Over the weekend Virginia’s basketball roster increased in size as the 2022 freshman class arrived on Grounds.

The foursome of Isaac McKneely, Isaac Traudt, Leon Bond, and Ryan Dunn moved into their dorm rooms ahead of their team trip to Italy later this summer. The rookies took part in workouts on Tuesday, as posted by the team on Instagram.

After so many weeks and months of anticipation, the group is finally together and just getting started. Yet their impact on UVa basketball should be massive, no matter what happens next.

Bond, Dunn, McKneely, and Traudt make up a class that ranked 16th nationally, Virginia’s best recruiting haul since the 2016 group that ranked eighth. This 2022 class isn’t quite as hyped as the 2016 bunch made up of Ty Jerome, Kyle Guy, De’Andre Hunter and Jay Huff, but all four of the current freshmen ranked in the top 106 nationally, with three top 100 players. Between the four recruits, UVa beat out most of the Power 5 schools for the signatures of its four newcomers, who should anchor the roster for the years to come.

McKneely was the first to commit and projects as the most-likely to have a Day 1 impact as a first-year. The West Virginia native was one of the nation’s top combo guards last year, and chose Virginia over offers from a slew of top programs. McKneely played in the pack-line defense in high school and brings a diverse skill set on the offensive end with the ability to slash and shoot.

Bond was the next to commit, choosing the Cavaliers over Marquette, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech and others. Bond, ranked 71st in the 2022 class, is the latest Wisconsin native to join the Wahoos and play for Stevens Point native Tony Bennett. He has drawn some comparisons to Hunter given his defensive upside and the similarity of their offensive games, but he is a bit smaller at 6-foot-5. Still, Bond has the potential to become an elite pack-line defender with an offensive game to match.

Traudt, meanwhile, became the second ‘Isaac’ in the class when he committed to the Hoos in August. His recruitment picked up down the stretch and UVa was able to lean on the relationships it built to secure the signature over approaches from North Carolina, Michigan State, and many others. The Nebraska native is a forward that can play inside and outside, and could also develop into a strong defender.

Lastly, Dunn rounded out the 2022 class after many felt the group was wrapped up. He was a late bloomer who saw his recruitment take off last summer, and chose the Cavaliers over offers from Pitt and Minnesota. Dunn is another wing who could develop into an All-ACC caliber player if he can put it all together. He showcased his shooting and the ability to defend multiple positions on the AAU circuit last summer and has the frame to fill out nicely. Though he was injured earlier this year, it seems like he’s ready to go now that he’s on Grounds.

This 2022 recruiting class shouldn’t distract from the fact that UVa has a veteran roster returning and will be looking to compete for an ACC title once again. Nearly everyone returned from last year’s team that didn’t make the NCAA Tournament and has room to grow heading into 2022-2023. Bennett has a tendency to go with his veterans over younger players that could have more upside, especially on the offensive end. History says that the lineup will look similar to how it did last season, plus transfer Ben Vander Plas playing significant minutes, with the freshman class sprinkled in.

And while UVa’s newcomers may not come right in and start en masse, that doesn’t mean they won’t play a major role in the years to come. The 2016 class didn’t exactly have a slow start, nd there were signs of promise, but after the national title in 2019, it was hard to imagine a time when Jerome, Guy, and Hunter weren’t the team’s key players. In the 2016-2017 season, Guy had the biggest role of the class, starting often but playing just 45.9 percent of the available minutes. Jerome saw his role increase as the season went along but still only played 34.3 percent of the minutes as a freshman. Hunter and Huff both redshirted that year. Ultimately, that team would go 23-11 and lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, as the freshmen seasoned and the team was led by a veteran group, many of whom departed following that campaign.

And then, of course, came the 2018 season and that rookie group took a major leap forward. Guy and Jerome were absolutely vital pieces, both playing more than 75 percent of minutes available. Hunter was the team’s sixth man, but after a bit of a slow start to the season became a key contributor on both ends of the floor and was crucially injured just before the disastrous loss to UMBC. Huff didn’t play much, but had a lot more development to do both on and off the court compared to the other three. In 2019, Hunter, Guy, and Jerome led the Cavaliers to the school’s first national title. Huff’s biggest impact came in the two seasons that followed, but he also developed into a key player on the 2020 and 2021 teams before beginning his pro career.

The 2022 group has a tremendous opportunity ahead with the trip to Italy. Overseas trips like this one provide a great chance for the entire team to bond on and off the court, getting useful practice time and game experience against mature competition in Europe. Virginia’s newcomers will have the summer to learn the various schemes while being introduced to college-level workouts, the first step to getting used to life at UVa. Then, of course, they will have to compete for playing time with a group of veteran guys that return experience at all positions.

There’s no guarantee that the freshman class will even earn the amount of time that Guy and Jerome did in 2016-2017, but the first year in the Virginia program is truly critical for players, regardless of minutes in games that count.

The incoming freshmen have excited fans for months and rightfully so. It has been a while since UVa has had a group this talented and seemingly ready to play while also being great fits for the program, at least on paper. This group will probably need to be patient for the long-term payoff and the same goes for fans as well. The class has the potential to take time away from veteran players but they will have to prove to the coaches that they can succeed on the defensive end and find a way to make themselves indispensable.

But regardless of how the freshmen contribute this coming season, their development will chart the course for this program for the next half-decade, possibly longer. If this class hits in the way that everyone knows that it can then the Cavaliers can be back in national title contention in a year or two, especially if they get a few more favorable breaks with the roster. If the class doesn’t pan out, splinters, or both, then Virginia basketball may have hit its zenith and may settle into what we’ve seen over the past several years since the title. That’s not a terrible thing, but this past season made it clear that the Wahoo faithful are still pining for more.

The transfer portal and NIL have changed the basketball environment since that 2016 class came through, so it is imperative that the coaching staff sell their long-term vision to these freshmen and that they believe it.

If they do, the sky’s the limit for the 2022 class, even if it takes a year or two for the group to truly take flight.