Beginning Monday, June 21st, 2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the opening day of the 2004-05 Season.

Bookmark the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back each day to see which team is previewed next.

#52 Virginia Cavaliers
ACC
2003-04: 18-13, 6-10, 7th
2003-04 postseason: NIT

By Joel Welser

The Cav’s started out going 10-1 in non-conference play.  Pete Gillen’s squad did a decent job in the ACC going 6-10 before falling in the second round of the NIT.  That’s not bad for the ACC, but Virginia will be looking for a trip to the NCAA this year after failing for three consecutive seasons.  The frontcourt is experienced led by Elton Brown and Devin Smith, with Donte Minter, Jason Clark and Jason Cain providing even more depth.

Who’s Out: Todd Billet scored 9.9 points and dished out 3.2 assists per game.  The 6-0 guard could have had more of an impact had he not been forced to run the point much of last year due to lack of other options.  Forward Derrick Byars played in all 31 games for Virginia averaging 7.5 points and 3.4 rebounds.  Byars has transferred to Vanderbilt and will play for the Commodores in 2005.  Majestic Mapp concluded his injury plagued career averaging just 8.5 minutes in 24 games. 

Who’s In: A true point guard is finally headed to Charlottesville.  Sean Singletary could be starting as a freshman from day one.  Surprise sophomore T.J. Bannister will compete with Singletary for the job, but the freshman will see considerable minutes rather he starts or not.  Singletary is a smart floor leader, a solid shooter and a sound defender.  Center Tunji Soroye is a raw player but has the physical attributes at 6-11 and 215 pounds to make an immediate contribution.  His defensive skills alone will get Soroye plenty of playing time early in his career.  Adrian Joseph is an athletic forward.  At 6-7, 200 pounds, the Trinidad native could continue to bulk up a little in order to be more effective at the power forward position.

Who to Watch: J.R. Reynolds and Gary Forbes give the squad some options on the wing.  It is sophomore J.R. Reynolds who will need to provide some experience in the backcourt.  The 6-3 shooting guard is a remarkable scorer who averaged 9.4 points per game as a freshman.  By February, Reynolds was getting comfortable at Virginia and putting up more consistent numbers including a season high 20 points at Duke in the ACC Tournament. 

Projected Conference Rank: Virginia can’t quite catch up to the big guys in the conference.  They still have a ways to go, but need to start taking steps in that direction.  Unless the freshmen can surpass expectations, this team won’t be dancing again this year.  An 8th place finish in the ACC will send the Cavaliers back to the NIT.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

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