On Monday afternoon, former Rice standout Trey Murphy made it official and announced his commitment to UVa. The Durham native chose the Wahoos among a final group that included Houston, Pitt, and Villanova.

Rivals.com’s Corey Evans caught up with the 6-foot-8 wing to talk about his decision and what went into him deciding to head to Charlottesville.

So, with Virginia’s projected 2020-2021 roster all full, today we’re going to look at three key takeaways from this development.

First, let's look at the scholarship situation for the next few seasons:

We’ll get to the big picture momentarily but in terms of Murphy and how he’ll fit in following his sit out redshirt year, it makes sense why Tony Bennett and staff prioritized him this spring. There is simply no denying that he was the No. 1 target for UVa this transfer season and the Hoos once again were able to land their guy.

It’s worth remembering that Murphy, who put up nearly 14 points and six boards per game as a sophomore this year, is still very much a developing player. He’s grown several inches since he was a recruit coming out of Cary Academy in the class of 2018. The Hoos were among a number of majors to take a look then but didn’t make a push, which is partly why he committed to the Owls in November 2017. But that prior relationship certainly helped, as Virginia continued to make hay out of “bounce back” recruitments.

On the court, regardless of whether we’re talking about his prior “life” as a shorter guard or his current situation as an extremely long wing, the kid has always been a shooter. He was sixth in Conference USA in 3-pointers per game while shooting 36.8 percent from long range. He was also second in the league at the free-throw line (82.4 percent). The Bull City product scored double-figures in 25 of his 29 games this past season.

What’s potentially even more interesting, beyond just what Murphy brings in terms of his shooting and scoring prowess, is that he was the team leader in dunks and blocks. Needless to say, a year with Mike Curtis could elevate Murphy’s game to an even rarer height considering just how good he was already playing and his mix of size and skill.

If you look at the names of the seniors above, the Cavaliers will need to have someone fill the 3-point shooting role that Woldetensae and Hauser are surely bound to hold next season. That’s a lot of shots that have to go to someone, despite a group of rookies who will undoubtedly be eager to make strides as a second-years.

Given that UVa didn’t have a clear need at guard or on the wing right away, having Murphy come in and sit one year before playing two bolsters an exceptional 2020 class and really allows the pieces needed in 2021 to take shape.

Bennett has always been and will always be a bird in hand recruiter, which as the 2020 class showed is even better when other pieces are in place.

With three scholarships to use in the class of 2021, the Wahoos have an even clearer picture of what the needs may be now that Murphy is in the fold. And that gives them a bit of an advantage in what is clearly an uncertain time.

Building a roster in the out years is a lot like making a meal and doing that is a lot easier when you know what ingredients you have.

So how does Murphy help define what else is on the grocery list?

As associate head coach Jason Williford explained in our Q&A last week, the need for a big and a guard is clear. Coincidentally in that conversation, Williford also discussed the potential for the coronavirus pandemic to lead more kids to stay close to home. As of now, it seems the top two targets on the board are both close to home and fit the needs perfectly, as UVa has prioritized both Efton Reid and Trevor Keels.

Using Williford’s comments as a guide, the Cavaliers will likely look for the best available with that third scholarship in the class. Depending on which big and which guard they get, they certainly could look for versatility. In what would be their freshmen years, the Hoos will have just Caffaro and Shedrick in the post so any big would seem to fit. The prospect of two of them makes a lot of sense, though the bigger whole would seem to be on the wing.

All told, with limited evaluation time due to the upheaval of AAU season, if ever there was a time to know what you’ve got and what you need and to have already had your top two top-35 targets on Grounds multiple times, this is it.

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