The Virginia Cavaliers are back in action on Friday night for game one of the Greenbrier Tip-Off, and Head Coach Ryan Odom spoke with the media on Wednesday afternoon ahead of his first MTE at the helm
of the ’Hoos.
Here are three headlines from Odom’s latest media availability:
Devin Tillis is ramping back into action
A 6-foot-7 transfer forward from UC Irvine, Devin Tillis has yet to suit up for the ’Hoos after undergoing knee surgery for an injury suffered in Virginia’s October 24th exhibition win over Villanova. Fortunately, it seems Tillis might be nearing his Cavalier debut.
“He’s improving every day,” Odom said. “We don’t have an exact target date. It’s really just day by day — testing him, giving him a little bit more each day. And so, he’s entering the mix with our guys now [in practice], and we’re hopeful that he can play sooner than later.”
Once he’s ready to return to the court, Tillis will be a valuable depth piece in the Virginia frontcourt. The stretch-four averaged 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds in 29.8 minutes of action per game last season to earn All-Big West Second Team honors. Thijs De Ridder and Johann Grünloh have been dominant down low for Virginia through four games, but Tillis has the most collegiate experience of any Cavalier big and will be an excellent floor-spacer after shooting 39.5% from beyond the arc last season.
Virginia is set to face a new level of competition in West Virginia
UVA has yet to be challenged this season, beginning its campaign with four home contests against overmatched mid-major opponents. While it’s been great to see the ’Hoos dominate, Virginia will face a much-needed raised level of competition this weekend.
“It’s going to be really good competition,” Odom said. “We’re excited about playing Northwestern and then, obviously, playing Butler a day and a half later. We’re excited about the trip to play in front of our fans, [and] that a lot of the fans are going to be able to make the trip to watch us play there. But it’s another opportunity for us to test ourselves against some really good competition. So, we’ll find out a lot about ourselves when we take the court.”
UVA’s first big test of the season will come in the form of Northwestern on Friday evening. The Wildcats enter the weekend ranked inside the top 50 at KenPom and sit at 4-0 on the season with a true road win at DePaul. Returning senior Nick Martinelli is a bona fide star for Chris Collins’ squad, averaging over 20 points per game after earning All-Big Ten Second Team honors last season.
In terms of early-season adjustments heading into Greenbrier, “defensive rebounding [is] something that we’re working on,” Odom said. “We’re working on limiting the fouls that we commit – we fouled a little bit too much in the first four games. That can happen when you’re pressing full court; you’re going to have times when you get a little too aggressive. [There’s] a lot of things to still improve upon, but it’s early in the season.”
The ’Hoos have been outrebounded by an average of 32.9 to 29.3 through four games despite not facing much opposing height. UVA will have to be much more assertive on the boards against a Northwestern squad that is outrebounding its opponents by an average margin of five per game.
The ’Hoos get another opportunity to bond
Virginia has only one returning player in its rotation (Elijah Gertrude), yet the ’Hoos have looked in sync to open up the season.
“The time spent off the court over the course of the summer together and the different activities we did together really helped us,” Odom said. “The players understood this is an entirely new team, and if we don’t get together right now, it’s going to be hard to do it when the pressure’s on.”
Highlighted by a summer road trip up to Washington, D.C., Odom has emphasized building connections, and the weekend at the Greenbrier should be another valuable opportunity for the ’Hoos to come together.
“When you have guys who are committed to one another and play for one another, you have a much better chance of winning,” Odom said. “It’s never been harder in college athletics than it is right now to put cohesive units together because of the movement that happens.”
