Virginia’s men’s basketball team, three years removed from a national championship, failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament when the brackets were announced on Sunday. (To make matters worse, Virginia Tech won the ACC Tournament and qualified as an 11-seed.) It’s the first time the Cavaliers have missed the tourney since 2013, a rare down year in the gilt-edged Tony Bennett era.
The 2022 team boasted Virginia’s signature tough defense, but displayed shocking ineptitude on offense, averaging 47 points per game across two ACC Tournament appearances. “When we did get some decent quality looks, we didn’t hit them,” Bennett reflected after the team’s loss to UNC—a fitting summary of the season as a whole.
The Hoos will host Mississippi State in the first round of the 32-team undercard National Invitational Tournament on Wednesday. The Cavaliers last qualified for the NIT in 2013, and lost to Iowa in the quarterfinals. Virginia has won the NIT twice, in 1992 and 1980. “The margin of error for this team was probably a little smaller than most, and I think they did a pretty good job most of the year. But it stings right now,” Bennett said.
2022 men’s basketball numbers to know
62.6 points scored per game, 14th out of 15 teams in the ACC 5.0 3-pointers made per game, 15th out of 15 teams in the ACC 15.3 points per game for leading scorer Jayden Gardner, 12th in the ACC 3.6 assist to turnover ratio for Reece Beekman, first in the ACC
Call off the tip line, say supes
The executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents penned a letter to the Youngkin administration calling for changes to the way the Virginia Department of Education has been operating since the new gov took over.
The superintendents association “disagrees with your assumption that discriminatory and divisive concepts have become widespread in Virginia school divisions,” reads the letter from Howard Kiser. The association also calls for the elimination of the tip line, an early Youngkin initiative that allowed parents to report the teaching of “divisive concepts” to the state. The Youngkin admin’s education policies “can set public education in Virginia back many years,” the letter states.
Glenn Youngkin. Supplied photo
In brief
Wheeling and dealing
Democrats in the legislature denied Andrew Wheeler, a former Trump admin EPA leader, an environmental policy post in Governor Glenn Youngkin’s cabinet earlier this year, citing Wheeler’s history as former coal lobbyist. The Youngkin administration instead decided to hire Wheeler as a “senior adviser.”
For future generations
Third Act, a group of self-identified “old and bold” activists held a rally outside Chase Bank on the Corner this week, demanding the bank pull fossil-fuel development funding. The environmentally-minded seniors, who at one point laid on the ground, spent the afternoon chanting and holding signs.
Windy city blown away
If you’ve got a hankering to see a Cubs game or gaze into the Bean, it’ll take a little longer to get there than it used to—United Airlines will no longer run nonstop service from C’ville to Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the airline announced this week. CHO still has flights to D.C., New York, Atlanta, and Charlotte.
We guess technically it’s called the Cloud Gate. File photo
COVID lows
The number of new COVID cases in the Charlottesville area is as low as it’s been in months. From March 4 to March 10, Charlottesville and Albemarle combined saw 67 new cases. The Blue Ridge Health District reports that the latest seven-day rolling average for new cases per day is 9.6, the lowest it’s been at any point in the last six months. UVA reported just six new cases between February 27 and March 6, down from the peak in late January, which saw up to 130 cases reported in a single day. Forty-four percent of city residents, and 46 percent of county residents, have received two vaccinations and the COVID booster.
UVA's Jay Huff will be key to the team's tournament hopes. Photo: Matt Riley/UVA Athletics
Even in a sport known for madness, the 2020-21 men’s college basketball season was nuts. The pandemic brought the cancellation of thousands of games, including the entire Ivy League season, and posed unprecedented challenges for teams that did play. Powerhouses like Duke and Kentucky plummeted to historic lows, yielding the first NCAA tournament without either team since Gerald Ford was president.
Here in Charlottesville, the UVA’s women’s team abandoned its season midstream. The men’s team paused its season three times due to positive COVID tests, including last weekend when a confirmed case forced the Hoos to forfeit their ACC tournament semifinal against Georgia Tech.
None of that, however, covers the most unthinkable part of this Cavaliers’ season: The team’s offense carried it to success.
Pandemic or not, the program that Coach Tony Bennett built on defense finished with its worst defensive efficiency rating since his second season (2010-11). COVID-19 surely didn’t help. While Bennett’s signature pack-line defense can take years to grasp, a UVA team that relied heavily on three newcomers had to learn it on the fly, all while a pandemic disrupted preparation and the team’s schedule.
And yet, as the defense struggled, Virginia’s offense thrived. While the team’s defensive efficiency ranking fell from No. 1 in the country last season to No. 33 this season, its offense jumped from No. 256 to No. 12, becoming Bennett’s first team to have four players average at least 9.5 points per game. A trio of sharp-shooting big men led the way, with 6′ 8″ transfer Sam Hauser (16.0 points per game) earning all-ACC honors, 7′ 1″ senior Jay Huff (13.1 ppg) making second-team all-ACC, and 6′ 9″ transfer Trey Murphy (11.3 ppg) finishing third on the team in scoring. The glue was third-year point guard Kihei Clark (9.5 ppg). Entering the season, Clark had started 50 games for Virginia. UVA’s other four starters entered the year with zero UVA starts combined.
Put it all together, and through some ups and downs, the Hoos (18-6) won their fifth regular season ACC title in eight years, ending the season ranked 15th in the country. And then COVID-19 struck again. Hours after a thrilling win over Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament last Thursday, a player tested positive for the virus, forcing the Cavs to withdraw from the tournament and begin quarantining.
At press time, UVA plans on competing in the NCAA tournament (though if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s to expect the unexpected). Assuming the team can clear COVID-19 protocols before the tournament begins this weekend, the question is how far can it go. After sitting through three double-digit losses this season, fans still have a nagging sense that, despite the team’s success, it has still not quite put it all together. Nevertheless, the numbers suggest that the sky is the limit for this team: Though there is no precedent for the pandemic, there is one for a UVA team whose offense is ranked higher than its defense. That has happened once in Bennett’s tenure, in 2019, when the Hoos became national champions.—Simon Davidson
Tournament tests
The Cavaliers are the fourth seed in the Western regionof the NCAA tournament bracket. The scouting report below looks at what may be ahead for the Hoos.
No. 13: Ohio
UVA will open its tournament run against the 13-seeded Ohio Bobcats. High off their first Mid-Atlantic Conference title in nine years, the Bobcats will roll into the NCAA first round on the back of conference tournament MVP Jason Preston. The NBA-hopeful point guard recorded his 1,000th career point as one of 22 he contributed during the MAC championship game.
