Bronco Mendenhall was about 12 minutes into his weekly virtual conversation with media members when he looked more closely at the computer screen glowing back in his direction.
“This is a world record number of hands up on Zoom screen, by the way,” Virginia’s head coach told the collection of reporters sitting in front of screens of their own, from outposts ranging from Charlottesville to Atlanta to Provo. “I’m overwhelmed by hands up right now.”
Not surprisingly, it wasn’t the typical 20-minute conversation about the next opponent or injury updates or the Cavaliers’ season when Mendenhall sat down at the McCue Center on Monday. The Wahoos will travel later this week to BYU, where Bronco spent 11 seasons as head coach before arriving at UVa almost six years ago.
"I'll open with a quick comment,” Bronco began. “BYU is near and dear to my heart.”
That quick comment turned into a series of opening remarks that took almost four minutes. The entire availability spanned more than a half hour, ending with questions from a few of the roughly half dozen BYU beat reporters who had joined the virtual session.
Mendenhall greeted some of those familiar faces as they popped up on his screen. He talked about the 13 years he spent at BYU. About how his father and brother both played for the Cougars. How much he and his family have loved their time in Charlottesville, and how excited he was coming off the Cavaliers’ fourth straight win of the season on Saturday night.
“And that's the most long-winded probably start that I've ever had in my time here,” Bronco joked as he wrapped up those opening thoughts. “I thought, man, why don't we just get it all out today on Monday and then you don't have to ask me anything else and there's no more time that'll be given.
“And maybe I just limited question time, too,” he added. “Maybe that was the motive if you're kind of looking behind the scenes.”
The Hoos are an early 2 1/2-point underdog heading into Saturday’s 10:15 p.m. (ET) kickoff in Provo. It’ll be a late night for Mendenhall, who admitted on Monday that he’s usually in bed by that point. Recapping that and more in the latest edition of the 3-2-1:
