After the Virginia basketball’s previous head coach, Tony Bennett retired three weeks before the start of the regular season, the Ron Sanchez era started abruptly. But after three games in the new era of Virginia basketball, where do the Cavaliers stand?
Ron Sanchez is currently the interim head coach for Virginia basketball. But his connection to NCAA Division I competition goes back to 2001 when Sanchez was a volunteer assistant coach, while in grad school at the University of Indiana.
While at Indiana, he connected with the Bennett family, as Kathi Bennett who is the daughter of Dick Bennett and sister of Tony Bennett, was the head women’s basketball coach. After completing his two years at the University of Indiana, Dick Bennett offered Sanchez the Director of Basketball Operations job at Washington State.
When Tony Bennett took over the head coaching job for Wazzu, Sanchez was promoted to an assistant coach on Bennett’s staff. From that point on, Sanchez remained on staff with Bennett even through his move to Charlottesville until 2019, when Sanchez took over the head coaching position at UNC Charlotte.
Sanchez then returned to the University of Virginia as an associate head coach, before being promoted to interim head coach upon Bennett’s retirement. Although Sanchez does not have the same acclaim as his predecessor, the five pillars of Virginia basketball remain.
In the Ron Sanchez era, the Hoos are a comfortable 3-0, defeating Campbell, Coppin State, and Villanova basketball. This is a consistent start comparable to the last two seasons, which saw the Hoos start with at least four straight wins.
Before Sanchez’s head coaching stint began in Charlottesville, the months leading up to the 2024-2025 regular season were filled with rumors of a new offensive scheme. Well, the rumors are true, sort of.
While the Hoos have not completely abandoned the offensive ways of the last 15 seasons, the mover-blocker offense has expanded into something much more efficient.
The new look on offense for the Cavaliers relies on having three or four shooters who are comfortable knocking down shots from behind the arc. For example, on Friday against Villanova, the Hoos starting five included four shooters, including San Diego State transfer Elijah Saunders, who played the four, but has shot 40% from behind the arc in the first three games.
With the increased number of shooters on the floor, Virginia basketball has been able to spread the floor with higher efficiency. Thus far, the Hoos rank eighth in the country in three-point percentage at 44.6%.
The offensive changes also include the five at a higher rate, as a facilitator of zoom actions. In the past, the Hoos would use the big man as a screener who may get opportunities rolling to the basket. But in the first few games, the five has often been the first passing option at the top of the key, leading to dribble hand-offs and mismatches that have created opportunities for shooters to get open looks.
While the offensive attack has seen large changes, the Cavaliers will still rely on the defensive end to keep their opponents at arm’s length. Through three regular season games, the Hoos are giving up an average of 53.7 points per game, which ranks them 11th in the country in that statistical category.
Ron Sanchez is no stranger to being on staff for great defensive teams. In his final year in Charlottesville, before taking over the head coaching role at UNC Charlotte, Sanchez was a part of the staff that led the nation in scoring defense at 54 points per game.
This year’s Virginia basketball team may have an even greater challenge in the defensive category. While the offense has improved shooting, the interior defense lacks the size to match up to some of the premiere big men in the country.
The Cavaliers got their first taste of this on Friday against Villanova. Eric Dixon played the big man role for the ‘Cats and arrived in Baltimore averaging 26.5 points per game in his first three games of the season. The Hoos forced Dixon to have his worst scoring game of the season thus far, but still put up 20 points and 8 rebounds.
While Saunders, second-year Blake Buchanan, and first-year Jacob Cofie had the size on paper to match up with Dixon it was still a struggle for the Hoos to slow him down. However, in that contest, the Cavaliers’ goal was not to completely shut down one of the best big men in the country but to force Dixon to be the primary scorer, thus limiting opportunities for his teammates to get clean looks.
Following Virginia basketball’s 70-60 win over Villanova, coach Sanchez talked about the defensive game plan for the Hoos going forward.
“Right now, with our personnel, we’re still trying to figure some things out,” Sanchez said. “We’re going to end up matching up to opponents depending on how they play.”
While the Cavaliers have not yet faced nationally acclaimed talent thus far, they have done a good job of forcing outside jumpers to be the main offensive focus for opponents. In three games the Cavalier’s opponents are shooting 30% from beyond the arc. To put the success into context, in the first four games, Villanova basketball put up an average of 22.7 three-point shots per game. Against the Hoos, the Wildcats put up 32 triples, only connecting on 28% of those.
This shows that Sanchez has not abandoned the pack line defense that lives and dies by forcing threes. While that can go either way, it is a positive sign for Virginia basketball fans that the defensive end is still a primary focus in the Ron Sanchez era.
Overall, Virginia basketball is in a comfortable spot after three games under Ron Sanchez. The Hoos will have a great opportunity to prove that they can be a force in the country when they head to the Bahamas for the Baha Mar Hoops Championship, that features three teams ranked inside of the top 25 of the current AP Poll.
Next game for Virginia (3-0): vs. #11 Tennessee (3-0) – Nov. 21 at 9:30 p.m. EST