Reports - Jayden Gardner to return to Virginia for bonus year

Some good offseason news for the Virginia Cavaliers as forward Jayden Gardner appears to be using his bonus year of eligibility to return to Virginia next season.

Jon Rothstein first tweeted it:

And this appears to be confirmed via Instagram, with the caption of, “Run it back “

This is big news for the Hoos as the third-team All-ACC, All-District 3 honoree brings back much needed experience, presence, and, of course, scoring. Gardner averaged 15.3 points per game and finished sixth in the conference in field goal percentage (.501).

He spent his first three seasons at East Carolina. Despite playing his fourth season at Virginia, he gets a fifth year of eligibility due to the NCAA’s COVID-19 eligibility rules.

This was largely expected by Virginia fans already, but it’s always good to get confirmation. Head Coach Tony Bennett had stated on his coach’s show in February that, due to UVA’s transfer rules, Gardner still needed another year at UVA to earn enough credits for graduation.

Virginia fans are still waiting to hear back on any official confirmation of whether Kihei Clark or Kody Stattmann—both of whom were recognized on Senior Night whereas Gardner was not—will be returning for another season, but this is at least the first answer of many questions heading into the offseason.