The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Malik Thomas Commits To Odom, UVA Hoops; Is This Virginia's Most Talented Roster Ever?

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: Malik Thomas Commits To Odom, UVA Hoops Is This Virginia’s Most Talented Roster Ever? UVA 2019 National Title Roster vs 2025-26 Roster 2025-2026 Is A Critical Year For ACC, Here’s Why What Should We Be Watching With UVA Football? President Trump Wants To Revamp NCAA Sports UVA Baseball Peaking At Right Time; Is It Enough? Virginia Tennis & Golf Are Red Hot Right Now Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Jerry & Jerry Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller and thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry show. It's an absolute pleasure to connect with you guys through the I Love Seaville Network on a show that spotlights the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, Jerry Hootie-Rackliff, who's covered this Virginia athletic beat longer and more closely than anyone on the beat, folks. And those are facts. A lot we're going to cover on today's program, including Ryan Odom securing a commitment from the West Coast and Malik Thomas that is as significant a commitment that he has on his roster, a three-level scorer that could be in some ways the guy that Odom looks to to create in crunch time or when the team needs a

basket. We're gonna talk about Malik on the program today. I'm gonna ask Kuti this question. Is this UVA basketball's most talented roster ever? It is a United Nations type of roster. It's a transfer portal roster. It's a roster that is not deep in eligibility, but it's a roster that could win out of the gates in year one, which is paramount for Virginia, which is extremely important with the athletic department as it rolls out its new licensing plan where it basically asks fans for more money for their seats at the John Paul Jones Arena. I want to talk about that with Hootie.

I want to talk on today's show, ladies and gentlemen, why this is a significant year for the Atlantic Coast Conference, not just in basketball, but across the board. It's very clear that the Southeastern Conference has become, in a lot of ways, the Conference of America. It's not just football anymore, the SEC is basketball dominant. The Big 12 and the Big 10 speak for themselves and if the ACC is not careful, it's gonna slide down a total pool of influence and importance that no one wants to see

materialized. So we'll talk about that today. We'll talk Donald Trump revitalizing NCAA sports potentially and Virginia baseball peaking at the right time but is it enough for Brian O'Connor who reaffirmed his commitment to the University of Virginia last week a breaking news piece from Hootie Radcliffe. Judah Wittkower is behind the camera. If we can go to the studio camera, goodness gracious, the notebook is absolutely chock-full of quality content. And now we have the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame around the show, the star of the program. Rainey in Charlottesville, about two miles from Scott Stadium Hootie, pretty chilly and gross out there.

Yeah, it's been coming down for, since sometime yesterday, I guess, and we'll be around for a little bit longer. But I had a fun experience this weekend going over and watching the men's tennis team defeat Arizona. And it was a lot of drama. If you like college sports and drama, that was a good place to be, especially watching Dietrich down 5 to 2 in the third set, charge back and tie and then overcome and win the match and win the and send Virginia out to Waco, Texas

for the final eight. A position in the postseason that UVA fans have grown accustomed to. Absolutely. The final eight for Virginia tennis. Speak to the talent on that roster. I mean, it's not final eight for Virginia tennis. Speak to the talent on that roster. I mean it's not just stars in college tennis. We're talking professional level talent here in Charlottesville in that tennis program.

Oh yeah. Andres Pedrosa has done an incredible job recruiting. He has talked about Ryan Odom having international recruiting ties. Andres has ties all over the world, I think. And he's brought in an incredible roster, a lot of foreign players, and were among the top ten juniors in the world. And it's a different kind of team for him, because at times this year they've started five freshmen. And then Dietrich is a sophomore, so it's a very young team overall but they're not

supposed to be doing what they're doing but that Virginia culture has paid off once again and here they are packing their bags for another big road trip. You talk about legacy and you talk about continuing tradition. Brian Boland puts the tennis program on the map. This was about a, I can't believe I'm saying this, almost a generation ago. Certainly a decade plus ago, 15 years ago or so. And the program has elevated since Boland stamps

Virginia tennis on the map. What do you attribute this to? Do you attribute it to the facility? Do you attribute it to a commitment from the athletic department to non-revenue sports? I mean, golf and tennis in the spring are some of the best programs in the nation. Yeah.

Yeah. I think I attribute it to Boland's fire because I got to know him really well and I think Andres has followed up in those footsteps and used some of the same strategies to keep Virginia tennis on top. But Boland was a fiery guy, man. And he was a kind of... Passionate. Oh, extremely passionate. And he was the kind of guy that would not take no for an answer.

He just couldn't tell him no. He would keep coming at you at different angles until he got what he wanted. And he, I mean, you look at it, the facilities weren't that good back when he started building things and there wasn't a tremendous commitment to tennis, but he molded that into a dream program that he imagined and made it take shape.

