Campbell (1-0, CAA) at Virginia (0-0, ACC)

7pm, ACCNX

At long last, it’s basketball season in Charlottesville. Though this one is going to be quite different than what UVa fans have grown accustomed to. When the Wahoos open up the 2024-25 season tonight against the Campbell Camels, they’ll do so without Tony Bennett, led by a different coach for the first time in a season opener in 16 years.

Bennett’s surprise retirement resets the deck for the Hoos leading into this campaign, now led by interim head coach Ron Sanchez. The former Charlotte head coach is looking to earn the job full time, and prove that he can win with Bennett’s 24-25 roster. Sanchez will be looking to strike the delicate balance between stick with the Bennett formula that worked so well and was so revered by Cavalier faithful, while also striking out on his own and making tweaks to try and put his own stamp on things and hopefully win a lot of games in the process.

UVa’s expectations are less positive heading into this season than they’ve been in the past, and given Bennett’s departure, it seems like a fool’s errand to try and predict where this season is heading. UVa has a new-look roster, built around junior guard Isaac McKneely, along with a bunch of new pieces in key roles. Virginia’s projected starting lineup could feature as many as three newcomers, all transfers from other major programs.

That team’s first task will be Campbell, who already have a win under their belt this year. The Camels, who moved from the Big South to the CAA prior to last season, knocked off D3 Pfeiffer on Monday, 96-49 at home. The Camels cruised in that one, but Wednesday’s game should be a very different affair; Campbell is just 1-37 all-time against ACC competition.

Campbell dominated their season opener, leading by 20 points at the break en route to a near 50-point blowout victory. The Camels scored 96 points but did so with just three made three-pointers, scoring 56 points n the paint and 29 more at the line. That’s likely a function of their opponent being overmatched against D1 competition, but it was an impressive and dominant effort nonetheless. Campbell also forced a ton of mistakes, creating 23 turnovers and outsourcing Pfeiffer 26-2 off of them.

The Camels rank #307 in Kenpom heading into tonight’s game, one of five sub-300 ranked programs on UVa’s non-conference schedule. Campbell were picked to finish 13th in the CAA, second to last, in the preseason poll. Last year, Campbell struggled a bit in their new conference, going 14-18 overall and 8-10 in league play, before losing top players Anthony Dell’Orso and Laurynas Vaistaras in the offseason.

Bragi Gudmundsson, Forward

Campbell’s leading scorer in the season opener, Bragi Gudmundsson comes to Buies Creek after spending one year at Penn State. Gudmundsson played sparingly with the Nittany Lions, seeing action in just seven contests. Gudmunsson, a Grindavik, Iceland native, scored 15 against Pfeiffer in his debut as a Camel, in just 18 minutes of game action. He made all three field-goal attempts, and scored 8 of his points at the line.

Terren Frank, Forward

A 6-foot-8 graduate student from LA, Terren Frank is now on his fourth school. Before joining the Campbell program, Frank had stops at Idaho, Vanderbilt and TCU, playing sparingly for most of his collegiate career. Frank had a chance to breakout last year though, playing at Idaho. He started the first six games of the season before suffering a season-ending injury, and was playing quite well, including a 24 point game. In Monday’s opener, Frank scored 10 points in 15 minutes, going 5-for-8 from the floor with five rebounds.

Elijah Walsh, Guard

A native of England, Walsh is one of several returnees for the Camels set to take on a larger role this year. Walsh, a 6-foot-5 guard from Leeds, played in all 32 games last year with 25 starts, playing at an off-ball guard spot. He averaged 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in CAA play, including a career-high 18 points against UNCW. Walsh was quiet against Pfeiffer with just two points on one shot attempt.

UVa really needs to take care of business here. It would be a rough start for Sanchez if they can’t get the season off to a good start, especially against a Campbell team that has some intriguing new pieces, but looks very beatable. Often the intrigue in season openers comes down to what UVa’s lineup and new pieces look like playing together, as fans try to get a sense of what the team might look like as the season progresses. And in this one, Virginia fans should be curious as to what the tweaks to style of play will be with a new face leading the program. UVa should hope that’s where the drama and intrigue ends on Wednesday night, and that’s how we predict it will go, too.