But Preston’s shooting isn’t what should worry the Cavaliers most about this matchup. He ranked sixth-best in the NCAA with 7.2 assists per game through 2020-21, so his playmaking may be the biggest threat to UVA’s hopes of advancing to the second round.
The Bobcats finished red-hot. They won six of their last seven regular-season games before surging through the MAC tournament, while the Hoos will be cooling their heels in Charlottesville for over a week before they play again. The Bobcats have become a trendy first-round upset pick for national pundits; the Cavs shouldn’t take the mid-major squad for granted.
No. 5: Creighton
Should the Cavaliers get past Ohio, they could face Creighton in the round of 32. The Bluejays enter the NCAA tournament still reeling from a stunning loss in the Big East championship. Underdog Georgetown dominated from tip-off to final buzzer, at one point going on a 46-8 run as they crushed Creighton to claim the title.
But the Bluejays are more than they may have appeared in a disappointing final. One of the most balanced teams in the Big East, all five Creighton starters averaged double-digit scoring this year. Guard Marcus Zegarowski is a consistent leader, but forward Denzel Mahoney, forward Damien Jefferson, forward Christian Bishop, and guard Mitch Ballock are all threats as well. Both Bishop and Jefferson averaged more than five rebounds per game in 2020-21, while Ballock led the conference with 72 field goals. The Bluejays’ balanced offense put up 77 points per game in 2020-21, nine more than the Cavs’ average of 68.6.
Would UVA be able to keep Creighton at bay should the two teams meet? It depends on the Hoos’ success in keeping the Bluejays shooters from heating up.
No. 12: UC-Santa Barbara
UC-Santa Barbara burst into its first NCAA tournament since 2011 by winning 15 of its 16 final regular-season games on the way to a Big West title. The run feels like an inevitable step forward for a program that made the biggest single-season improvement in NCAA history back when head coach Joe Pasternak brought the 2017-18 Gauchos from six to 23 wins during his first year with the team. The Gauchos are legitimate contenders to upset Creighton, which could set up a second-round matchup with UVA.
Led by one of the NCAA’s best rebounders in JaQuori McLaughlin, UC-Santa Barbara ranked second in the Big West with an average of 76.5 points per game, even as it held opponents to just 62.8 points. The 13-point scoring margin ranks 11th-best in the NCAA and makes the team a definite obstacle to the Cavaliers’ championship hopes.
The Cavs’ methodical offense would have to be at the top of their game in this matchup—Devearl Ramsey, the Big West’s leading stealer, lurks, ready to gum up the works.—Julia Stumbaugh
By thenumbers
162: Blocks by Jay Huff in his career at UVA
Huff notched the second-most blocks by a player in program history—Ralph Sampson had 462.
81.7: UVA’s team free-throw percentage this season
That’s just a hair short of the all-time single-season record—Harvard’s 1984 squad hit 82.2 percent from the stripe.
42.8: Sam Hauser’s season three-point percentage
UVA’s sharpshooter posted the best mark in the ACC.
5: ACC regular season titles for Tony Bennett
This year’s conference title was the Hoos’ fifth in the last eight years.
23: career points scored by graduating forward Austin Katstra
Hey, it’s 23 more than most of us!
1,097: Days since UVA last lost an NCAA tournament game
In Washington, D.C., thousands flocked to Black Lives Matter Plaza—close to where federal agents teargassed protesters over the summer so Trump could take pictures holding a Bible—to celebrate Joe Biden's electoral victory. PC: Eze Amos
Bye-bye, Trump!
A quiet fall day on the Downtown Mall quickly turned into a party on Saturday morning as word spread that Joe Biden had won Pennsylvania, giving him enough electoral votes to win the presidential race.
People cheered and clapped in celebration of the Democrat’s long-awaited victory, while cars sporting Biden-Harris flags honked as they passed the mall.
Several hours later, community organizers Don Gathers and Katrina Turner led a last-minute victory rally at the free speech wall. Following several speeches from activists and community members, the crowd sang and danced, overjoyed at Donald Trump’s defeat.
“It is a historic moment. We now have a woman going into the executive office, and to put the cherry on that sundae, a Black woman,” said Gathers.
Celebrations erupted across the country as Biden’s win dominated headlines, sparking fireworks, parades, and other festivities.
In nearby Washington, D.C., thousands flocked to Black Lives Matter Plaza—close to where federal agents teargassed protesters over the summer so Trump could take pictures holding a Bible—waving flags, banging pots and pans, dancing, and popping champagne bottles amidst whoops and hollers. Others reveled in front of the fenced-off White House, later booing and flicking off Trump’s motorcade when he arrived back from hours on the golf course.
“Sha na na, hey hey, goodbye!” shouted the crowd at the White House.
Confederate time capsule
In September, Albemarle County removed the Confederate statue from in front of the courthouse, and in the process revealed a dented, waterlogged time capsule that had been filled with mementos and buried below the monument more than a century before.
Archivists at UVA library have now sifted through the time capsule’s contents. Most of the documents are unreadable, the paper not having survived “a century of immersion in dirty, acidic water,” the librarians wrote in a blog post. Other things did last, however, including three bullets that had been collected from a local battlefield. The capsule’s creators must have thought they were burying Confederate bullets, but modern historical analysis reveals that the bullets were in fact fired by Union guns.
PC: Eze Amos
_________________
Quote of the week
“That man is gone! That’s it. Trump is gone.”
—community activist Katrina Turner, speaking to NBC29 during an impromptu Downtown Mall rally on Saturday
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In brief
Hopeful ’Hoos
UVA men’s basketball clocked in at No. 4 in the nation in the first AP preseason poll of the 2020-21 season. The Cavs are still, technically speaking, defending national champions. The team will look to build on a strong finish in last spring’s COVID-shortened season. UVA opens on November 25 with a neutral-site game against St. Peter’s.
Tragedy on 29
After being struck by a car on U.S. 29 last Tuesday evening, 23-year-old Marcos E. Arroyo died of his injuries at UVA hospital on Monday. He had been trying to cross the highway near the intersection of 29 and Twentyninth Place, close to Fashion Square Mall. Last year, 41-year-old Bradley Shaun Dorman also died after trying to cross 29 North near Gander Drive, highlighting the need for improved pedestrian infrastructure on the busy highway.
