We'll get an early clue just how good Virginia men's basketball can be – Sports Illustrated

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If Virginia's football team brought raised expectations into its season, the hype around the men's basketball squad is even higher. And we'll get an early look at whether that optimism is justified.
Sunday's outdoor exhibition game against Vanderbilt at Credit One Stadium in Charleston, S.C. (noon, ESPN+) will offer our first view of the 2026-27 Cavaliers, who are coming off a 30-6 mark in Ryan Odom's first season as coach.
And it figures to offer an excellent early measuring stick for Virginia's most important players.
The Cavaliers are rated 12th in ESPN's latest Way Too Early preseason rankings, and the Commodores (27-9) are 24th. Unlike Virginia, which returns over 60 percent of its scoring, Vanderbilt will have a mostly new starting lineup, thanks to coach Mark Byington's busy offseason in the transfer portal.
The Commodores' most notable returnee, though, is junior guard Tyler Tanner, who earned first-team all-Southeastern Conference honors a year ago, averaging 19 points and five assists per game. He'll be quite a challenge for Virginia sophomore Chance Mallory, who moves into the starting point guard role after coming off the bench effectively last season.
Mallory was the only Cavalier regular with more steals (57) than turnovers (41) last year. He'll be giving up a couple of inches to Tanner and will have to work hard against him on both ends of the floor. But it figures to be an excellent test of Mallory's growth as a player.
Along those lines, it will also be interesting to see how much Johann Grunloh progresses in his second season in Charlottesville. The 7-foot German showed good athleticism, shot-blocking prowess and even a decent 3-point shot as a freshman, but a broken wrist limited his effectiveness late in the season and allowed Ugonna Onyenso to blossom into an NBA draft pick.
Odom has raved about Grunloh's expanded strength and skill set, and we'll get to see a glimpse of it on Sunday. But the Commodores have a pair of tall transfers who could make things difficult for him: 6-11 Bangot Dak, who averaged 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds last season at Colorado, and 6-10 Berke Buyuktuncel, who started 33 games at Nebraska.
Thijs de Ridder was able to overpower younger, slimmer opposing power forwards a year ago en route to first-team all-ACC honors. The Commodores have a worthy matchup for him, though, in Sebastian Williams-Adams (6-9, 251 pounds), who averaged 7.0 points and 3.5 rebounds at Auburn last season.
And Sam Lewis' defensive prowess also should be challenged on the wing by Vanderbilt's Ace Glass, who netted 16.3 points per game as a freshman at Washington State last season. At 6-7, Lewis will have a size advantage but will have to cope with Glass' quickness.
Odom also has a sizeable transfer class, and his newcomers will also get an early taste of elite competition.
After a second-round exit from the NCAA tournament last season, Odom made a conscious decision to beef up Virginia's nonconference schedule and give his teams as many stern tests as possible. With regular-season contests against Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland and UConn, he's done just that.
Even the exhibitions should test the Cavaliers.
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Steve DeShazo spent 39 years as sports editor, reporter and columnist for The Free Lance-Star newspaper in Fredericksburg, Va. He has covered University of Virginia sports for more than four decades, dating to his undergraduate days in the 1980s when he crossed paths with Ralph Sampson. He currently resides with his wife Christine in Arlington, Va., where he enjoys live music, playing pickup basketball and walking his 100-pound dog, Bear.
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