After seeing Virginia beat Duke, 2024's Bliss raves about his visit

Class of 2024 shooting guard Christian Bliss has had a strong junior season for George School and in the process has seen his recruitment skyrocket.

The 6-foot-4 Keystone State guard was in attendance for Virginia’s win over Duke recently and has plenty to say about his time on Grounds.

“It was a very nice visit,” he told CavsCorner. “It was great being able to talk to the coaching staff and seeing them in person. Virginia has a really nice culture and being able to see that up close and in person was awesome. The program has really impressed me.”

Virginia assistant coach Orlando Vandross has been the lead recruiter for Bliss, who said he has has been enjoying the message he has been hearing from Vandross and the Wahoos.

“Coach Vandross just wants me to do whatever feels right,” Bliss explained. “He thinks Virginia would be a great fit for me but at the end of the day he just wants me to make the right decision and choose the school that I feel most at home at and Virginia certainly has a culture that feels like home.”

Being in Charlottesville also allowed Bliss to speak with Tony Bennett, which was also a big takeaway from the visit given their conversation and what Bennett is all about.

“Coach Bennett is very down to Earth and a very humble person, which I like a lot,” he recalled. “He follows the religious morals that he believes in which is impressive to me. Overall he is just a really good guy and I like the energy he had when we spoke.”

Bennett talked a lot about Bliss’ game but spent more time during his conversation with Bliss talking about the importance of being able to see him in person, which would then potentially lead to picking up an offer from the Cavaliers.

“I think Virginia like’s me a lot but I think Coach Bennett just wants to see me in person,” Bliss said. “If all goes well after he watches me in person, they could possibly then pull the trigger and offer me. It will all work out the way it is supposed to.”

Bliss has been following UVa off and on for the past couple of years, so being able to see them in person really meant a lot to him.

“I have been able to watch them a little bit this year and have watched them in years before so seeing them in person was really good,” he said. “Obviously, the defense is really good but I was impressed with the offense too. They shot the three ball a lot which I like. It was really impressive how consistently good they were for 40 minutes.”

The energy that was in John Paul Jones Arena when the Hoos hosted Duke really stood out to Bliss and he walked away raving about it.

“The facilities were pretty impressive,” he said. “The culture and environment were awesome. People are really passionate about UVa basketball and I could see that immediately. Everyone has good energy there and are all in on the basketball program which is really cool.”

When asked about his overall recruitment and how the process is going, Bliss said there are three schools really on his mind.

“Right now I am just focused on winning games and making my team better,” he said, “but the three schools that really stand out right now are Virginia, Xavier and Villanova.”