And now Andres has, again, followed right along with some of the same strategies and they haven't missed a beat. Brian Boland when he was the coach, I was working for Hootie Radcliffe at the Daily Progress at the time. He'd send me to cover Virginia tennis with stars like Somdev Devarman and Trent Huey playing one and two. They were a fantastic double tandem. They were dominant with singles.

That's when Georgia was a force in collegiate tennis. And I remember going to, was it the Snyder Tennis Facility? Yeah. And the Snyder Tennis Facility, I didn't know any better because I didn't really cover a ton of college tennis. But the Snyder Tennis Facility, now I look back on it, we were sitting on concrete to watch tennis matches. Like literally concrete with no cover, no shade, no concessions. You couldn't even see some of the courts from the grandstand. Right, from the grandstands you would be able to watch one court. You couldn't watch them all. And I remember Virginia on a a particularly hot day, pitched a pop-up

tent for its players to get some respite from the sun and drink, you know, hydrate. And now I look at the facility next to the boar set, there's bleachers. You can see every single court. Most of the courts have naming associated to it, where donors have attributed money, allocated money to have their naming rights there. There's concessions, there's locker rooms, there's training facilities specific to tennis. Scoreboard for each court.

Yeah. I mean, it's big time college tennis. Yeah, it is. And I had the good fortune because of covering some of those early teams, I got to go to cover several national championships all around the country to see what other facilities look like. And Virginia's not quite there yet in the overall scope of things in terms

of the size of the gallery and all that. But their courts and the setup they have is really terrific and it's on par with a lot of the great programs in the country. A lot we're going to cover on the program, ladies and gentlemen. A couple items I want to get out of the notebook here as we start with some scatter shooting from Hootie. One item out of the notebook that did not make the headlines, Damon Altzer, is that pronouncing his last name? The Stab

head coach? Oh, Altizer. Altizer, Damon Altizer has officially stepped down on his own accord. I didn't realize that. I hadn't heard that yet. Yep, from St. Ann's-Belfield basketball. He has had a very impactful eight years at Stab. And two of the rostered men's basketball players, Chance Mallory and Carter Lang, played for Damon at St. Anne's-Belfield Academy.

So after eight years, he's out at a private school in the Charlottesville area, St. Anne's-Belfield Academy, that really does a great job of prioritizing athletics and education. Why I highlight that is the ties to the UVA roster with Chance and the ties the UVA roster with Chance and the ties to UVA roster with Carter Lang. He had the front row seat to see what Miss Johnson is doing

at staff at high school and now at the UVA Women's Basketball Program. She's one of the best college basketball players in the Atlantic Coast Conference. But we need to get to Ryan Odom as we get to headlines. The first one on screen, if you could. Goodness gracious, Go to JerryRackliffe.com and when I'm on JerryRackliffe.com I'm overwhelmed with joy when I see Malik Thomas is committed to Virginia basketball. That was huge news that came

out Saturday actually I think during the tennis matches so scrambling around trying to get that up on the website. But- Did you file from your iPhone? No, I actually made it home in time to get it out there. But still, it was kind of a surprise that it came in the middle of the day like that. But going back to Altagracia, he's done an incredible job over at Stab and developing college talent. Not just those two guys, but he's got players all over the place.

And he's such a good guy. He's a great guy. I wish him well. Been great working with him some. But yeah, Malik Thomas was huge news for Virginia. I mean, there's not a lot of talent left in the portal. There's still a lot of players in the portal, but as one ACC coach anonymously was quoted yesterday saying, the only thing left in the portal at this point is trash.

Oof. So, if you haven't gotten your players by now, you're probably not going to really improve your roster very much. So- Why did Malik wait so long? That's the only question I have with this. now you're probably not gonna really improve your roster very much. So why why Malik wait so long? That's the only question I have. He was waiting on a waiver from the NC. Hardship waiver. Yeah and sometimes that takes a while although it seems like those are handed out like candy anymore. So I think it was just a matter of time of waiting. I think that's what's holding up the signing of, again we'll guess at this name, T.S. DeRitter or

DeRitter. I'm not sure, still not sure. The big Belgian who supposedly is coming to Virginia and from what I've been told, the NCAA is having to give its approval to him because he was playing in a form of pro basketball over there and he's 22 years old so I think the NCAA is just trying to make sure everything is on the up and up and I think once those obstacles are cleared, that he'll become a Cavalier too. But going back to Malik, I mean, it was a huge pickup. A lot of people thought that he was one of the best players available in

the portal from the get go. And Virginia came after him hard and then things just kind of went into a lull. Nobody really realized what was going on. But I've had people tell me that he was probably the best player in the West Coast Conference last year. And that's the same conference that has St. Mary's and Gonzaga in it. And that he probably should have been player of the year but he got he didn't get it but that shows you the caliber of player that Virginia's getting the 20 point a night score and like you mentioned a three level player can guard

one or two and I mean this might be the most refined score on the roster yeah no question about it I mean he shot 40% from three last year shot even higher from three well 40% the last two years combined is 44% last year and 47 and a half percent the year before he makes makes his free throws? Makes his free throws. Six, five, good size. Plays defense? Yeah, got plenty of experience. So you're getting a big time quality player there.