Free college
Piedmont Virginia Community College will use CARES Act funding to offer free spring tuition to those who’ve received unemployment benefits since August 1—or who’ve taken on a new part-time job that pays less than $15 per hour. The no-cost classes will apply to high-demand career areas, including early childhood education, health care, IT, and skilled trades. Students must enroll by December 14.
Military surveillance
Just days after The Washington Post published a scathing report last month on the “relentless racism” Black students and alumni faced at Virginia Military Institute, Governor Ralph Northam ordered a third-party investigation into the state-funded school. Last week, Northam pushed forward with the plan, adding $1 million to the proposed state budget for the probe. Lawmakers will review and approve budget revisions during this week’s special session.
The opening of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers is meant to invite people inside to gather on the small, round lawn for celebration, commemoration, or contemplation.
First glimpse of enslaved laborers memorial
On July 16—just as we were sending last week’s issue to press—community members got to peek behind the construction fencing of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at UVA, adjacent to the Rotunda and across the street from Bodo’s on the Corner.
Made of stone and 80 feet in diameter, the Freedom Ring, as it’s called, is a dual circle with a single opening, symbolizing a broken shackle. The opening is meant to invite people inside to gather on the small, round lawn for celebration, commemoration, or contemplation.
The Charlottesville community (including likely descendants of the people the memorial honors) had a say in the design. During a July 11 conversation at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Mabel O. Wilson, design team member and architectural historian at Columbia University, said that folks insisted the memorial express some of the many dualities of the African American experience.
For example, the monument’s exterior wall, made from Virginia granite, is textured to evoke scarring—a symbol of both the terrible violence of slavery in the American South and ceremonial beautification practices honoring life achievements in some West African cultures.
It’s estimated that 5,000 enslaved people built and helped maintain the university before emancipation. The names of approximately 3,000 of them will be engraved in the polished stone on the inside of the ring. Memory markers that can be engraved at a later date will honor those whose identities are not yet recovered.
Construction on the monument began in January, and when it’s done in the fall, it will be the second memorial to African American history erected in Charlottesville this year. A marker commemorating the lynching of John Henry James was dedicated July 12 in Court Square. The plaque is part of an Equal Justice Initiative to make more visible the stories of racial terror throughout the United States.
And, the heritage center is fundraising for a third local monument to the African American experience: an abstract sculpture by Melvin Edwards memorializing Vinegar Hill.
C-VILLE and ACLU attorneys ask for suit dismissal
Attorneys representing C-VILLE Weekly, news editor Lisa Provence, and UVA professor Jalane Schmidt filed motions July 22 asking that a defamation lawsuit by Edward Dickinson Tayloe II be dismissed. Tayloe is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city and City Council for its votes to remove Confederate monuments, and he alleges an article in C-VILLE about the plaintiffs in the case defamed him “by implication.”
Schmidt, who is represented by the ACLU of Virginia, says in a statement, “As a public historian, being able to give accurate historical context regarding current events is crucial. That is why I am working with the ACLU to defend my right to free speech.”
The ACLU’s court filing says Tayloe “seeks to censor the opinion of those [who] question both his support for the Confederate statues and his motivations for defending them,” and that his suit sends “a clear message to others who wish to opine on matters of public concern” that if they disagree or critique him, they, too “will face the threat of a lawsuit.”
C-VILLE’s filing says, “Not a single fact in the article is alleged to be false.”
All defendants are asking the judge to award attorneys’ fees under Virginia’s SLAPP—strategic lawsuit against public participation—statute.
Quote of the week
“Send him back.”—Virginia House and Senate Democrats say they’ll boycott the 400th commemorative session in Jamestown on July 30 if President Trump attends
In brief
Inciters sentenced
On July 19, a federal judge found three Rise Above Movement members from California guilty of violence they committed as part of their conspiracy to riot—but not for hate crimes—for incidents related to the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville on August 12, 2017. RAM leader Benjamin Daley was sentenced to 37 months, while Thomas Gillen and Michael Miselis received 33 and 27 months, respectively.
Emergency management
The board of the beleaguered Emergency Communications Center, whose director abruptly resigned in March and where the employees who handle 911 calls had complained about excessive overtime and serious understaffing, announced a new executive director July 18. Larry “Sonny” Saxton Jr. has 25 years in public safety in Missouri and will start August 26.
Paycheck ends
Former Charlottesville police chief Al Thomas, who resigned effective immediately in December 2017 following the events of August 12, continued to collect his $134,000 salary until July 15, NBC29 reports.
Caplin dies
Mortimer Caplin, whose name adorns several facilities at UVA, died July 15 at 103. Caplin was a UVA law professor emeritus and taught 33 years at the law school. He served as IRS commissioner under JFK, and was the only chief tax collector to appear on the cover of Time magazine.
License of champions
UVA basketball fans can keep the national championship thrill going with license plates proclaiming this year’s NCAA tournament win. The plates are limited editions, and the DMV says don’t wait around if you want one.
Friendship Court was one of three local redevelopment projects to receive millions in funding last week. (Photo courtesy of Grimm and Parker)
Funding cut loose
Long-on-the-books redevelopment plans for Friendship Court, Southwood Mobile Home Park, and Crozet’s town center got millions in funding last week. Southwood and Crozet Plaza each got a $3.2-million go-ahead from Albemarle’s Board of Supervisors June 19, contingent upon rezoning approval in August. And Friendship Court can start phase one of its redevelopment next spring.
Southwood: Habitat for Humanity bought the mobile home park off Old Lynchburg Road in 2007, and wants to remake it as a mixed-use development with 700 to 800 mixed income units—without displacing any of the residents. Habitat plans to build 450 units in phase one, with 75 that will be affordable for 40 years. But before any checks are cut, the county wants detailed plans.
Crozet Plaza: The former Barnes Lumber will be redeveloped by Crozet New Town Associates—Frank Stoner and L.J. Lopez, the same guys who rehabilitated the Jefferson School. The plaza will have retail and commercial spaces, a hotel, and approximately 52 residential units in its first phase, as well as street extensions into the congested, growth-area neighborhoods currently accessed only by Hilltop Street. Bonus for the county: Ultimately it will own the plaza.
Friendship Court: On June 21, Piedmont Housing Alliance, which bought Friendship Court in 2015, announced it received more than $15.8 million in tax credits as part of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. The credits can be sold to an investor, bringing nearly $15 million in funding, which allows phase one of the Friendship Court redevelopment plan to begin. Piedmont Housing has stressed that current residents will not be displaced, and it hopes to open the first 150 affordable units by 2021.
