The Virginia Cavaliers did a great job adding talent this offseason for the most part, but one crucial spot wasn't addressed, and it could end up costing the team in 2026/2027.
Heading into this year's transfer portal, Virginia HC Ryan Odom was trying to accomplish two things:
1. Finding guys to replace Malik Thomas and Jacari White .
2. Add a rebounder to help make up for the production lost by Ugonna Onyenso in the frontcourt.
They undoubtedly did those two things by adding G Christian Harmon, G Jurian Dixon, and PF/C Kalu Anya, but it's fair to say that Coach Odom should've had another task on his "to-do" list in the transfer portal.
Though the starting five could be even better than it was last season for the Cavaliers, the team has zero depth at point guard behind Chance Mallory right now. Not even a little bit.
For the first time in quite a while, UVA doesn't have a backup point guard who's capable of being the primary ball handler for more than 5 minutes per game. That might be okay if Chance Mallor y stays completely healthy all year and never needs a breather, but this team is going to be completely doomed if something happens to him this season.
The only true point guard that the team has behind Mallory is true freshman walk-on Quincy Watson, who won't see the court at all this season anyway for obvious reasons.
Yes, the team brought in guard/point forward Jan Vide as well this offseason, but he doesn't have the type of ball-handling skills needed to run Ryan Odom's offense. He's a top-notch playmaker from the wing, but that likely won't translate to what the team would need him to do at point guard. It's possible that Jurian Dixon could be the plan at backup point guard, which would be somewhat logical, but that's not ideal for a team as good as Virginia.
Here's a glimpse of what Ryan Odom's current plan could be heading into 2026 based on this idea:
| * | Starter |
Rotation |
| * | Chance Mallory |
Jurian Dixon/Jan Vide |
| * | Jurian Dixon |
Christian Harmon/Jan Vide |
| * | Sam Lewis |
Nolan Adekunle/Martin Carrere |
| * | Thijs De Ridder |
Kalu Anya/Silas Barksdale |
| * | Johann Grnloh |
Favour Ibe/Carter Lang |
Though it looks good on paper, not having a true rotational point guard is incredibly scary, and the fact that Virginia didn't bring one in is mind-boggling. Blue-chip teams like UVA shouldn't have to rely on players to play out of position to fill depth needs for the team.
It's going to be interesting to see the actual lineup roll out in November, but as of right now, the point guard rotation doesn't look great.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/virginia as The one position UVA basketball may regret ignoring in the transfer portal .
