Campbell (1-0, CAA) at Virginia (0-0, ACC)

7 p.m., ACCNX

It’s finally basketball season in Charlottesville. However, this one will be very different than what UVa fans are used to. When the Wahoos open the 2024-25 season tonight against the Campbell Camels, they will forego it Tony Bennettled by a different coach in a season opener for the first time in 16 years.

Bennett’s surprise resignation takes the Hoos’ chances to a new level early in this campaign, now led by an interim coach Ron Sanchez. The former Charlotte head coach wants to earn the job as a full-time job and prove he can win with Bennett’s 24-25 squad. Sanchez will try to find the difficult balance of sticking to the Bennett formula that has worked so well and was so appreciated by Cavalier supporters, while also going his own way and making tweaks to put his own stamp on things and hopefully win a lot of games in the process.

UVa’s expectations for this season are less positive than in the past, and given Bennett’s departure, predicting where this season will go seems like a fool’s errand. UVa has a revamped roster centered around junior guards Isaac McKneelyalong with a number of new pieces in key roles. Virginia’s projected starting lineup could include as many as three freshmen, all transfers from other major programs.

The first task for this team will be Campbell, which already has one win this year. The Camels, who moved from the Big South to the CAA before last season, defeated D3 Pfeiffer 96-49 at home on Monday. The Camels were on the right track in this game, but Wednesday’s game should be a completely different affair; Campbell is just 1:37 all-time against ACC competition.

Campbell dominated the start of the season and led by 20 points at halftime en route to a nearly 50-point win. The Camels scored 96 points, but did so by making just three three-point shots, scoring 56 points from the field and 29 more from the line. This is probably because their opponent was inferior to the D1 competition, but it was still an impressive and dominant performance. Campbell also forced a slew of errors, causing 23 turnovers and outrebounding Pfeiffer 26-2.

The Camels are ranked 307th in Kenpom heading into today’s game, one of five programs ranked below 300 on UVa’s non-conference schedule. Campbell was picked second-to-last 13th in the CAA in the preseason poll. Last year, Campbell struggled a bit in his new conference, going 14-18 overall and 8-10 in the league before losing top players Anthony Dell’Orso And Laurynas Vaistaras in the off season.

Bragi Gudmundsson, striker

Campbell’s season-opening leading scorer, Bragi Gudmundsson, comes to Buies Creek after a year at Penn State. Gudmundsson played sparingly for the Nittany Lions, appearing in just seven games. Gudmunsson, a native of Grindavik in Iceland, scored 15 goals in just 18 minutes of play against Pfeiffer in his debut as a Camel. He made all three field goal attempts and scored eight of his points from the line.

Terren Frank, forward

Terren Frank, a 6-foot graduate student from LA, is now in his fourth school. Before joining the Campbell program, Frank had stints at Idaho, Vanderbilt and TCU, where he played sparingly for most of his college career. Last year, however, Frank had a chance to break through while playing at Idaho. He started the first six games of the season before suffering a season-ending injury and played fairly well, including a 24-point game. In Monday’s opener, Frank scored 10 points in 15 minutes, going 5-for-8 from the floor and grabbing five rebounds.

Elijah Walsh, guard

Walsh, a native of England, is one of several returning Camels players who will take on a larger role this year. Walsh, a 6-foot-5 guard from Leeds, played in all 32 games last year with 25 starts, playing at an off-ball guard spot. He averaged 9.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in CAA play, including a career-best 18 points against UNCW. Walsh was quiet against Pfeiffer and only had two points on a shot attempt.

UVa really needs to take care of business here. It would be a tough start for Sanchez if they can’t start the season well, especially against a Campbell team that has some interesting new talent but looks very beatable. Season openers are often about what UVa’s roster and new teams look like when they play together, as fans try to get a feel for what the team might look like as the season progresses. And in this case, Virginia fans should be excited to see how the style of play will change with a new face leading the program. UVa should hope the drama and intrigue ends there on Wednesday night, and we expect it will continue that way.