Virginia basketball still set to meet Wake Forest on Wednesday, but won’t be full strength

The Virginia Cavaliers are set to play Wake Forest on Wednesday night (January 6), but could look very different than their previous games this season. Virginia had to postpone Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech due to a staff member with a positive coronavirus test. As it stands now (Tuesday morning) it looks as though the Hoos will be able to play their next game. Thanks to contact tracing protocols, however, they will likely not be at full strength.

“As of right now, we’ll have enough,” Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said during Monday’s media call. “We’ll have enough to play. We’ll miss a few guys. It’s more staffing and some players. If everything stays the way it is, we’ll be good to go. Not at full strength, of course.”

We don’t have any indication as to which players may or may not be available at this point. This is yet another wrinkle for the 2020-21 season as the Cavaliers have already had five games postponed or canceled to this point. Of those games, only one — against William & Mary — has been made up. Despite the thinner bench, Bennett knows that when you can play, you should.

“If you can get games, you’ve got to try to play them,” Bennett stated. “You want to be as ready as you can by being smart and safe but then trying to be ready to go with opportunities that are in front of you,”

One player that definitely won’t be available on Wednesday is Kody Stattmann, as the third-year is undergoing additional tests to assess when he can start playing again after an undisclosed medical issue. Bennett said Stattmann’s issues are not COVID-related.

The game against Wake Forest is scheduled for 9pm and will be broadcast by the ACC Network. Stay tuned to Streaking the Lawn for more updates as we get closer to game time.