Quote of the week
“The essential property of mercy is that it applies to the undeserving.”—James Fields’ attorneys in a memo seeking to avoid life in prison for the convicted killer
In brief
Splitsville
Charlottesville Tomorrow is ending its 10-year partnership with The Daily Progress, one of the first in the country between a daily and a nonprofit. The digital news source, known for covering government meetings and providing free content to the Progress, plans to change its mission to in-depth reporting that “improves local decision making” and expands civic engagement, while working towards “a sustainable subscriber-supported revenue model,” says executive director (and former C-VILLE editor) Giles Morris.
Another statue petition
Antiwar activist David Swanson is collecting signatures to remove the statue of “Conqueror of the Northwest” George Rogers Clark that sits on UVA property at West Main and JPA. Albemarle native Clark is depicted on a horse confronting a Native American family with several of his men, one of whom is wielding a gun. The statue is the fourth donated by Paul Goodloe McIntire that some people want to disappear from the center of town.
Cavs get the call
Three players from UVA’s national championship-winning men’s basketball team had their names read at the 2019 NBA Draft last week. De’Andre Hunter went fourth overall to the Atlanta Hawks, Ty Jerome earned the 24th selection by the Phoenix Suns, and Kyle Guy was taken with the 55th pick by the Sacramento Kings. Virginia Tech’s Nickeil Alexander-Walker was picked 17th by the New Orleans Pelicans.
Robert Tracci launched his campaign Tuesday morning in front of the Albemarle County Courthouse. (Photo: Matt Weyrich)
Tracci in
Robert Tracci announced he’s seeking a second term as Albemarle commonwealth’s attorney June 25, and says he wants to work with the General Assembly to set THC levels to determine stoned-driver impairment and help former convicts to re-enter society. He faces Democratic nominee Jim Hingeley, a former public defender, in November.
DMV for three
Lawyers for Virginia’s AG were in federal court for the third time seeking to dismiss a lawsuit against the DMV for the automatic suspension of driver’s licenses with no notice nor consideration of ability to pay. The AG rep argued that Governor Ralph Northam has ordered current suspended licenses be reinstated July 1 and that the General Assembly could repeal the law, an argument that plaintiffs’ attorney, Legal Aid Justice Center director Angela Ciolfi, scoffed at.
Fun and games
Being music phenoms isn’t enough for Dave Matthews and custom guitar maker Brian Calhoun. They’ve launched a new board game called 25 Outlaws, with Matthews-drawn illustrations, and a kids’ version of Chickapig called Chickapiglets, both of which will be available at a Target near you.
Clarification: Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney wants to work with the General Assembly to set statutory levels to determine marijuana impairment and he will not specifically be targeting stoned drivers.
Good news for hockey players, figure skaters, and curlers who have been adrift since the Main Street Arena closed in spring 2018. Construction is scheduled to begin on a new ice rink in Brookhill, the Coran Capshaw and Alan Taylor-owned Riverbend Development project off U.S. 29 in northern Albemarle, in July.
Nonprofit Friends of Charlottesville Ice Park is raising money to build the long-awaited $5.6 million ice park, and there’s a lot of naming rights up for grabs. Want to see your name on the Zamboni? It’s available. The penalty box? That could be yours.
The new 36,056-square-foot regulation-sized facility promises seating for 400 and will be the home of both the UVA and JMU hockey teams. It features a state-of-the-art roof and improved party facilities and locker rooms, as well as a pro shop.
The skating community in Charlottesville has seen tremendous growth since 1996, when the Main Street Arena was constructed. As of 2017, the number of adult hockey teams in the area had grown from four to 17, along with five kids teams, one curling club, and three figure skating clubs.
Construction on the project is scheduled to be complete in May 2020.
Other opportunities to slap a moniker on the new ice facility include:
Building
Locker rooms
Bleachers
Concession stand/bar
28 rink signs
4 logos on the ice
Sponsors, like the official dentist or official chiropractor of the new ice rink
Quote of the week
“I have an entire filing cabinet right by my front door that I would be able to knock over so someone couldn’t enter the room. And that’s really painful to have to plan and start my year like that.”—Burnley-Moran teacherCarol Buschingabout what keeps her awake at night, at a gun safety roundtable June 10 with Senator Tim Kaine
In brief
Nixing TJ’s b’day
Mayor Nikuyah Walker proposed ditching Thomas Jefferson’s April 13 birthday as a paid city holiday, and replacing it with Liberation and Freedom Day in March to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved people in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. City attorney John Blair will address revising the holiday observance ordinance at the June 17 or July 1 council meeting.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the city councilors who voted to remove statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson don’t want to face a jury in Charlottesville and have requested a change of venue, alleging jury bias from extensive media coverage and a courtroom that’s too noisy, small, and hot.
Deeds challenger
Attorney Elliott Harding, former legislative director for Republican Tom Garrett, signaled his intention to run as an independent against longtime Democratic state Senator Creigh Deeds. In a tweet, Harding said his governing philosophy better represents the people of the 25th District, which stretches to the West Virginia border.
Quarry tragedy
Police recovered the body of Hanover County’s Henry Morin, 18, who was last seen swimming with friends at a Schuyler quarry June 4. Although private property, the quarry is a popular spot for teens who take a risk when choosing to jump. Morin would have graduated this week, and planned to attend college in Colorado.
UVA baseball drafts
Two UVA players were selected in the MLB amateur draft. Shortstop Tanner Morris was picked in the fifth round by the Toronto Blue Jays and right-handed pitcher Noah Murdock was tapped in the seventh round by the Kansas City Royals.
Championship tomes
At least two books have been released about the UVA men’s basketball team’s comeback journey. The Daily Progress produced Road to Redemption just weeks after the Wahoo win. Now former Progress sportswriter Jerry Ratcliffe and August Free Press editor Chris Graham have come out with Team of Destiny, which was released by tk publisher June 10.
Fairer ED
UVA reintroduced an early decision application option for high school seniors applying in August. The university stopped early decision in 2007 to avoid disadvantaging low-income students reliant on financial aid. The new option aims to be fairer and will release need-based financial aid decisions at the same time as early admissions decisions.
Police Chief RaShall Brackney held a press conference in March to discuss producing arrest records in an attempt to prove transparency at the department.
Eze Amos
City blasts Police Civilian Review Board
A couple days after C-VILLE opinion columnist Molly Conger wrote about the importance of the still-developing but much-scrutinized Police Civilian Review Board, the board found itself the subject of another controversy.