This is one of the best players in the portal period, folks. Gonzaga rolled the red carpet out for Malik Thomas because they watched what Malik Thomas was capable capable of doing as part of their schedule their their regular season schedule at six foot five a senior with with with bonusphere talent with with dribble Dribble drive talent with mid-range talent, with defensive talent, a box score stuffer. This looks like a clear-cut starter to me.

This is gonna be probably the most challenging question I've asked you in months on the Jerry and Jerry show. What does the starting lineup even look like here? Excuse me. I'm pretty sure he'll be starting at the two guard. And I think that the German kid, Grunloh will be either the starting center or the power forward.

611, 235 with four years of eligibility, a projected second round NBA pick. Yeah. If DeRidder comes on board, that'd be a pretty formidable front court. Goodness gracious. Two guys that are both projected as second round NBA draft choices. I think the big guy from Kansas State would probably come off the bench, but could start at times depending on the matchups. I'm trying to remember all the other players that they've got on. I don't have the roster. You got Jacare White, the kid from North Dakota State.

Yeah. He may now be coming off the bench, cuz he's a two guard. He could be. Yeah, and I don't know. I guess the guy from BYU. Dalyan Hall. Might be the starting point guard. Could be your starting point guard at six foot four. Folks you got if he goes six four Dalyan Hall BYU point guard and then he goes six foot five Malik Thomas shooting guard and then his

front court has the German that's 6 foot 11. And the front court also has, how tall is the Belgian, like 6'10"? 6'8". I mean, you've got an NBA length starting five. And then coming off the pine, you've got a kid who transferred from Kansas State that initially started at Kentucky that is 7 foot 247 NBA body is the offensively refined no but on this roster probably his only job would be you know clean up offensive rebounds and place them in an intimidator be an intimidator be a rim protector yeah I mean goodness gracious I

asked the question do you see any weakness position wise? I don't. Not since they've added these European guys. I don't. And they've got some depth too with Barksdale. Silas Barksdale, 6'8", 225 and long. And all kinds of players in the backcourt. Elijah Gertrude. Gertrude, Chance Mallory, a couple of other kids whose names I don't have in front of me. Sam Lewis, I'm looking at your website. Yeah, Sam Lewis. So they've got depth, quality depth, not just guys that they have to put in but guys that can play

guys who can shoot guys who can score guys who can play some defense and get up and down the floor and that's that's what Ryan Odom wants and he's recruited magnificently to those positions. Viewers and listeners let us know your thoughts Twitter on Hooties Twitter account blowing up rich is watching in Jefferson County, Tennessee He's fired up for Virginia. He's fired up for football and he says this show is absolutely awesome He says this is a question for you to mark down later in the program. He's got a football question for you

What do you think of the running rat running back a group this year? And who do you think gives us the best option to start? Thank you always. do you think of the running back group this year and who do you think gives us the best option to start? Thank you always. Thank you as always, gentlemen. We'll get to that question in a matter of moments. I've got to ask you a very challenging question here. Is this Virginia basketball's most talented roster ever? It certainly has the potential to be. I think we're gonna have to wait and see how it pans out because we've gotten excited about some of the teams in the past. Especially the past couple years and they had just haven't lived up to the

potential. But on paper, this looks like an incredibly talented group. And of course, the one thing that they don't have going for them that maybe like the 2019 team did is they grew up together. Yeah, chemistry. Yeah, had plenty of chemistry. They knew each other. These guys are, most of them probably have never met, so they're gonna have to get on board in summer school.

I guess that'll start next month and they'll be playing pickup games and getting some coaching throughout the summer. But potentially it certainly does. I mean, you've got a lot of guys with potential NBA. I mean, you got NBA outside across the roster. Yeah, and like you said in the early part of the show, that 2019 team had six players that would eventually see Tom in the NBA.

That's my most talented roster either, ever. I don't know that there's ever been a Virginia team that has had that kind of talent on it. I mean there were certainly some great players here throughout the years, a lot of NBA players, but nothing that could match sending six guys to eventually suit up in the NBA. And play. And yeah, play and then some of them have even starred. Some of them are on 80 million dollar plus contracts, DeAndre Hunter, and some of them and Ty Jerome finished in what's second or third place in six man of the year voting. Yeah. I mean, let's talk about the 2019 National Championship roster.

It's 2018-2019. Kyle Guy, who interestingly was probably the alpha dog on that team. It's funny how the college athletics doesn't, college basketball doesn't necessarily translate to pro basketball. Kyle Guy's challenge was the height. Right. He just didn't have the size. He didn't have the size.

