Recruiting Roundup: 5.20.22

With the spring live period behind us, we’re now into summer visit and travel ball season for members of the 2023 basketball recruiting class. UVa has yet to pick up a commitment but Tony Bennett has offered a group of prospects, several of whom have visited, will visit, or seem genuinely interested in the program.

In today’s Recruiting Roundup we take a look at the players UVa has offered in 2023, plus a couple that may have offers on the way soon, and how the Hoos fit into their recruitments.

Jamie Kaiser: If we had to pick one player to be the first to jump into UVa’s 2023 class right now, it would be Kaiser. The NOVA native picked up a Cavalier offer this month and seems intrigued to say the least. Our Houston Wilson caught up with Kaiser this week, who called UVa his “dream school,” and talked at length about how UVa would be a good fit for his playing style.

Kaiser is clearly excited about the Virginia offer and is a local product, which certainly doesn’t hurt. The biggest hurdle for UVa right now might simply be the amount of interest Kaiser is picking up from other schools and what that could do to his recruitment. UVa offered just one week ago. Since then, Kaiser has picked up offers from Boston College, Indiana, Maryland, Wake Forest, and Illinois with Wisconsin already in the mix as well.

Kaiser is set to visit Charlottesville in early June and with interest picking up, perhaps Bennett and his staff go into closing mode when the Fairfax County native makes his way to town.

Andrej Stojakovic: Virginia threw an offer out to Stojakovic a few weeks ago, as many other schools have gotten into the fray. Peja’s son has picked up a lot of interest lately, with offers pouring in from Kansas, Kentucky, Florida, Oregon, Texas and others.

Despite the level of interest and the distance (Stojakovic plays in California), it seems that UVa is in the mix as we head into summer.

Rivals.com's Travis Graf caught up with Stojakovic this week, who confirmed that he is looking to take visits to Texas, Tennessee and Virginia before the end of July, as well as a potential trip to either UConn or Indiana. Stojakovic visited Stanford this week as well. It won’t be an easy pull for Virginia, but if they can get a visit lined up, that’s a start.

Jaydon Young: Speaking of visits, Young recently made his way up to town and spent some time on Grounds touring the facilities. Based on his recent interview with CavsCorner, Young came away impressed. Although he hasn’t received an offer yet, it’s clear that he is a player of interest for this staff, as they have evaluated a bunch of wing players this spring. Young, who plays at Greensboro Day, the same school as former Cavalier Carson McCorkle, holds offers from Charlotte, ODU, App State and others. He is looking to take more visits and it seems like he’s headed for a busy summer, where his recruitment could take off. Will Virginia offer? That remains to be seen and could be based in part on how the rest of their recruiting board shakes out.

Freddie Dilione: Virginia recently received a visit from another North Carolina native, this one with an offer already in hand. The three-star guard and Fayetteville native made his way to Charlottesville and seemed impressed with the experience. Dilione highlighted the facilities and a film study with UVa’s coaches, who compared his game to Malcolm Brogdon’s. The Wahoos seem to be in the mix here, but the process is going to have to play out. Dilione has picked up quite a bit of interest of late, grabbing an offer from Texas as he starts to line up other visits. The plan is to travel to Alabama, Tennessee and VCU for officials, and potentially more visits, before a decision is made.

Taison Chatman: There hasn’t been much in the way of news here but Chatman is another player that snagged an early offer from Virginia. The Minnesota native was offered by Bennett three weeks ago, and around the same time earned offers from Kansas, Clemson, Xavier and many others. Just this week, he picked up an offer from Ohio State as well. This recruitment has been quiet so far, so for now we’ll wait and see what his visit schedule looks like in the coming months.

Cam Christie: UVa offered Christie back in April and, like Chatman, there hasn’t been a lot of UVa buzz to this point. The younger brother of outgoing Michigan State guard Max Christie, who is now NBA bound, Cam has already taken visits to Minnesota, Iowa State, and others, and has an offer from in-state Illinois as well. If UVa gets on his visit schedule, then this could require more attention.

Blake Buchanan: Virginia got a visit from Buchanan a few weeks ago but the Idaho native left Charlottesville uncommitted. That doesn’t mean the Hoos are going to move on, though.

When UVa offered him shortly before the visit, it seemed like his recruitment was about to take off in a big way. The big offers that seemed close (Gonzaga was monitoring Buchanan, for instance) haven’t come (or been announced at least) yet, but the 6-foot-9 big man seems to be on the radar for several power programs.

UVa is in a good spot here, but we’ll just have to see where Buchanan visits, what offers come, and what the decision timeline looks like.

Milan Momcilovic: Virginia has had plenty of success with recruits from Bennett’s home state of Wisconsin, and it seems Momcilovic is the next top target for the Hoos from the Dairy State. The field continues to get more and more crowded, however.

Just Thursday night, Michigan State offered Momcilovic as the Spartans join UVa, Virginia Tech, UCLA, Marquette and many others that have offered the 6-foot-8 Pewaukee native. When CavsCorner caught up with Momcilovic recently, he mentioned that a visit to Virginia could be in the works for this summer but those details are still being ironed out. He has already taken trips to Minnesota, Iowa State, Northwestern and Marquette as well.

T.J. Power: The Worchester (MA) native is the 65th-ranked player in the nation currently, and his interest from college programs matches that hype. Power picked up an offer from UVa this spring, but the Hoos were far from the only team to get in the mix with the 6-foot-8 forward. He also received offers from Indiana, Miami, Notre Dame, USC and many others this spring during the live period.

When Power caught up with our Indiana site following their offer, he mentioned the Hoosiers, Notre Dame and Virginia as three schools that he wants to visit this summer. Getting Power on Grounds would be big for UVa’s chances here, in another crowded recruiting field.

Tafara Gapare: Finally, the 6-foot-10 center is also on Virginia’s radar. Though an offer is yet to come, Gapare told CavsCorner in the past week that the Hoos are getting in the mix for the big man. He picked up an offer from Illinois this week and already had offers from Virginia Tech, Pitt, Rutgers and Missouri among others.

Gapare is a New Zealand native, so there’s a direct connection to Virginia there with Taine Murray on the roster and Jack Salt having come through the program as well. Gapare is a different sort of player than the other bigs UVa has offered thus far, and looks like a good fit for the pack-line.

Now, we wait to see if the UVa offer comes.