-foot-10 Mallory off the ball, they could do so by deploying Vide at point guard.
Vide, now in his fourth year, began his career as a freshman at UCLA before transitioning to Loyola Marymount and becoming a reliable player for the Lions over the last two years.
Last week, second-year UVa assistant coach Matt Henry told The Daily Progress that the Cavaliers would use their preseason games to test different lineup combinations.
They certainly did that on Sunday.
UVa started Vide, Sam Lewis, Nolan Adekunle, De Ridder and Grünloh. But the Cavaliers used 12 players in total during the scrimmage, allowing Odom and his staff the chance to examine and evaluate different groups of players together.
One of the more intriguing lineups used was a larger-sized crew with Vide alongside Jurian Dixon in the backcourt, De Ridder at the 3, Silas Barksdale at the 4 and Grünloh at center. De Ridder did not play much on the wing last season, but doing so more frequently this coming season could net him more looks from the perimeter or more chances to play against defenders who aren’t physical enough to guard him.
And when UVa went to that lineup against Vanderbilt midway through the first half, Barksdale ended up with a clean shot from 3 that he knocked down to cut the Commodores’ lead to 18-17.
The 7-foot Grünloh made 21 shots from behind the 3-point line a season ago, but he fractured his wrist before the postseason and did not attempt a 3 in the ACC or NCAA tournaments because of the injury.
On Sunday, though, he got a chance to show off that his wrist has healed and he’s still a capable shooter from deep.
He sank both 3s he took against Vanderbilt. If he can make 3s at a higher percentage than his 35% clip last season, then UVa’s offense will force opponents to step outside and defend him when he does catch the ball at the top of the key or on the wing beyond the arc.
The German import Adekunle was advertised as likely contributor who could bring 3-point shooting and hustle to the Cavaliers.
He had no problem doing the dirty work during his minutes on Sunday. He led UVa with six rebounds, including two boards he grabbed on the offensive end. Adekunle was only 1-of-4 from 3, but he was productive in other ways against Vanderbilt and that’s a positive for the Hoos to know that even when his 3s aren’t falling at a high clip, he can still help them.
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