It was a photo of two of the all-time great centers in college basketball history, reunited last weekend at John Paul Jones Arena. But it was a glimpse of the scoreboard in the periphery that got the attention of Virginia basketball fans.

The photo depicted UVa legend Ralph Sampson and one-time foe Patrick Ewing, now the head coach at his alma mater, Georgetown. Ewing and the Hoyas were at JPJ for a "secret" closed scrimmage against the Wahoos last Saturday.

But it wasn’t the photo op that got UVa fans aflutter—it was that corner of the scoreboard. Posted by a since-suspended Twitter account, a zoomed-in image of the scoreboard appeared to indicate that a ‘White’ team (complete with V-sabre logo) outscored ‘Blue’ 83-47, and shot 12-of-22 from beyond the 3-point line in the process.

Was that the score of the scrimmage? Was Georgetown the ‘Blue’ team in question? Were the shooting statistics legitimate?

If the answers to those questions are yes, the excitement among UVa fans is understandable. Not holding the Hoyas to 47 points; that’s the norm for a Tony Bennett team. But 83 points, even in a scrimmage? Shooting 55-percent from deep?

The potential of that kind of offensive output can ratchet up the optimism for the upcoming season a little bit.

In his first 12 seasons at Virginia, Bennett has only had two teams average even 70 points per game. Probably not coincidentally, they were his two best, at least in terms of postseason performance - the 2018-19 national title team (71.4 ppg) and the 2015-16 team (71.0 ppg) that reached the Elite Eight. Those are also Bennett’s lone UVa teams to finish top 10 (or even top 20) for the season in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency.

Again, it’s not clear whether the score and stats from Saturday are legitimate, and even if they are they’re only from one unofficial game played behind closed doors. Questions about the ability of this Virginia team to consistently put the ball in the hoop will linger into Tuesday’s season opener at JPJ against Navy and beyond.

UVa has eight non-freshman scholarship players on the roster entering this season. Including forward Jayden Gardner’s stats from East Carolina and those of guard Armaan Franklin from his time at Indiana, those eight players combined to score 51.7 points per game last year.

That’s admittedly probably not the fairest way to judge this team's capability. Roles will be bigger for many of those players this season. But add up the best single-season average of each player’s career and you get 54.7 points per game. Their career scoring averages? A combined 44.6.

Again, considering the Hoos lost the top three scorers and three-quarters of the total point production from last year’s team that averaged 68.2 points per game, roles will need to be larger for many players. But there’s still a lack of proven scoring on the roster going into the season.

Gardner has been the most prolific scorer among the group, although his points have all come in an ECE uniform. He was a career 18-point scorer and 50.1-percent shooter for the Pirates, never averaging fewer than 30 minutes or 16 points per game in his three seasons.

“He’s a monster,” Franklin said this week of his fellow transfer. “He’s powerful but he has a lot of finesse. He can shoot mid-range. He has a great postgame and he’s a great offensive rebounder. And he has great touch around the rim.”

The lone question about the 6-foot-6, 246-pound Gardner is whether his relative lack of size will be an issue in the ACC. It wasn’t a problem in last month’s Blue-White Scrimmage, when he worked 6-foot-10 freshman Igor Milicic on some early possessions in that game and had a pair of two-hand slams while guarded by 6-foot-11 Kadin Shedrick. Gardner was the leading scorer in that scrimmage, finishing with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

“I’ve always gone against bigger guys and I’ve always been successful,” Gardner said. "That challenge maybe posed problems for me out of high school, but now, being four years into playing college basketball it’s just, height is height, and heart is something that you can’t teach.”

Franklin was brought in from IU to help spread the floor for the other playmakers at the offensive end. The 6-foot-4 guard saw his minutes more than double to 30 a game as a sophomore last year. He averaged 11.4 points and took almost four 3-pointers per game, making 42.4 percent of those shots from long range.

“Just being able to be that option where you can be counted on to hit a 3 when needed is important to me,” said Franklin, who shot just 4-of-12 in the Blue-White Scrimmage and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. “But that also opens up a lot of other people to do some other stuff.”

Those two transfers join Shedrick and guards Kihei Clark and Reece Beekman as the likely starters for the Hoos to open the year. Clark and Beekman are expected to share point guard duties and will be counted on to facilitate the offense with their ability to get into the paint.

At 9.5 points per game, Clark is the leading returning scorer from last year's team. A career 35-percent 3-point shooter on 2.6 attempts per game, the 5-foot-9 senior put in a lot of work this summer on improving his long-range shooting; it's more compact and efficient, Bennett said.

Beekman could be on the verge of a breakout sophomore season. He looked more confident and aggressive in the Blue-White Scrimmage, getting to the paint with ease and finishing consistently. Beekman finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 1-for-2 beyond the arc.

“A year ago he was a first-year, hadn't played a college game. Maybe trying to find how he fits with Kihei or the other guys,” said assistant coach Kyle Getter. “But that’s when guys, in my opinion, the biggest step is from their freshmen to their sophomore year, and we're certainly looking forward to him making a jump this year.”

Shedrick’s biggest gain has been physical. He’s listed at 231 pounds, almost 30 pounds heavier than his listed weight as a freshman two years ago. He had 14 points in the scrimmage on 5-of-10 shooting, with a big dunk and a few tough shots over 7-foot-1 center Francisco Caffaro.

Assistant coach Orlando Vandross has seen an added sense of urgency this preseason from Shedrick, who missed eight games last year with an illness.

“He’s consistently doing things that I think will translate when we get into game situations,” Vandross told CavsCorner this week.

Caffaro and 6-foot-8 guard Kody Stattmann are both fourth-year veterans in the Virginia program who will need to fill bigger roles. The oft-injured Stattmann played just four games last year but will likely be among the first players off the bench this season. He had 13 points in the Blue-White, making three of his five 3-point attempts and hitting a go-ahead layup in the scrimmage’s closing seconds. Caffaro will likely be the first big man off the bench.

Second-year guard Carson McCorkle knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and also had a layup in the paint in the scrimmage, and if the infamous scoreboard photo is to be believed, had 13 points last weekend against Georgetown. After scoring five total points (and shooting 1-for-4 beyond the arc) in 22 total minutes as a freshman, he is another player who the Hoos will need more from this season.

Like many fans, associate head coach Jason Williford is waiting to see what those veterans can provide the Cavaliers off the bench this year.

“They’ve been working their tails off,” Williford said. “I think they’ve all gotten better, but not until we’ve jumped it up and we’re going out there in that fire will you see if they’re ready for that next step and if they’ve made that next step.”

Roles are less clear for the two first-years new to the program, Australian guard Taine Murray and Milicic, a Croatian forward. If the Blue-White Scrimmage was an indicator, neither is shy at the offensive end. They combined for 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting in the intra-squad scrimmage; each knocked down a 3-pointer.

Vandross praised the two freshmen for the way they’ve embraced the hard work that UVa coaches demand in practice, as well as their ability to learn from mistakes. Both are still learning how to better take care of the ball at the ACC level. How much they’ll be relied on to contribute right is uncertain.

“I think the most important thing is just to be ready when coach calls you,” Vandross said. “And I think that’s a mindset thing. A lot of times when you’re not called on immediately, sometimes that can be frustrating. But I think the best thing we can do for them is, stay ready and when your number is called, just be prepared to contribute any way you can.”

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