As is the case at this point in the recruiting cycle, there are a number of juniors who are starting to garner more attention. That is also true for some highly-regarded sophomores as well, as is the case with four-star John Marshall forward Latrell Almond.

A 6-foot-8 class of 2026 standout from Richmond and the No. 27 overall player in his class, Allmond has picked up a host of early offers thus far including one from UVa.

“When I am at my best,” he told CavsCorner recently, “it is when I am getting downhill strong and making shots from the elbow. I have also improved my catch and shoot from deep. I think I have been able to really showcase my game well at the small forward and power forward position.”

Earlier in the fall, Allmond made the short trip to Charlottesville so he could take an unofficial visit to Virginia.

“It was a great visit,” Allmond told CavsCorner. “I had a great conversation with Jason Williford when I was there and he also graduated from John Marshall and ended up playing at UVa. He has already watched me play a bunch and you can tell he just wants to keep on getting to know me.”

During that visit, Williford gave a lot of helpful tips to Allmond about his game.

“When I talked to Coach Williford on my visit, he just really tried to help me with my game and gave me a lot of knowledge,” Allmond recalled. “He has told me that I have to always make my free throws and be a high percentage free-throw shooter because I am going to get fouled a lot so I have to live at the free throw line. He also has given me a few tips on defense Virginia is really big on defense.”

Allmond’s high school program is known for being tenacious on ball defenders so he thinks he would do well in UVa’s system and culture.

“I feel like I would be able to fit in the Virginia system pretty well because they play similar to my high school team John Marshall,” he explained. “They are really scrappy and tough on defense and they are just always playing hard on defense.”

NC State is another place Allmond has visited recently and the Wolfpack are a school that he has built a strong relationship with.

“I have had a super long relationship with NC State because my old high school teammate, Dennis Parker, is now there,” Allmond said. “They have a good feeling about me because they have seen me play a lot so I have a really good relationship with them.”

North Carolina is another school that has received an unofficial visit from Allmond recently and he broke down how things are going with the Tar Heels.

“I have a good relationship with UNC,” he said. “Coach Sean May has come and watched me a few times and he has given me a few tips to work on as well. When I visited UNC he gave me a nice tour and just the UNC campus is great. The fans there are really great.”