Tony Bennett and the Virginia Cavaliers have strung together five straight winning seasons since his first year at the helm, with three of those ending in NCAA Tournament bids and the past two ending in ACC Conference titles.
But they’ve largely done all of that without what many would consider to be elite level recruiting classes. Certainly, when compared to their conference rivals like Duke and North Carolina, the Cavs’ recruiting was certainly one step below.
For the 2016 class, however, Bennett has stepped up his recruiting prowess to match the team building and game day brilliance that has made his program one of the best in the country.
The latest edition to their top-five nationally ranked recruiting class is DeAndre Hunter, a four-star, 6-foot-7 shooting guard from Philadelphia.
Hunter’s commitment gives UVA three other four-star commitments, and another who’s in the 247Sports Composite top 150 ranking, and the top ranked class in the ACC. Hunter chose the Cavs over 21 other offers, including the Miami Hurricanes, who were long considered to be the leader for his services.
The most important note in this commitment, and the class that they’ve put together in general, is that UVA finally seems to have the chops on the recruiting class to compete with the others in the ACC. Many have long thought the Cavs lacked staying power, and that any continued dominance in the regular season would be an unrealistic expectation.
Bennett’s 2016 class, however, is looking to make those expectations a reality, thanks to putting Hunter together with commits like Ty Jerome and Kyle Guy.