The CRB has been working for nine months to create bylaws to establish a permanent board that will process complaints against the cops. In an April 23 story on its most recent meeting, the Daily Progress detailed a “breaking point” between the board and Police Chief RaShall Brackney, alleging that Brackney would not schedule a public meeting with CRB members.
Then the city sent out an unusual, unsignedpress release refuting those claims, and accusing a CRB member of “inaccurately characteriz[ing]” emails between Brackney and the board, specifically that the chief “refused to meet or was not available for the entire month of June.”
“I am that board member, and I said no such thing,” says Josh Bowers, who adds that he couldn’t have mischaracterized the messages at the meeting, because he was reading them verbatim.
Bowers also denies saying Brackney refusedto meet, though he did say it has been difficult to schedule meetings with her.
“No city official was at our last board meeting, so I’m not sure where the city got its information,” he says. “It is quite clear to me that those responsible for this press release failed to do their homework.”
Conger tweeted that it was a “deeply concerning development,” and it seemed “wildly inappropriate” for the city to issue such a “scathing” press release without any representatives at the CRB meeting.
The city also said in its release that the terms of the current board members would not be extended this summer, when a new board is supposed to be selected.
“This could be a death knell for the nascent civilian review board,” Conger wrote. “The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the city wants to smother the infant board in its crib.”
Linh Vinh, a member of the People’s Coalition that teamed up with the CRB to draft bylaws, says Brackney has been “superficially flexible” with her meeting schedule.
When the CRB expressed interest in creating a memorandum of understanding with the chief, which would focus on access to department data and files, she appeared interested in the collaborative process and asked Bowers to send her the draft.
“He sends it to her, and all of a sudden her availability is all booked up,” says Vinh. When Bowers asked if there were any dates outside of the suggested period that she could meet, says Vinh, “No response.”
Quote of the week
“I’m hoping a few more Democrats jump into the race for the White House. If the total hits 31, the party can open a Baskin-Robbins and name a flavor for each candidate.” —UVA Center for Politics director Larry Sabato in an April 24 tweet.
In brief
Confederates score
Two years into the Monument Fund lawsuit against the city, Judge Rick Moore ruled that the statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, which City Council unanimously voted to remove after August 12, are war memorials and protected by state code. Still to be decided: whether councilors have immunity and what issues the defendants can have decided in a jury trial.
Heyer memorial stomped
Over the weekend, a white supremacist in a purple T-shirt, cuffed jeans, and black boots posted a video to Instagram where he kicked over flowers at the longstanding memorial to Heather Heyer on Fourth Street. Activists have identified him as Dustin Dudley of Salem, and while police did not confirm his identity, they said the event is under investigation, and anyone with information should contact the police department.
Otherwise engaged
photo Matt Riley
UVA men’s basketball Coach Tony Bennett announced he’s received inquiries about the national champs visiting the White House, and with some of the team pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from the university, it would be “difficult if not impossible” to reunite the team. “We would have to respectfully decline an invitation.”
Rescue squad beef
The Board of Supervisors recently voted to dissolve the 45-year-old Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad because of a reported struggle to retain volunteers. But when the squad moved to donate its land to a nonprofit, the county wasn’t having it: On April 18, Albemarle officials filed a petition for a temporary injunction and requested an emergency order to prevent it from transferring its assets.
New job
Denise Johnson will take on the role of supervisor of equity and inclusion in Charlottesville City Schools, a job created this year. Serving as the current executive director of City of Promise and a former school counselor, Johnson is a Charlottesville native and graduate of city schools.
$2 million bill
That’s what Kim Jong Un wants the United States to pay for the hospital care of UVA student Otto Warmbier, whom North Korean officials released from their country in a coma before he died. Korean government officials say President Donald Trump pledged to pay the bill before Warmbier’s release—but Trump says he didn’t and he’s not going to.
All eyes on Biden
Joe Biden is getting some local heat for his Charlottesville-focused presidential campaign announcement.
From the moment rumors began to swirl that former vice president Joe Biden might announce his 2020 presidential run in Charlottesville, one thing became clear: Local activists did not want him here.
Biden ultimately decided to announce via video—UVA professor Siva Vaidhyanathan said “we stared him down” on Twitter—but the first word out of his mouth in that official campaign video was “Charlottesville.”
To no surprise, this prompted several local opinions, with many calling for Biden to donate to the Charlottesville Community Resilience Fund for August 12 victims, while former mayor Mike Signer joined the pro-Biden camp.
Tweeted Reverend Seth Wispelwey, “For how much #Charlottesville (and our traumatic footage) seems to be motivating and framing @JoeBiden’s candidacy, one might think we would’ve received a call or visit in the past 20 months.”
City Council candidate Michael Payne asked, “Will Biden show up for public housing in Charlottesville?…For the Black Student Union? For police accountability?”
Councilor Wes Bellamy said there’s no real way to get around the city being in the spotlight. “[I’d] much rather it be discussed and [have] national figures like the president talk about how they’re going to deal w/it.”
A combination of jogging while picking up trash—who wouldn’t want to go plogging? Easter Sunday, from 1 to 5pm, is your chance.
“Instead of hunting for Easter eggs, we’re hunting for litter,” says organizer and self-proclaimed tree-hugger Brady Earnhart. He’s never been plogging, but was immediately intrigued when he read about the European craze in The New Yorker.
Earnhart says his event will probably be more of a stroll than a jog, and will start and end at Rapture on the Downtown Mall. “Get some exercise
while you’re making Charlottesville a prettier place, and hang out with a crowd who feels the way you do about it,” he says.
Participants will break into smaller groups and collect as much garbage as they can from the designated zones, which can be found on a map on the Facebook event page, “Easter Plogging: A Holiday Litter Hunt.”
Bring your smartphone and plastic grocery bags (for collecting) if you’ve got ’em, says Earnhart.
And if you’re in the mood for more environmentally-friendly (and plogging!) events, here are just a few options:
Plog with the prez
Join UVA President Jim Ryan on April 19 at 7am at Madison Hall for running and litter pickup, one of more than 20 university-sponsored Earth Week events. A full schedule can be found at sustainability.virginia.edu.
Break out your bike helmet
Piedmont Environmental Council and other groups are leading a casual ride April 19 at 5:30pm through neighborhood streets, along bike lanes,
and greenways, with an optional social hour and advocacy brainstorming session to follow. Meet at Peloton Station.
