Dave Leitao and the Virginia Cavaliers: A Defining Season

Next season, the training wheels are off.

When Dave Leitao started at Virginia, he knew he had a solid backcourt—Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, both of whom were recruited by his predecessor—to anchor the team. 

With their graduations, the team comes completely under Leitao’s direction.  These are his players.  This upcoming season is a preview of what Leitao’s Virginia program will look like for years to come…if Leitao is around long enough.

Leitao’s hard work gives many reasons to be optimistic. 

Last year’s team lacked interior defense.  Fans watched as team after team eviscerated the Cavaliers in the post.  Virginia’s ineptitude was largely the product of injuries to big men Lars Mikalauskus and Tunji Soroye.  Behind those two, the team had paltry few post players, a function of the recruiting gap left by former coach Pete Gillen.

Leitao certainly has been given enough time to fix the problem, but hadn’t until this season.  He hit a home run on the recruiting front, enlisting two towers for the post: John Brandenburg and Assane Sene.

Those two excellent recruits, coupled with the return of a healthy Lars Mikalauskas, Jamil Tucker, and Mike Scott, ought to shore up Virginia's porous defense.

Brandenburg and Sene should provide a nice complement to Virginia’s existing group. 

Neither Mikalauskas nor Scott, both listed at 6’8”, possesses the length necessary to play significant minutes at the five spot.  Tucker, on the other hand, is somewhat of a liability in the post and might be considered a taller three because of his perimeter oriented style, though he does do a solid job on the defensive glass. 

This leaves the door open for Brandenburg, listed at 6’10”, and Assane, 7’0”, to step in at the five.

On the perimeter, Virginia returns a cadre of unspectacular players.  That’s not meant to be a slight.  Next to the highlight reel Singletary put out, most of the perimeter players in the ACC appear unspectacular. 

Senior Mamadi Diane, the team’s leading returning scorer, junior Calvin Baker, and sophomore Jeff Jones all suffered through bouts of inconsistency this past season.  Diane always appeared to be on the verge of becoming a dominant scorer, only to have committed an inopportune turnover here or an unnecessary over-the-back call there, frustrating both fans and Leitao.

Jones was unable to regain the form that saw him drop five threes in an exciting opening win against Arizona. 

Baker showed marked improvement throughout the season and played a key role in Virginia’s late season “surge,” winning four of six to close out the regular season.

Sammy Zeglinski and Mustafa Farrakhan are two up-and-comers that didn’t get much chance to prove themselves last year.  Singletary’s loss means that point guard duties will most likely fall to Baker, but if Baker does not improve his turnover rate this season, then Zeglinski might be able to take over his spot.

In this vein, there’s reason to optimistic too; Leitao landed Sylven Landesburg, Virginia’s first McDonald’s All-American since Majestic Mapp.  He’s listed as a small forward with a good mid-range game.  Hopefully, his addition will round out the roster and leave Virginia with enough scoring options to make it through the season.

Leitao, however, needs some luck for this upcoming season to pan out.  The injury bug bit last year’s team hard.  This offseason has already seen Diane go in for foot surgery and Mikalauskas has gone under the knife to fix up his shoulder.

More than any other year during his tenure, Leitao will be judged on his success with this very green roster.  The Cavaliers right now possess a lot of unknowns and will be hurt by this in the preseason polls.  Most media outlets will look at last year’s season, note the loss of Singletary, and bury them. 

Don’t be fooled.  Watch this team.  There are good ingredients here.  Bill Simmons might purport that this season has Ewing theory potential.  I’m not sure if I’m ready to put that stamp on it yet, but I think the potential for sucess is good.

The season will have its up and downs, but a middle of the pack finish in the ACC has to be considered a success for the Wahoos and Leitao.  The strength of North Carolina, Duke, and Wake Forest will make it difficult, if not impossible to contend for any sort of title. 

If Virginia can pull out the type of season Virginia Tech did last year, Leitao will have done an excellent job with this bunch and will deserve whatever kudos come with it.

If Virginia wallows at the bottom of the standings and the players don’t display improvement, then speculation about Leitao’s future will surface. 

Either way, it ought to be interesting.