{"id":864844,"date":"2025-07-26T03:18:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T08:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/26\/virginia-mens-basketball-starting-five-an-all-21st-century-lineup\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T03:18:35","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T08:18:35","slug":"virginia-mens-basketball-starting-five-an-all-21st-century-lineup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/26\/virginia-mens-basketball-starting-five-an-all-21st-century-lineup\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Men’s Basketball Starting Five: An All-21st Century Lineup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Basketball <\/p>\n

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In the thick of the offseason, let\u2019s dive into the last 25 years of Virginia men\u2019s basketball and discuss who cracks the starting five of the 21st Century. With no Ralph, who takes the center spot? Will it be 2019-dominated or spread across the 2000s? I\u2019ll reveal each player, followed by a list of their accolades and a skinny as to why they belong in the top rung.<\/p>\n

*I\u2019ve grandfathered Roger Mason and Travis Watson into this list, despite the fact that they started their careers in Charlottesville prior to 2000.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guard: <\/strong>Ty Jerome (2016-2019)<\/p>\n

Accolades: Second-Team All-ACC (2019), NCAA All-Tournament Team (2019)<\/p>\n

Backup: J.R. Reynolds (2003-07), London Perrantes (2013-17), Reece Beekman (2020-24)<\/p>\n

Jerome is the runaway pick for this slot despite Reynolds\u2019 one-two scoring punch with Singletary, Perrantes\u2019 longevity with some high-achieving Cavalier squads and Beekman\u2019s defensive chops. The 6\u20195\u201d New York native captured the program\u2019s first NCAA Championship in 2019 and was selected with the 24th pick in the subsequent NBA Draft, leaving Charlottesville after his junior season. While the numbers aren\u2019t jaw-dropping when compared to \u2018Hoos of the 2000s, Jerome dissected defenses with his savvy, methodical style of play and finished with a career-high 13.6 PPG and 5.5 APG his final year. Clutch play against the likes of Purdue, Auburn, and Texas Tech cements Jerome\u2019s case as the starting point guard for this all-21st Century team. He is too good to be overlooked.<\/p>\n

Guard:<\/strong> Sean Singletary (2004-08)<\/p>\n

Accolades: 3x All-ACC First Team, 2004-05 All-ACC Freshman Team<\/p>\n

Backup: Kyle Guy (2016-19), Sylven Landesberg (2008-10)<\/p>\n

While Singletary missed the party of the 2010s, he was busy pacing Pete Gillen and Dave Leitao\u2019s teams as an elite scorer and Duke slayer. No Cavalier since has matched Singletary\u2019s 19.8 PPG clip, and he twice hit the 19.0 PPG threshold. Despite his smaller size (6\u20190\u201d), I\u2019ll give the advantage to Singletary over the likes of Kyle Guy and Sylven Landesberg because of his strength as a passer and scorer. I would be remiss if I did not include Singletary in this starting five \u2014 a bright spot of the 2000s \u2014 even if he\u2019ll likely concede ball-handling duties to a national champion in Jerome. Also a clutch player, Singletary etched himself into John Paul Jones immortality with a buzzer-beating jumper to upend the Blue Devils, 68-66 (OT), in 2007.<\/p>\n

Guard:<\/strong> Malcolm Brogdon (2011-2016)<\/p>\n

Accolades: 2015-16 ACC Player of the Year, 2015-16 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, 2015-16 First-Team All-American, 2014-15 Second-Team All-American, 2015-16 NABC Defensive Player of the Year, 2x First-Team All-ACC<\/p>\n

Backups: Roger Mason (1999-2002), Joe Harris (2010-14)<\/p>\n

The easiest pick of them all, Brogdon spearheaded Bennett\u2019s magical emergence in the mid-2010s and led the \u2018Hoos to Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight appearances in 2014 and 2016, respectively. The 6\u20195\u201d shooting guard led Virginia in scoring across three consecutive seasons (2013-2016) and garnered a host of honors in his senior campaign as evidenced by a 18.2 PPG, 3.1 APG, and 39.1% 3PT statline. Brogdon\u2019s basketball IQ on the other side of the court also earned him the NABC\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year title in 2016. One can only look to center Ralph Sampson as a more decorated \u2018Hoo, as the Atlanta native was instrumental in bringing Virginia basketball back into the forefront of national conversations.<\/p>\n