Lace up your hiking boots
Join Wild Virginia on a guided two- to three-mile hike at Montpelier April 27 from 10am to noon. The cost is $10 with a $5 recommended donation to Wild Virginia, and those interested can sign up by searching “Nature Exploration Hike at Montpelier” on Eventbrite.
Quote of the week
“[Discriminatory symbols] certainly include Confederate imagery, which evokes a time when black people were enslaved, sold, beaten, and even killed at the whim of their masters.”—Educator/activist Walt Heinecke to the Albemarle School Board April 11
In brief
Don’t go
A petition started by UVA alumna Lacey Kohlmoos asks the men’s basketball team not to visit the White House in the wake of their NCAA championship win, and at press time, the online document had 10,900 of the 11,000 requested John Hancocks. But here’s the catch: While the winner may traditionally be extended an invitation to the president’s abode, as of yet, the Cavaliers have not been invited.
Rebel students
Since Albemarle Superintendent Matt Haas banned white supremacist and Nazi imagery on clothing as disruptive, six students have been counseled, Haas told the school board April 11. The first, reported as wearing a hat with Confederate imagery, also had on a Confederate T-shirt. That student spent several days at home.
Eze Amos
Riot free
Charlottesville police reported minimal mayhem as Hoos celebrated UVA’s national basketball championship into the wee hours of April 9. Police made three misdemeanor arrests for drunk in public, trespassing, and assault. UVA police reported three calls for vandalism, and fire and rescue responded to seven burned sofas/bonfires.
Crozet express
JAUNT is planning to launch a new bus service from Crozet to UVA and Sentara Martha Jefferson starting August 5, with other stops to allow riders to connect with transit options, according to the Progress. JAUNT, which is still seeking input, aims to keep the ride to no more than 45 minutes and will charge $2 each way.
Good pork
Virginia’s U.S. senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine get $43 million in federal funding from HUD for affordable housing in Virginia, including $875,000 for Charlottesville Redevelopment & Housing Authority.
Ryan’s run
UVA prez Jim Ryan ran his ninth Boston Marathon April 15 in honor of 26 teachers, one for every mile. Donors contributed $260 to get an educator who had made a difference listed on Ryan’s shirt.
London Perrantes has been calling the shots as UVA's starting point guard since he was a freshman. Photo by Matt Riley
London Perrantes was in middle school when a grown man threatened to fight him over basketball. He and his best friend, Maasai, were playing pick-up ball in Santa Monica, California, where the two grew up together. Maasai and Perrantes spent their afternoons on the local basketball courts, facing off against older men—who often grew frustrated with Perrantes when they saw how good he was—how good this kid was.
“Whatever, let’s just get back to the game,” Perrantes said after the incident.
Always the cool head.
“He was always playing with older people,” his mom, Karina, says. “Even when he was playing with organized teams, he was playing an age level up.”
That might explain why, as a freshman, Perrantes started in all but four games for the UVA men’s basketball team, handling the ball with a maturity that often surprised fans, teammates and his coach.
London Perrantes, age 5 and as a high school senior
“London is a player that, when he got here, had tremendous feel and it was instantaneous when he was on the floor,” coach Tony Bennett says. “He just steadied everything…and I thought he showed remarkable poise for a first-year.”
Bennett and Perrates have been close from the start, and this continues to affect how the team plays. With Bennett’s experience as a point guard in the NBA, Perrantes says their relationship has shaped how he plays the point guard position at Virginia.
“We can throw ideas off of each other at all times,” Perrantes, now a senior, says. “He’s open to listening to what I have to say and I’m also listening to what he has to say so just being able to have that coach-player relationship is huge, especially for our team and our team chemistry.”
This season marked a transition for the Cavaliers. After making it to the Elite Eight last year, the Hoos lost their top two scorers in Anthony Gill and Malcolm Brogdon, who averaged 18.2 and 13.8 points per game, respectively.
Last year, with Perrantes running point, he was the “assist man,” averaging 4.3 assists per game. At the start of this year, Bennett had his eye on Perrantes as the one who needed to step into the lead scoring role. But could the point guard suddenly up his points per game by eight? And would he need to?
The answers became clear as the Cavaliers notched their first few games: While Perrantes was still a key player, everyone on the team clearly felt the call to step up his game.
On a Friday night in early November, the Cavaliers were poised to take the floor for the first game of the season, a face off against UNC Greensboro that would wind up looking more like a warm up for Virginia.
But it was the first game for Bennett’s new batch of Cavaliers, and questions about the team’s season proliferated.
How will they compare with last year’s team? Who’s going to step up and fill the gap left by Brogdon? By Gill? Even Mike Tobey, sixth man of the year for the 2014-2015 season and the starting center in 20 games for the Cavaliers last year, was a regular contributor for the team. And Evan Nolte, a senior forward last season, hit key three-pointers in several of Virginia’s games, including two during the Cavs’ March 12 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Championship.
Most importantly, though, who would pick up the slack this year?
The team’s answer? Everyone.
In a 76-51 win over UNC-Greensboro, the Cavs saw double-figures from four players: junior Marial Shayok, redshirt junior Darius Thompson, junior Isaiah Wilkins and Perrantes.
While Shayok was Virginia’s leading scorer with 15 points, sophomore Jarred Reuter, redshirt sophomore Jack Salt, redshirt junior Devon Hall, and freshmen Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome all pitched in with points of their own.
Darius Thompson. By Matt Riley
After another 15-point game against Yale on November 20 and a 12-point rack up against Grambling State on November 22, Shayok has since cooled down to a solid 9.6 points per game: a key part of the Cavaliers’ offense this year, but a far cry from the buckets per game that Brogdon delivered.
Expecting Shayok (or any other guard on the team for that matter) to take the place of Brogdon would be like exchanging your Harley-Davidson for a bicycle but still expecting to get to work on time without leaving any earlier.
Bennett said much the same thing in the team’s first press conference of the season, when he talked about the Virginia team without Brogdon and Gill.
“You don’t just replace those guys,” Bennett said. “It’s not just, oh—we’ve got the exact replica of Malcolm Brogdon or Anthony Gill—we don’t. We have some different pieces.”
As it turns out, the Cavaliers have lots of different pieces.
Coach Tony Bennett. Photo by Matt Riley
It was 21-19 Virginia—too close for comfort for the fans at the end of the first half. The game clock read 3:09 and Yale’s Blake Reynolds was on a fast break.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this; Virginia should have been safely ahead by now. This was JPJ, after all: Virginia’s court, Virginia’s crowd, Virginia’s advantage.
