Published Feb 15, 2024
Four-star G Mallory talks recent UVa visit, fit with the Wahoos
Houston Wilson  •  CavsCorner
Staff Writer

UVa’s continued pursuit of local four-star guard Chance Mallory has done anything but slow down of late and the 5-foot-9 playmaker from nearby St. Anne’s-Belfied is coming off a recent trip across town for a game in John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia, which hosted Mallory for its game against in-state rival Virginia Tech, remains among the teams recruiting the STAB product hard during what has been a terrific junior season.

“This upcoming week is our last week of the regular season so then after that we will go into the playoffs,” ge told CavsCorner. “The season has been good so far and we just want to continue that success as the season is coming down to an end.”

As of last week, Mallory led the state of Virginia in scoring by averaging 27.0 points per game.

“It has definitely been a fun year not just scoring wise but playing with this team,” he explained. “We have a lot of key guys so even if I do not even have the greatest game, we are able to play a lot of team basketball so overall it has just been a lot of fun. The team that we have now is really close so that is also a lot of fun.”

Mallory has not been able to visit that many schools during his high school season but as mentioned above, he did take a visit to see UVa last month.

“I have only been to one Virginia game so far this season and that was a lot of fun,” Mallory said. “They played how Virginia Basketball usually plays, which is really good team basketball. I have been at those games my whole life and that atmosphere was really good. It was definitely fun to be in that type of environment and be around the team.

“It was a sold out game so a lot of people were there and whenever Virginia Tech and Virginia play, the environment is always crazy,” he added. “I have been to a lot of games at JPJ and this type of environment matched up to some of the loudest games that I have been to before.”

Mallory and Tony Bennett have continued to build a great relationship and after several conversations with UVa’s head coach, Mallory thinks he would fit well with what the Hoos are trying to accomplish on the offensive side of the ball.

“Coach Bennett continues to talk to me about how they use a lot of off ball movement, so he talks to me about how he could see me in their system and he thinks I would fit in very well because of all the movement they play with and all of the screens they use,” Mallory said. “He also thinks I would do a really good job of setting up my teammates at the lead guard spot if I were to go there.”

Defensively, Bennett and Mallory each see a lot of possibilities on that end of the floor too.

“I think I could fit in well,” Mallory said. “I try to thrive on playing defense as a smaller guard and Virginia obviously strives their entire program on defense so I think I would be able to fit in well early on and help them succeed in what they are trying to run.”

Most recently, Mallory had 40 points, 22 rebounds, and 3 assists In a win at Collegiate this week.