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.”
"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.
The clear highlight of the meet was senior Gary Martin’s 25 second personal record in the men’s 5k.
”We wanted to make sure we started ACC right,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “I think this is a pretty dominant win to start.”
Self-inflicted errors pained the Cavaliers all night.
“[Jacari’s] was just one of those performances where, every time he was open and he had it, you could hear the crowd going, ‘yes!,’” Odom said.
"Doesn't matter who we're playing, and we're prepared to win a one-score game in the fourth quarter.”
While the Cavaliers had a talented locker room, something just did not click this season.
Throughout the game, Virginia never surrendered, but a free throw discrepancy and off-nights from Levy and Amanze sunk the chance to steal a ranked win.
Elliott, who captained Virginia to the best regular season ACC record this year, has his Cavaliers set to play in the ACC Championship for the second time in program history.
“Kids growing up in Virginia want to root for winners, and the Hoos will prove that they are the face of the state.”
“I didn’t come all the way to Virginia as a Texas boy to win five, six games. I want to win the conference championship.”