He was extremely undersized, but for the college game, his game suited college basketball well. Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome, what a backcourt ladies and gentlemen. De'Andre Hunter in the frontcourt with Mamadi Diakite and Jay Huff and Braxton Key. I mean that right there is a starting lineup in a half. And Tony Bennett likes to call it the last truly amateur college basketball program, that 2019 team. And he was right. And I remember Ron Sanchez saying this year that, you know,

that was one of the reasons he came back was to try to get, reacquire that kind of talent in the Virginia program. Obviously he didn't have a lot of time to do so, but he said, he was looking back at that team specifically. And he said, or at least that era, and he said, we had guys that, we had NBA guys that couldn't get on the floor. And he was right. I mean, some of those guys had to wait their turn

to make an impact. And I mean, my goodness, how many teams can you say that about? If you stop and just look back at the talent on that team and what they've done since then. And that was a hell of a basketball team. That was a great basketball team. That was a great basketball team. It really was.

I mean, Ty Jerome, the Ty Jerome that's playing. Ty Jerome on that national championship team was really, really good. But the Ty Jerome that's playing basketball right now is a different basketball player. And DeAndre Hunter was really, really good. But the DeAndre Hunter that's coming off the bench for Cleveland right now is a much better basketball player. And some would say maybe the system throttled production a little bit.

And perhaps some of that is true. But you can also make the legitimate argument that the system won the national championship. And you had Kihei Clark, who ended up Greatest pass in history of Virginia basketball. Yeah, and ended up setting some ACC records for games played and minutes played or something like that, and broke some UVA records, I think. Of course, he had an extra year to do so,

but he had a great impact too and wasn't one of those guys that made it to the NBA. Viewers and listeners, comments are coming in here. We're going to get to the football questions. James Watson's got a basketball question. He said that team that choked in the elite eight was pretty close talent wise as well. Is that the Malcolm Brogdon team? 2016, yeah, that was a really good basketball team.

They should have been in the final four, there's no question. They just fell apart and I'll never forget that. We were in Chicago, I think we had three writers there from just for our coverage and I was talking to our managing editor throughout the first half because Virginia was rolling against Syracuse and it looked like they were this is how convinced we were they were going to win and go to the Final Four. My managing editor at that time was asking us to get five credentials for the Final Four and including one for him. He was gonna go with us and edit all our copy.

We were gonna put out a special section every day that week from the Final Four. We were making plane hotel reservations during the game. And it all came apart, came unglued down the stretch when, and you gotta give Jim Bayheim credit. Yeah, absolutely. He's not in the Hall of Fame for nothing. And the night before, I think they were playing Gonzaga, I believe, in the other game.

And he did the same thing. He rolled out full court press in the second half and came back and won that game. Did the same thing to Virginia and Virginia acted like they'd never seen a full court press before. They just came completely unglued. That was one of the most somber locker rooms I've ever been in during my career was to see those guys. They were just openly weeping because they knew that they knew what they'd let slip through

their fingers. And it was, but that was a very talented roster, too. If you look back on it, that might be the next. More talented as 2019, potentially, or almost as talented. Yeah. Who was on that roster? Do you remember?

Well, you had Malcolm Brogdon on it, for one. Gosh, I had to go back so many years rattling through my brain. Some of those same guys that were on the 2019 team I think were probably young on that team, right? DeAndre was on that roster. I think we had Kyle Guy and Ty Jerome were on that roster. Yeah. Hoffin Diakite. London Perrantes. London was on there. I think Akil Mitchell was on that. Shayok was on that roster. Devon Hall, right?

Yeah. I mean, you're talking. Devon Hall played in the NBA. Yep. Marial Shayok, I think he got a cup of coffee in the NBA. So yeah, that was a pretty darn talented roster as well. So I hadn't developed at that point, but that was some pretty good Basketball players good call right there from James Watson. We appreciate when you watch the program memory James

How about this questions coming for you? How about roster? What roster stands out to Hootie from non? 2000 and forward from non-2000 and forward. Could that be an 80s and 90s answer? Well, you know, Jeff Jones had some pretty talented players. Harold Dean. Harold Dean, Corey Alexander, Junior Burrow played a little bit in the NBA, I think.

I'm trying to remember. He had a couple other guys that were good players who I think went elsewhere, transferred out. One guy I think might have been thrown off the team. But ended up, I think, in the NBA. I can't, was his name Alexander as well? Olden Pollenice definitely got thrown off the team. That was back in the Terry days. He was, he was the guy that

came in to fill Ralph's spot. They, I remember distinctively that when you played in the league. When Old and got in trouble that year some of the coaches were so aggravated and because they felt like that he was the key piece in rebuilding to another Final Four team and yeah he actually played longer than the NBA than any he played a long time maybe yeah I think he has the longest career of any NBA UVA NBA player, I believe. You also had, who was the kid who brought the box

cutter to the Dell? Was that Forrest somebody? Oh, gosh. Do you remember that? I covered it. Yeah, I remember it well. I can't think of his name. Was it Whitaker?

