“It was almost like a home game. People were constantly yelling ‘Go Hoos’ and chanting while walking down the street and waiting to get into the stadium,” second-year College student Landen Barth said.
Wood was there, and he was ready. He’s always been ready.
“You’re not going to play perfectly,” Odom said. “This is not a game of perfect.”
Virginia controlled the game from start to finish, but a monster 41-point showing by junior guard Kymora Johnson ultimately turned a commanding win into a demolition derby.
Simmonds is the first Cavalier to be selected with a top three pick since 2010, and Simmonds and Pelá are the first pair of Virginia teammates to be selected by the same team since 2018.
“For me, [Virginia] was the best basketball environment I've been in in my life,” Salt said. “A lot of lessons I learned [were] at Virginia.”
With ACC play looming, three beat writers assess Virginia’s performance and prospects for the rest of the season.
The good news is that this young squad has the time and tenacity required to learn from this season’s mistakes.
“Really proud of our players,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I thought that was a great team win.”
This tracker will follow Virginia’s arrivals and departures.
"Every step is worth it because there’s no feeling like reaching a lifetime goal," Smith said.
Now 10 games into the season, the team is beginning to find its footing as one of the best offensive teams in the country.
“I feel like we missed and made mistakes that they capitalized on,” graduate linebacker James Jackson said. “It’s hard to win games when you make mistakes a lot.”
Facing tough Ivy League opponents this early in the season should help new additions to the roster acclimate to college squash and remind veterans of the speed of some of the nation’s best.
The weekend was filled with firsts, including eight wrestlers who saw their first action of the season.
