It has become the wild west with European guys and Virginia is close to getting its second major addition.
Thijs De Ridder looks the part and can do a lot of different things at power forward from Belgium. He's sneaky athletic, can make three-pointers, goods hoops IQ and sometimes plays like a raging bull. He's already 22 and had applied for the NBA Draft and pulled out in 2024. This is no Thomas De Thaey situation. Missouri had a forward from Lithuania named Linas Kleiza who was a first-round pick and played in the NBA as a bench guy from 2005-13, and they play similarly.
They also got 7-footer Johann Grunloh of Germany and he'll be 20 years old in August. He's the rare stretch five, who also blocks shot.
Add in the transfers and freshman point guard Chance Mallory, and they've rebuilt things much better than anticipated. It's clear they have some money this cycle. I think it will come down to Mallory and BYU guard transfer Dallin Hall at point guard on whether they can be an NCAA Tournament team after losing every player but maybe one injured one. They have checked all the other boxes if the Euro's are as good as anticipated and De Ridder does come.
New transfers: Martin Carrere (VCU); Dallin Hall (BYU); Sam Lewis (Toledo); Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State); Devin Tillis (UC-Irvine); Jacari White (North Dakota State).
Thijs De Ridder looks the part and can do a lot of different things at power forward from Belgium. He's sneaky athletic, can make three-pointers, goods hoops IQ and sometimes plays like a raging bull. He's already 22 and had applied for the NBA Draft and pulled out in 2024. This is no Thomas De Thaey situation. Missouri had a forward from Lithuania named Linas Kleiza who was a first-round pick and played in the NBA as a bench guy from 2005-13, and they play similarly.
They also got 7-footer Johann Grunloh of Germany and he'll be 20 years old in August. He's the rare stretch five, who also blocks shot.
Add in the transfers and freshman point guard Chance Mallory, and they've rebuilt things much better than anticipated. It's clear they have some money this cycle. I think it will come down to Mallory and BYU guard transfer Dallin Hall at point guard on whether they can be an NCAA Tournament team after losing every player but maybe one injured one. They have checked all the other boxes if the Euro's are as good as anticipated and De Ridder does come.
New transfers: Martin Carrere (VCU); Dallin Hall (BYU); Sam Lewis (Toledo); Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State); Devin Tillis (UC-Irvine); Jacari White (North Dakota State).