Four-star forward Cofie talks about his official visit to UVa

Tony Bennett and his staff hosted four-star forward Jacob Cofie this past weekend for an official visit and the talented playmaker from the Pacific Northwest left town feeling pretty good about the Wahoos.

A 6-foot-9 forward from Eastside Catholic (WA), Cofie is currently the 98th-ranked player in the country and picked up an offer from Virginia during the summer.

“My visit to Virginia was great,” Cofie told CavsCorner. “I really like Tony Bennett because he is a great coach and the program is in great hands with him. The coaches broke down film of how I would fit in their system and showed me how I would have a role on their team if I were to go there.

“They also discussed how there are minutes on the floor for me to get if I come in there and work hard enough,” he added. “Overall I really enjoyed my visit.”

Getting the opportunity to sit down with members of the coaching staff was something he really enjoyed, including the chance to understand how they see him in Virginia’s system.

“Tony Bennett really prides himself on defense and he thinks I could be a high level defender for him and in the ACC,” Cofie explained. “He also thinks I could score well for them as he thinks I have the athletic tools to have the type of ability on the court that is up to his standards.”

Cofie also got to watch the current Virginia team practice and got to witness just one of the reasons why the program is so successful.

“I really enjoyed seeing how keyed in on things they are,” he said. “They are really focused on everything so well. It is like they are 110 percent locked in when practicing, which is a reason why the program always does so well.”

When Cofie got to have conversations with the current players, those guys had nothing but great things to say about the program.

“Man, all of the players love it at Virginia,” he said. “They all love Tony Bennett, Ron Sanchez, and the rest of the coaching staff. I got to watch the team practice and I really enjoyed it. I liked seeing the things they do and all of the guys were really complimentary of the development they get at Virginia and I could really see why Tony Bennett is known for development and why he is successful in getting players to the next level and he thinks he can do that for me.”

One thing that Cofie took away from his time on Grounds was how much the fans really love their Wahoos.

“I really learned about how much of a college town Charlottesville is,” he said “and how much the fans support the basketball team. It was a huge turnout there.”

Along with Virginia, Cofie has been to Washington and Oregon for official visits. There is a possibility that two more visits will be added but that is up in the air right now.

“I am not really sure when I am going to make my decision,” he said. “It all depends if I go ahead and take these other official visits to Ohio State and USC because I want to make my commitment in like the next month or two.”