The young guys from Virginia sounded focused on the future at that moment.
Virginia’s Charlottesville Virginia freshman guard Elijah Gertrude played sparingly in the second half of the basketball season. Gertrude didn’t hesitate to answer when asked if he was glad he played this year as opposed to delaying his season and taking a redshirt. He had just played two minutes in UVa’s season-ending First Four loss to Colorado State last week, and he had skipped the ACC tournament.
Without a doubt, Gertrude replied. “Watching a game is not the same as being outside.” I firmly believe that venturing outside occasionally to observe the surroundings was a positive experience. It’s really different to be out on the floor than to merely observe from the sidelines.
UVa has exited an NCAA tournament without winning for the third time in a row. And once more, the Cavaliers were left to wonder what could have been and what the future might hold while other teams continued to advance through March Madness.
Senior point guard Reece Beekman said, “This year, the yo
ung guys displayed promise in their respective roles.” “I know it’s challenging to just show up when you’re getting spot minutes like that. It’s difficult to perceive. But when they came in, I believed they had a lot of potential.
Beekman is ineligible, as are transfer post players Jordan Minor and Jake Groves. The remaining players, who both redshirted this season—guard Christian Bliss and center Anthony Robinson—may make a comeback.
The Cavaliers, who have won 20 games or more in each of the previous 12 complete seasons, have also added three-star guard Ishan Sharma and four-star forward Jacob Cofie to their roster.
Of course, predicting rosters more than eight months in advance is a joke in the age of transfer portals.
Following Virginia’s 2023 NCAA tournament defeat to Furman in the first round, players like Kadin Shedrick and Isaac Traudt discussed their season-long learnings and how the upset victory by the Paladins would spur them on in the future.