Regardless, Reynolds was still on a break, and a sense of inevitability washed over the crowd.
Two easy points for Yale: Tie game.
Virginia races to get back. Reynolds goes up for the layup with his right hand—here we go—but the ball never makes it to the hoop.
In fact, the ball barely leaves Reynolds’ hand before it’s swatted out of the air by Wilkins. Thwack. The whole arena hears the impact and soon the whole court hears the resounding “Ohhhhh!” of the crowd.
An unlucky deflection sends the ball into the hands of Yale’s Anthony Dallier, and with the clock at 3:02 Sam Downey goes up for the layup Reynolds missed.
Virginia’s fans release a collective sigh, but they needn’t have worried because Downey’s shot never reaches the hoop either.
A second hand reaches out for the ball and executes the same off-the-backboard block as Wilkins, complete with an unlucky deflection back to Yale. Only this time it’s not Wilkins. It’s redshirt freshman Mamadi Diakite.
Isaiah Wilkins. Photo by Matt Riley
UVA students jump up and down after the double play, clapping frantically as Yale’s shot clock continues to wind down.
This is the defensive Virginia team that Cavalier fans have been waiting for, albeit the Wilkins and Diakite double-block looks more like the defensive style of Darion Atkins from two years ago than of last season’s Gill.
That’s one thing Bennett, and UVA fans, have to look forward to this season. Sure, at times the team’s game is a little scrappier than last year’s squad—the Cavs aren’t quite the well-oiled machine on offense that they were last year—but so far they are holding their own defensively.
Even in tough matchups against Ohio State and West Virginia, UVA held its opponents to relatively low totals. In Ohio
State’s case, the Cavs forced 20 turnovers (but turned over the ball 10 times themselves).
As of Monday, December 12, the Cavaliers are first in the nation in points allowed per game, allowing only 47.6 points per game thus far.
Several of those games, though, were against unranked teams, and Virginia is expected to struggle defensively in conference play, which begins December 28 against Louisville, and brings in tougher teams like No. 7-ranked North Carolina and No. 5-ranked Duke.
Perrantes says he expects the ACC to be even more competitive than last year, when the conference sent seven teams to the NCAA tournament and put two in the Final Four, not to mention Virginia’s own appearance in the Elite Eight.
“We play, night in, night out, the best teams in the country. It’s a tough task to play in the ACC, and that’s what we kind of preach to the recruits that come here,” Perrantes says, explaining that young players like Guy and Jerome are eager to take on the challenge.
That’s the other good news about this year’s team: The bench runs deep.
Having up-and-coming players like Diakite, Reuter, Guy and Jerome to help out the starting five will be a huge bonus to the Cavs going forward, not to mention it’ll help Bennett groom his younger players for next year’s season without Perrantes.
With a veteran guard line-up of Perrantes, Hall and Thompson, as well as Salt and Wilkins down low, Virginia has a defensively strong starting five.
Devon Hall. Photo by Matt Riley
The main problem at this point? Offense.
During UVA’s November 15 72-32 shellacking of St. Francis Brooklyn, Memphis transfer Austin Nichols scored 11 points in the only game he would play for the Cavaliers (soon afterward, Bennett dismissed Nichols because he violated team rules).
As a transfer, Nichols had to sit out an entire season before being able to suit up for Virginia, and Bennett had high expectations for the power he would bring on both sides of the court, saying early in the season that Nichols would “be needed in terms of what we’re having to replace.”
In November, it seemed like practically everyone on the roster would be contributing to UVA’s offense. Hell, Virginia’s three walk-ons came into the game against Grambling State with 12 minutes of playing time left—and scored. In fact, every player on Virginia’s roster scored at least one point during the course of that game.
But what about Virginia’s offensive performance against tougher teams like Ohio State and West Virginia?
“Press” Virginia, WVU’s unofficial nickname—derived from the team’s tough press defense under Head Coach Bob Huggins—is too far ahead and the crowd knows it. Virginia, No. 6, is playing No. 25 West Virginia—its first ranked opponent of the season.
The December 3 game starts off promising, with the Hoos leading by 11 points eight minutes in, but all that changes quickly, and Virginia goes go on to lose 57-66.
The silence of the crowd after the game comes more from shock than anything else. This is, after all, the school that went 15-0 at John Paul Jones arena last season; the Cavaliers hadn’t lost at home for 24 straight games. Their last home loss was against Duke on January 31, 2015.
But the Cavalier team that hadn’t lost at home since 2015 isn’t the same team that lost to West Virginia—and maybe that’s one of the most difficult things for Virginia’s fan base to recognize.
At this point in the season, Virginia is a young team that’s still figuring out what roles each player is going to have, needs to have.
“There’s some big questions to be answered,” Bennett said at the start of the season. “If you compared our team at this stage last year, we’re doing things that we didn’t have to do before. We’re not at the same place, but there’s definitely talent and there’s promise.”
Last March 27 in Chicago, 9-year-old Malakai Perrantes, London’s younger brother, decided he didn’t like his name anymore.
The Elite Eight UVA-Syracuse game had been over for hours: The fans had gone home, the arena had cleared and the Perrantes family had returned to their hotel after watching No. 1 UVA fall to No. 10 Syracuse. But the sadness remained.
“I don’t like my name anymore,” Malakai, 9, muttered under his breath to his mom.
“Why?”
“Because of Malachi Richardson.”
Richardson, a guard for Syracuse, had a banner game: 23 points, seven rebounds, two steals.
“We just thought for sure we were headed for Texas [and the Final Four],” Karina says.
So did everyone else. Virginia had the lead over Syracuse from the eighth minute of play until the last five minutes of play, including a 14-point lead at halftime: that is until Richardson’s 21 second-half points started to add up.
But in what seemed to be a telling moment for UVA’s future, Perrantes took over Brogdon’s usual role as leading scorer that night. He put up 18 points for the Cavs, 15 of which came in the first half.
It was a performance similar to Perrantes’ recent 19-point rack-up against Ohio State, where 15 of the senior’s points came in the second half.
The starting point guard’s playing style hasn’t changed much since last year. Perrantes still leads the team in assists per game, averaging 4.4 to last season’s 4.3, and he posts an average 10.2 points per game (just one point behind his average at the end of last season).
Teammates describe him as a calm, relaxed, point guard and Bennett likens Perrantes’ leadership to that of Brogdon’s, saying he is a quiet leader who leads by example.
“He just really settles us down,” fellow guard Hall says. “He’s able to play at his own pace and slow everybody else down.”