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Mar 27, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Virginia Cavaliers guard Malcolm Brogdon (15) is defended by Syracuse Orange guard Malachi Richardson (23) during the second half in the championship game of the midwest regional of the NCAA Tournament at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-Imagn Images \/ Dennis Wierzbicki-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Forward: <\/strong>De\u2019Andre Hunter (2016-19)<\/p>\n

Accolades: 2018-19 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, 2018-19 Third-Team All-American, 2019 NCAA All-Tournament Team, 2017-18 All-ACC Freshman Team, 2017-18 ACC Sixth-Man of the Year<\/p>\n

Backups: <\/strong>Travis Watson (1999-2003), Anthony Gill (2013-16), Sam Hauser (2019-21)<\/p>\n

The groups start to get a bit thinner as we advance from Virginia\u2019s stacked backcourt lineage, but Hunter headlines the bigs. Although a smaller power forward option, Hunter\u2019s defensive versatility at Virginia and his gamewrecking ability (i.e. Texas Tech) cannot be overlooked. He burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2017-18, having notably given then-No. 4 Duke fits until a wrist injury derailed the rest of his season and proved to cost the \u2018Hoos in the Big Dance. One of the \u201ctrio\u201d alongside Jerome and guard Kyle Guy, Hunter looked like a man amongst boys in his final campaign; moreover, he checks off our clutch criterion thanks to an overtime layup against Purdue and three-pointer late into regulation against Texas Tech \u2014 both season-saving moments in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. He and Brogdon will provide a physical, defensive boost for this starting five.<\/p>\n

Forward:<\/strong> Mike Scott (2007-12)<\/p>\n

Accolades: 2011-12 First-Team All-ACC<\/p>\n

Backup: Akil Mitchell (2010-14), Jay Huff (2017-21)<\/p>\n

An early Bennett product and a Virginia native, Mike Scott steadily improved in his five years in Charlottesville and capped off an illustrious career with an 18.0 PPG, 8.3 RPG statline in 2011-12. Scott, a terrific low-post scorer, provides an uber-athletic duo with Hunter in the frontcourt, even if we\u2019ll be without a true center in the lineup. Arguably, no position is weaker, however, than that of the center spot from 2000 on. It would also be a mistake to pass up his efficiency on the interior and his strength on the glass.\u00a0 If Scott is overwhelmed by centers, we can roll out the 7\u20191\u201d Huff or 6\u20198\u201d Mitchell \u2014 a defensive guru who pestered opponents despite his size. Another NBA veteran alongside Jerome, Brogdon, and Hunter, Scott played for four different teams over ten years.<\/p>\n

21st Century Starting Five, in summary:<\/p>\n

G: Ty Jerome (2016-19)<\/p>\n

G: Sean Singletary (2004-08)<\/p>\n

G: Malcolm Brogdon (2011-16)*<\/p>\n

F: De\u2019Andre Hunter (2016-19)*<\/p>\n

F: Mike Scott (2007-12)*<\/p>\n

* = redshirted at least one year at Virginia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a> William Smythe<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basketball In the thick of the offseason, let\u2019s dive into the last 25 years of Virginia men\u2019s basketball and discuss who cracks the starting five of the 21st Century. With no Ralph, who takes the center spot? Will it be 2019-dominated or spread across the 2000s? I\u2019ll reveal each player, followed by a list of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":864845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124942,3681,30093,4825],"tags":[16302],"class_list":{"0":"post-864844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"category-basketball","9":"category-mens","10":"category-virginia","11":"tag-nba"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/864845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}