I think it well. I can't think of his name. Was it Whitaker? I think it was Whitaker. Melvin? Marvin? Something like that. Let's see if I can find that. And then who was the other kid who got thrown off the team that played a transfer from Memphis? Was it Austin Nichols? Yeah, he was on the Tony Bennett team. Yeah, he was a Tony Bennett player. Yeah, he played in one game I think and what's gone the next week. Right and everybody was like what is going on?

Melvin Whitaker. Melvin Whitaker. Yeah, yeah. Slashed a fellow student's face after a pickup game at the Dell. A football player. Football player's face, yeah, with a box cutter. James says Curtis Stables, Melvin Whitaker. Oh yeah, how could you forget Carter Stables? Yeah. Courtney Alexander played the NBA but left UVA. A lot of comments are coming in here. People appreciate the history. How about, this question's come in, how does the Ralph era compare roster wise? Well I'm not sure they had a lot of NBA players on those rosters. You had some. Of course, you had Lamp and Raker, and they both played in the NBA. And they were on the, with Ralph. They were actually here before Ralph, and played with Ralph. So that was a pretty nice collection of talent right there along with Jeff Jones who got a taste of the NBA.

I'm trying to think if there was anybody else off of that particular team. Tom Sheehy was a pretty rugged player and I think he might have gotten some time in the NBA. I'm not sure he played internationally for a long, long time. Wow. But I don't think anything can touch that 2016, 2018, or 19 rosters for overall Talent overall talent put in perspective here Wally Walker Bill McChesney highlights Wally Walker was earlier and so was Barry Park Hill and

Mark Iveroni And Gustafard who Mark Iveroni And Gustavard who Was highly underrated Played for a long time and before he got in trouble with substance abuse and he's first we'll talk to you about that, but I did a blowout him one year and that but I did a blowout him one year and he was such a great athlete and I remember his one of his coaches who had coached him in I think the ABA or something but he said whoever wrote white men can't jump never saw guest

Gerard play because he could out jump just about anybody and could jump with Julian Julius Irving. That's how good he was. So that's something right there. And that's the type of insight you get right there from the Jerry and Jerry show. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts. We'll put them in the feed.

This is a pretty important year for Virginia basketball. So assembling a talented roster like this is pretty important. Why don't we put that in perspective? It's important for a lot of reasons. One, because the program hasn't really done that well. It hasn't flourished like everybody expected it to since winning the national title. They haven't won an NCAA game since that national title. Lost to some subpar teams, I thought never really recruited to the level that we thought they would

to take advantage of that national championship brought in some pretty talented players granted but never really reached the level that I think a lot of people had expectations for in terms of bringing in talent after talent after talent. So I think it's important in that respect to not only win but to get back to the upper echelons of the ACC where they people are accustomed to seeing the program get back in the NCAA tournament and actually win a tournament game. And he's going to have to do it with, you know, all new pieces and he's going to have

to learn the ACC as well. He's coached in different leagues and There's always an adjustment period So Everywhere he's been he's gone to the NCAA tournament in his second year I think a lot of people are hoping that they can get back to the NCAAs in his first year here with this kind of talent. But then again, the challenge is for him to put it together. Yeah, that's the expectation.

You talk about pressure, goodness gracious, he's in his first year and I'm saying it's the NCAA tournament or it will be a disappointment. Probably so because of the talent he's brought in. You hate to put that kind of pressure on a guy right out of the gate, but It's been a while. Well. I mean outside of last year Virginia's been in the NCAA tournament How many years in a row? I mean great. I had a couple you know they had the down year when Kiye was the key guy They were in the NIT that one year. Yeah, that was the Kiye year. Yeah

I think. Right. Or legitimate senior year. I mean with, right, legitimate. And the tough part with basketball is as football struggles or as apathy has surrounded football, it puts more pressure on basketball. Yeah, that's always something that once the football team started to fade, people would automatically start, it was almost like a ritual. Well, basketball season is just right around the corner. Right. And that was something that they could celebrate. Virginia's reputation is as a basketball school, always has been, always, I'd say probably always will be if they continue to have the success that they've had in the past and no shade on football because they've had certainly

glorious moments. But basketball has been the constant for all these decades. We should put in perspective why this is an important year for the Atlantic Coast Conference across the board. Well it is because last year was a disaster. I think the most staunch defenders of the ACC even had to admit that last year was just a failure on just about all levels. Even Duke choking in the Final Four the way they did. It's hard to believe and hard to watch, but yeah, the ACC has been a hard one. I think that's one of the reasons that they came to their senses and

went back to a 18 game conference schedule, which they should have stuck with all along instead of expanding to 20 games. I thought that was a huge mistake at the time. And John Swafford was so in love with getting the ACC network and appeasing ESPN and giving them game stock by adding games that they oversaw the big picture. And that was the coaches, none of the coaches wanted a 20 game conference schedule. Right.