In addition to slowing the game down, it’s rare to hear him yell at a teammate. That laid-back personality extends beyond the court.
“He’s really chill,” Wilkins adds. “He’s California cool.”
The Ohio State game in late November didn’t start off well for Perrantes, who had three turnovers and a total of four points by the end of the first half. With Virginia down 12, the Hoos hustle back to the locker room, where Bennett gives Perrantes the worst tongue-lashing he has ever received in a Virginia jersey…and it works.
With only four minutes left in the game, Ohio State is up 55-52. Perrantes’ four points to start the game have grown to 14.
But the Cavs are still trailing the Buckeyes—they haven’t been ahead since the 26th minute of play.
This is a key possession: The Cavaliers need to score.
Hall goes up for a layup. It looks good. It looks like it’s in. It looks like the shot Virginia needs. But it doesn’t fall, and every white jersey except Wilkins is half-turned to run back on defense when a bounce on the rim sends the ball back out.
The ball lands in the middle of a swarm of five Ohio State players—and UVA’s Wilkins.
Wilkins battles and comes away with the ball. Every UVA player’s hand is up in anticipation of receiving it.
Thompson, Hall, Shayok and Perrantes are in a perfect arc around the three-point line. It’s clear they’re going for the tying shot.
Wilkins throws it out to Perrantes, who is standing in calm expectation at the top of the key. Ohio State scrambles to escape the knot it’s created around Wilkins and get back in formation. Marc Loving, a 6’8″, 220-pound Buckeye forward, turns from the hoop and sprints toward Perrantes, his hand outstretched for the shot he knows is coming.
But Perrantes has already set up, the ball has left his hand, and Loving is three steps past Perrantes when the shot swooshes in. Virginia will go on to win 63-61.
This is the same Perrantes from the Syracuse game; the same cool-headed leader ready to put up a basket when the Cavs need it most.
The same 13-year-old boy telling all the grown men on the court to get back in the game.
UVA’s starting five
Isaiah Wilkins, forward
“I’m stepping up as a leader. But on the court my production has to definitely increase. I can’t stay where I was last year.”
Average points per game: 6.2
Rebounds per game: 5.1
Blocks per game: 1.33
Steals per game: 1.78
Field goal percentage: 60.5
Devon Hall, guard
“I think that my role now is
just to be a lot more assertive and be more aggressive and that’s what this team needs me to do.”
Average points per game: 5
Assists per game: 1.78
Steals per game: 0.67
Field goal percentage: 32.6
Free-throw percentage: 88.9
Jack Salt, center
“Jack does a good job—he’ll see something [on defense] and he goes up and he’s real vertical and real big,” says Coach Tony Bennett. “Those are things that can hopefully help our defense.”
Average points per game: 5.2
Rebounds per game: 3.4
Blocks per game: 0.78
Field goal percentage: 60.6
Darius Thompson, guard
“With the departure of [Anthony] Gill someone has to step up in scoring and I feel I can help the team with making more plays, being a playmaker, finding the open teammate to knock down shots—pretty much like that.”
Average points per game: 8.9
Assists per game: 2.67
Steals per game: 0.9
Field goal percentage: 51.8
Three-point percentage: 44
London Perrantes, point guard
“He doesn’t seem to lose
often who he is as a player
and how he needs to play and
I think that’s one of his best qualities without a doubt,”
says Bennett.
Wedding bells will ring for Anthony Gill and Jenna Jamil April 8. Courtesy subject
Just two weeks after senior men’s basketball player Anthony Gill hung up his Virginia uniform, he will be lacing up a new pair of Jordans. This time, though, they’re for his April 8 wedding.
Gill, 23, met his fiancée, Jenna Jamil, 24, in the hallway of Charlotte Christian High School almost eight years ago.
“She actually came up to me because her sister wanted to know who I was,” Gill says, “but then she kind of caught my eye so I just started talking to her from there.”
Jamil remembers Gill Facebook messaging her for the first time after their encounter and sparking their relationship, but the two recall their first date slightly differently. While Jamil says they went to a nearby French restaurant, followed by a movie, Gill has a different recollection.
“We went on a date with her mom to this Italian restaurant,” Gill says, laughing.
Whether or not Jamil’s mom chaperoned their first date, family has always been important to the couple. In fact, Gill planned his proposal six months in advance to ensure that all of Jamil’s family would be present. He popped the question while the couple was horseback riding in the Dominican Republic.
“I was already nervous to be on the horse in the first place and then he asked me to get off to take a picture and I didn’t want to get off the horse because at that point I had gotten comfortable there,” Jamil says. “But then my sister convinced me to go take a picture, and when I stood next to him he stuck out his arm and got down on one knee.”
The wedding, which will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, more than a month before UVA’s graduation, was planned primarily by Jamil, who graduated from High Point University in 2014. Gill couldn’t be more grateful that Jamil did most of the planning.
“I think it’s stressful enough just being a college athlete,” Gill says, “and focusing on school and basketball and family and all of that. Planning a wedding on top of that just puts it over the top. But you know, it’s fun because you’re planning the rest of your life and that’s what takes all of the stress off of it.”
The two chose April 8 because the NCAA championship, in which the Cavaliers fell in the Elite 8, would be over by then. Gill says he wanted to start their life together as soon as basketball season ended.
He won’t be leaving basketball behind, though. Teammates Malcolm Brogdon, London Perrantes, Darius Thompson and Devon Hall are all groomsmen, and the whole basketball team is invited to Gill’s wedding.
And while Gill will be standing at the altar in a new pair of white Jordans, his fiancée will walk down the aisle in Nike Roshes.
“I’ve always been kind of into the athletic side of things and we’re both kind of shoe freaks,” Jamil says, “so it’s more of ‘me’ in the wedding—I’m adding my kind of touch to things.”
Jamil says her tennis shoes probably won’t be visible under her dress. So far she has her something old and something new, but hasn’t come up with her borrowed and blue.
“I was thinking of wearing light blue socks with my tennis shoes,” Jamil laughs, citing another reason to ditch the heels.
As for the future, Gill’s answer is simple: “It all depends on what happens with basketball.”
Wedding game plan
Number of bridesmaids: 12
Number of groomsmen: 12
Number of UVA basketball players in the wedding party: 5
Number of guests: 300
Years dating: 7-and-a-half
First dance song: “Here and Now” by Luther Vandross
Engagement ring: Andrew Minton Jewelers
Honeymoon: Short trip to New York City after the wedding; official honeymoon will be planned for a later date
