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Clark will be all over UVa’s record book
With the revelation earlier this week that he would be returning for the 2022-2023 men’s basketball season, Virginia point guard Kihei Clark practically assured that his name will be all over the Cavaliers’ record book.
Clark has played in 128 games which puts him behind Mike Tobey and London Perrantes, both of whom played in 138 games during their UVa careers.
Just behind them was Malcolm Brogdon at 137. Joe Harris had the most career starts, 128, followed by Perrantes with 124.
Clark was one of three UVa players to start all 35 games this year, along with Jayden Gardner and Reece Beekman. Armaan Franklin started 34 games.
Clark had 153 assists this season, which trailed Reece Beekman’s team high of 181 assists. They will share ball-handling and distributing responsibilities again this coming season.
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Continuity
John Freeman, the guest speaker at the Roanoke Valley Sports Club last Monday, is wrapping up his first season as the radio voice for UVa football and men’s basketball.
His predecessors as voice of the Wahoos have included Dave Koehn, who left during the football season to do commentary for the Milwaukee Bucks, as well as Mac McDonald, Warren Swain and the late Chris Cramer. Cramer was sports editor of the Charlottesville Daily Progress at the same time as he was handling radio responsibilities.
Freeman, a UVa graduate from nearby Western Albemarle High School who is the son of two UVa graduates, was a good fit Monday night as the speaker when winter athletes were heralded at the Salem Civic Center.
Former Virginia Tech basketball coach and ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg is involved in discussions about speaking to the sports club in the fall.
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Transfer portal
There’s no question that Virginia is interested in Ben Vander Plas, a 6-foot-8, 232-pound redshirt senior from Ohio University, who could have an extra season of college ball as a result of the coronavirus.
Vander Plas, from Ripon, Wisconsin, got his first name from Dick Bennett, the father of UVa head coach Tony Bennett. Dick Bennett coached Vander Plas’ father at Wisconsin-Green Bay.
UVa has lost Malachi Poindexter, a walk-on from nearby Louisa County who played in 19 games this past season for a total of 121 minutes. Poindexter, who is headed to Illinois State, saw more minutes than a scholarship UVa player, Carson McCorkle, who played 78 minutes and is headed to Wofford.
The Cavaliers, who finished sixth in Division I in scoring defense, were 342nd in 3-point field goals and have been mentioned with Sean McNeil, who was second on West Virginia’s team in scoring, with 12.2 points per game, and had 57 made 3-pointers.
McNeil, a rising senior from Union, Kentucky, also has been mentioned in connection with Indiana and Louisville.
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Stocking the cupboard
Retiring Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski is leaving successor Jon Scheyer with the Nos. 1, 2, 5 and 20 in the 2002-2003 entering class, according to rivals.com. That will be followed by three of the top 21 in the 2023-24 class.
Rivals.com is showing football prospects from Virginia (mostly Northern Virginia) who are rated the Nos. 1, 6, 9 and 16 in the state for 2002-2003. Heading the list is Alex Birchmeier, a 6-5, 275-pound offensive lineman from Broad Run in Ashburn.
Birchmeier has committed to Penn State and the No. 2 prospect on the list, outside linebacker Tony Rojas from Fairfax, is reportedly visiting Penn State this weekend.
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New coach
Amaka “Mox” Agugua-Hamilton, now heading up the Virginia women’s basketball program, will be joined by Cady Pauley, who averaged 33.8 points last year at Milan (Missouri) High School.
Pauley, who previously had committed to play for Agugua-Hamilton at Missouri State, scored 3,074 points in high school. She joins Samantha Brunelle, a McDonald’s All-American when she was at William Monroe High School just up the road from Charlottesville.
Brunelle has transferred from Notre Dame, where she spent three seasons, only one prior to Muffet McGraw’s retirement as coach.