It, it, it, for, for one, they couldn't go out and schedule other non-conference, well a lot of schools wouldn't, some still did, but a lot of schools shied away from adding really quality non-conference opponents because you had a 20 game league schedule and you didn't want to overload your schedule. So a lot of them loaded up the cupcakes and that hurts your net or RPI or whatever you want to call it. But that was a big mistake. The coaches, again, the coaches, none of the coaches wanted it and they did it anyway behind the coaches backs and they paid the

price for it. They got hardly any teams in the NCAA terms the last few years. Hootie Radcliffe carrying the show right now as I'm fighting a frog in my throat over there. Roscoe Gilmore watching the program. Love the name on YouTube. Yeah, awesome. He says, good morning, fellas. Whoody's got that memory. Keep up the great work.

And gives you the bicep emoji with the 100 emoji right there. Thanks, Roscoe. I've been around a while. Well, that's what we're trying to do. Not my first rodeo. We try to tap into that big beautiful brain of Hootie and that brain is especially good as his co-host over here is fighting a frog in his throat. It's that time of year man. I appreciate Hootie Rackliff carrying the load. His shoulders are quite heavy right now. A lot of football questions on the feed here.

We got a touch of the pig on the feed here. We got a touch of the pigskin in the air. We need to get to... I can call up the roster if you want me to, Hootie. Rich on Twitter, one of your fans on Twitter. Yeah, he's a good guy. He's a big Virginia fan living out in Tennessee territory. He's watching in Tennessee. He wants to talk about the running backs. Very specific question. I can get the roster called up, Hootie. How about maybe an open-ended question of some storylines

that you think the viewers and listeners should be following football-wise? Obviously, the quarterback is something to closely follow, but I think that position's pretty much determined. For me, it starts in the offensive line and it's starting in the offensive line for a number of years. Well, yeah, it's been a while. I mean, Bronco finally got the offensive line to where he wanted it and then everybody transferred out, including an All American who went to Michigan. And I think it's playing in the NFL right now, but that started a trend and they couldn't hang on to offensive linemen.

And the ones they did hang on to, there was so much pressure on those guys because there wasn't much playable depth behind them. And if one or two guys got banged up, which is inevitably going to happen on the offensive line, they were having to patchwork things together. They didn't know from one week to the next who they could count on. And this goes on season after season after season. It shouldn't be that way this year. They've recruited quite a bit of offensive linemen.

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I think they've got their numbers in good shape. And they've got guys who have experience, some at bigger, more successful powerhouse, power four football programs. One of the things I noticed from a lot of these transfers that came in looking at their pro football focus grades, a lot of them graded out high,

not only on their team, but in their conference. A lot of them graded out high, not only on their team, but in their conference. And the majority of them, I think, gave up no sacks or very few sacks for the entire season last year and maybe even the year before that. So that's also very important because the last two years, they haven't been able to protect quarterback. And I don't care if you've got Ben Rofflesberger or whoever back there, if you can't protect him, it's gonna take away from his effectiveness and the whole offensive shot.

So I think you're exactly right. I think the offensive line is a big story to watch this fall in training camp. And should actually be a strength for the team now. Should be a strength. Because I don't know how many times in the past we've either Bronco or Tony Elliott would mention that we just don't have the depth.

The depth, yeah. Particularly late in the season. Right. Where people, everybody's hurting. Either Bronco or Tony Elliott would mention that we just don't have the death yeah, particularly late in the season right people everybody's hurting and a friend of mine who once upon a time was a defensive coordinator at a Another ACC school and played Virginia every year Would say, you know Virginia's got a lot of really good front line talent, but they have no back up, they have no depth, and that's what kills them, because they're going up against teams that wear them down, and they can't keep up. And I think that's been a problem, and it should not be a problem this year. So I think that's a key thing.

I think the running back room is pretty solid. They brought in some pretty decent guys. They got Deon's leading rusher from Colorado. Yeah. And even though he's not from a running program, he has, it looks like he has some pretty good numbers. Absolutely. And Xavier Brown's back. Xavier Brown, they got the kid from North Carolina Central. Yeah. I can't think of his name. Got the kid from Wyoming.

Yeah, the kid from Wyoming is the latest. Whaley. He has some nice numbers. Absolutely. And they play some pretty good football out there. Absolutely. So I think they've got, again. He's got no of you on. no hold on every position. And the positions

are loaded. I mean they had to be loaded because the team was terrible and he had to replace roughly 60% of his roster. And you know we had doubts that he could do that but he certainly did. He certainly did. I mean that money has gone far and a make or break year here for Virginia. Now, you know, the O line, if the O line shakes out like it's going to shake out, this team could have running room and it could have some passing lanes here. But to the point Hootie's made and Donnie Landers watching the program and Roanoke, he's loving the program, to the point Hootie's made, I can't tell you how many times where one or two injuries have completely caused a

Makeshift of the old line in totality and even last year the last game of the season against Virginia Tech Some of the old linemen were sick and they didn't have the backups Yeah, so so guys were playing with flu like symptoms in Virginia Tech. Yeah, so absolutely We'll follow we'll follow this this closely the the question for you has been the storylines here. What are the storylines besides quarterback play that we should be talking about in the summer? Well, I think the O-line and the running backs are good. I think they're solid at wide receiver. They've got some deep threats.

