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After a long two months and three days without any Virginia Basketball, the Hoos are back to kick off the first season since winning the National Championship (that literally will never get old). Some faces are gone — namely Ty Jerome, De’Andre Hunter, Kyle Guy, and Jack Salt — but Tony Bennett and the Cavaliers look ready to get back to work.
Check out the video posted by Virginia Athletics:
The NATIONAL CHAMPIONS are back! 1⃣st @UVAMensHoops practice of the new season ☑️#GoHoos #Wahoowa pic.twitter.com/0ZqnEBZvLE
— Virginia Cavaliers (@VirginiaSports) June 12, 2019
New Hoo Tomas Woldetensae (transfer from Indian Hills Community College) is joined by a trio of first years in Casey Morsell, Kadin Shedrick, and Justin McKoy. You may notice an absence of Francisco Caffaro and Kody Stattmann, but don’t fret; the duo are playing for the Argentinian and Australian squads, respectively, in the upcoming FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.
There are also, of course, the familiar faces of returnees Braxton Key, Kihei Clark, Mamadi Diakite, Jay Huff, and more of the 2019 National Champion (still, will never get old) squad. It appears Virginia Basketball alum Jontel Evans showed up for some quality time, too. Three pointers and layups were made, dribbling was done, and dunks. Oh so many dunks.
The 2019-20 season kicks off with a conference game at Syracuse on November 6. Just 147 days to go.