Amidst a time of year when UVa typically starts to build out its offer list in the next cycle, four-star guard Derek Dixon recently became the third prospect from the 2025 class to pick up an offer from Tony Bennett and the Wahoos.

A DMV product that plays his high school ball for WCAC power Gonzaga and AAU for the prestigious Team Takeover, it was an offer that not only made a lot of sense but also got his attention.

“I think the summer has been good,” Dixon told CavsCorner. “I have been able to play more on the ball and show coaches my versatility as a true combo guard and I think it has been really good being one of the major contributors on Team Takeover.”

Because of his play this summer, a number of high majors have offered him, with UVa joining a field likely to get even more crowded.

“I have really seen an uptick in my recruitment recently,” he explained. “It kind of all started on June 15 when college coaches were allowed to contact me directly. I can really see how my play and how my work is paying off and there are a lot of coaches reaching out and contacting me and it is a really cool experience to have all of these great schools reaching out.”

One of those situations played out this week when

Bennett officially got involved with Dixon and extended the offer to him.

“Coach Bennett called me and said they have gotten a lot of different chances to evaluate me and he was really happy when he extended the offer to me,” Dixon recalled. “It means a lot to receive an offer from a school like Virginia because Coach Bennett is one of the best coaches in the country and he has recently won a national championship with them. To have a program like that recruiting me is really something special.”

Dixon and Bennett talk a lot about basketball but that is not all they discuss.

“I have really gotten to know Coach Bennett better,” Dixon said this week. “We don’t always have to talk about basketball, which is cool. We will talk about his favorite shows and favorite music and then he will ask me those questions which is really cool.”

Bennett has relayed the message to Dixon that he has coached a lot of similar players to him.

“Coach Bennett has been telling me that they have had players similar to me that have gone on and played at the highest level, like Ty Jerome, and he said he really likes the way I can shoot the ball and that he really values that,” Dixon said. “He also wants me to understand that I will have to really play defense if I were to go there and if I can do that they will let me do my thing on the offensive end.”

As continues to move forward through the process, Dixon has an idea of what will matter in his ultimate decision down the road.

“The way my relationship with the coaches are,” he explained, “the fit, the type of playing style, the development and then obviously academics are all going to be super important when it comes time to make my decision.”

When asked when he would possibly make his college decision, he said, “Probably sometime next summer. Most of the people from my AAU program commit in the summer so I will do it sometime then.”