They've got some possession guys. I think the one thing I think that they could use that they don't have at least proven wise is a big time tight end. They've had some of those Bronco brought in back to back big time guys like Jelani Woods and a couple other guys and Tyler Neville last year even though he wasn't a huge guy like Woods, he could always get open. I think he might make that Cowboys roster.

I think he's going to make the Cowboys roster too. He's smart. Yeah, he's smart. And he's an Ivy League guy, UVA guy. He's the type of guy who makes the roster as a special teams contributor. As he gets more practice time, they're like, this guy can play. Yeah. And then he starts earning real minutes. Yeah. Now somebody like Dakota Twitty can come along.

He's got the size. I don't know. He's got the height. He's not the big body like Johnny Woods and some of those massive tight ends. But he's got he's got a good size, good frame to him. I think they brought in a couple of guys, but there's still no stud there at that position that could really make this offense pop, I think. Hootie Radcliffe is on point today. Dakota Twiddy Pool right there, 6'5", 245.

From Charlotte? Columbus, North Carolina. How's that, Charlotte? Yeah, Thomasfferson classical high school look at look at rackleff with the pool right there um defense who's the yona sanker on defense this year wow i think it's going to be uh cam robinson's defense i think uh he'll be a junior now. He's had two outstanding years. Incredible athlete. Five-star out of high school, essentially.

He's just a complete linebacker. He's the kind of guy you want to head up your defense. He can make the play calls. He's got kind of guy you want to head up your defense. He can make the play calls. He's got experience now. His freshman year, he was playing like a deer in the headlights, but had the raw talent. Last year, everything slowed down for him, and I think this year is going to be his breakout year

where he could possibly become an all-ACC performer. So I think he's going to be the guy that people will watch the most and be a Sanker like guy even though he's not at a safety but a linebacker spot. So he might not have some of the opportunities for some of the plays that Sanker made. But I don't know, again, there's so many new faces on that side of the ball.

It's gonna be tough to tell. They lost some pretty experienced guys. It's six and seven years of college football. I mean, they got another guy that's coming back that's got what six or seventh year and Antonio Clary. I mean, goodness gracious. Yeah, that guy. He could have a good year if he can stay healthy.

If he can stay healthy. Yeah. Yeah, I mean that guy's approaching 25 years old. Yeah, he is. Absolutely bananas over here playing college football at 25. Interestingly, there's a similarity with football and basketball. So many new faces. Do they have time to gel to produce? I think it's an even bigger problem for football than basketball, because basketball, they can get out there this summer and play the pickup games together and develop great chemistry. And it shouldn't take that long. Not to say that it's simple, but I think it's, we're dealing with fewer numbers and a lot more opportunities to actually play actual basketball together.

As opposed to these guys have to do like skeleton drills, seven on seven, stuff like that in the summer. And you're not really getting to play like you are in basketball, where you're man to getting to play like you are in basketball where you're man to man on each other and you're actually playing games against each other, actual action instead of just drills. So I think that's the biggest challenge for Tony Elliott and his staff is to bring these 30 transfers and a handful of incoming freshmen who might have some impact and blend them with the guys that are returning and make them a cohesive machine. And that's a lot harder in football because you're dealing with so many people and

everybody's got to be on the same page. You can't have anybody screwing up or the whole thing falls apart. This is an interesting question. And this question is coming from South Carolina. I'm a Virginia fan through and through, but if the team struggles out of the gates, does Hootie anticipate a coaching change during the year?

Or is Virginia the type of school that waits to the end of the year for those type of moves? The latter. I don't think they'll struggle out of the gates because of the schedule. But I mean, anything's possible. But Virginia, I don't think Virginia is the kind of school that would fire a coach during the season. They've never done that before. Does that ever happen?

Not here. Not unless the coach, I don't even think even if the coach broke some rules. I think they've always waited until the season is over. Didn't it happen with volleyball? Well, I'm thinking it did happen with volleyball because there was an alleged scandal. A little pretty scandalous. That depends on what side of the story you believe. Right. I know what I believe because some of the girls on the team told people that I know. Coaches begged to differ. Right. Of course they were the ones that got fired but I think that did actually happen during the season. I think they actually shut the season down. They did. I think they did. So that's in my 42 years here that's the only time I can think of that that's happened.

I don't think it's happened any other. I don't never happen with football. Never football or basketball. No, didn't happen with baseball. Womack was after the year. Baseball, lacrosse, tennis. I really didn't pay much attention to tennis here until bowling came around. Right. Because there wasn't any reason to.

Swanson's been there forever with soccer. Yeah. Wrestling, track and field. I don't think another coach has ever been let go during the season except for that volleyball team when they just shut the season down. Right. I think even swimming there was something going on, but I think didn't that happen after the season?

Yeah, yeah. So. It was after the season. Comments coming in. This one from Donnie, he wants to talk baseball. Who do you think Virginia is gonna make the postseason in baseball? Let me rattle this off for the viewers and listeners. This is on jerryracliff.com, and I encourage you guys to visit JerryRackliff.com for all Virginia baseball, all Virginia athletics, and all Virginia news. Virginia, Brian O'Connor's

team from March 27th until now, they swept Stanford, they beat Old Dominion. Now they lost two of three to NC State, but that was in Raleigh. But from March 27th until now, Virginia baseball has lost a total of five games. They have won one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, 17. They've won 17 of their last 22. They just beat the heck out of Miami and they're currently riding a six game winning streak in a 1, 2, 3, 4, a streak of winning 10 of their last 11 ball games. Yeah, I mean if you're the NCAA committee, that's what you want in your field are teams that are winning and are hot at the right time.

Sometimes it takes time for a team to develop and for coaches to figure out what the problem is. They struggled mightily with pitching for a long time. They just, too many walks, just control problems, couldn't get people out. The bats have come alive big time, particularly against Miami. Miami was a 30-win team, so sweeping those guys was not an easy, simple task. And they played their last home game tonight.

Actually got just got rained out. Oh, did he get rained out? Yeah, just got rained out. They just announced it. Okay. And I wondered if that might happen. And then I guess their last regular season series is in Blacksburg this weekend.

And I think I read somewhere that Virginia I think I read somewhere that Virginia and Virginia Tech are listed in somebody's draw as first four out. So it could come down to that series if whoever wins it might be I think Virginia's in anyway but I could be wrong but I mean that that puts even more emphasis on that series than Blacksburg this weekend wait William on McIntyre wrote so I don't forget this said was Sonny Randall can in the middle of the season no I don't think so he was I think he was I think it was after the season. That was before I got here, but I got to know Sonny and I know a lot about, I did a lot of research on Virginia football history and even though things went really sour for him at the end and they had some

blowout losses and he had some off the field issues that arose late in that season. I'm pretty sure that they waited until the season was over until he was let go. Cliff in the Eastern Shore says, I wonder on a football topic, I have a historical question for Hootie. In the intro video at Scott Stadium before the game, they mentioned a player known as the Flying Quail. Does he know who the Flying Quail is? I'm assuming it's Frank Quail, but I wonder if he's out on his boat today out there on the Eastern Shore. It's probably raining out there, so probably not. He sent me a picture of his boat

this past week. Pretty nice-looking boat. It's got Virginia on the back shore. It's probably raining out there so probably no. He sent me a picture of his boat this past week. Pretty nice looking boat. It's got Virginia on the back of it in blue and orange. I would think it's Frank Well. It's not Frank Well then something's got to be wrong. Frank Well was a terrific running back for Virginia. He led the ACC in rushing and I think scoring his senior year was all ACC. He was ACC athlete of the year, not just for football but a lot of his great, but he was a really good lacrosse player and just a terrific running back. And he was one of three guys, he and Alvin

Pearman and Thomas Jones who all if they'd had maybe one more carry the last game of their season they probably would have broken the season rushing record. It goes back to the John Pappitt it's the oldest record but God might be the oldest record in the ACC, Virginia's all-time rushing record. And all three of those guys were within one or two yards of breaking that record and didn't know it. And if they'd gotten one more carry, I've talked to all three of them about it, and they just say, damn, I wish I wish we'd have known that. We would have called time out. I mean somebody on the

sideline should have let the head coach know. He would think so. Who are you? Radcliffe on point today. Goodness gracious. The man is going into the vault of knowledge. My friend, what's on the, uh, what's on the docket and the hopper on jerryradcliffe.com? Well, we'll be keeping an eye on the theist DeRidder. See what happens there.

I kind of expect he'll be joining the program in the not so distant future. They're still in it for another guy or two in Europe, I think. I don't think, I'm not sure that they're looking at anybody else stateside. If they are, I don't know who they would be. But, so we'll be keeping an eye on that. We'll be looking at the tennis and golf team. The golf team got delayed yesterday by 73 mile an hour wind gusts in Arizona.

I mean, that's insane. Insane. Can't play golf in that kind of wind and a ball come back in your face. But that and baseball and the whole shooting match. A lot, a lot left to cover guys and before we you know it we're in training camp with Virginia football. We'll follow it all on jerryracliff.com. I'm on the website every single day. Jerry Radcliffe guys look at the the the extent of the man's knowledge.

I think it was certainly showcased today as he carried the show. Judah Wittkower is behind camera. He's the director and producer of the I Love Seaville Network. My name is Jerry Miller. And the I Love Seaville Show, guys, is up at 1230 p.m. Thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry Show. So long, everybody. on the Jerry and Jerry show. So long everybody..