3 reasons Ryan Odom's UVA basketball can improve their 2024-25 season record despite transfer portal changes

New Virginia coach Ryan Odom has been retooling the Cavaliers after the 2024-25 team posted a 15-17 record (8-12 in the ACC).

Nine players — Elijah Saunders, Ishan Sharma, Jacob Cofie, TJ Power, Anthony Robinson, Andrew Rohde, Isaac McKneely, Dai Dai Ames and Blake Buchanan — have transferred teams and will restart their careers in their new teams.

It'll be interesting to see how the newly-acquired Virginia players can form a competitive team despite being relatively new with each other. Here are three important takeaways from Ryan Odom's squad as the Cavaliers get ready for the 2025-26 season.

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Three key takeaways as Ryan Odom's Virginia gears up for new season

#1 Virginia transfers can shoot from 3

Devin Tillis, Dallin Hall, Duke Miles, Jacari White and Sam Lewis can shoot from the 3-point line. UC Irvine transfer Tillis shot 39.5% from deep, aside from tallying 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

Hall is coming off a three-year career with BYU, where he shot 36.9% during his second year and has consistently played well as a combo guard. Miles is a shooting guard from Oklahoma who shot 43.0% from the 3-point range, to go along with his 9.4 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

White started 29 games for North Dakota State in 2024-25 and tallied 17.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. He shot 45.2% from the field and 39.8% from three.

Lastly, Lewis is coming off a breakout campaign while shooting a league-best 44.4% from 3-point range. He led Toledo in 11 of 20 games (per On3), and contributed 4.7 rebounds per game.

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#2. Four-star freshmen to provide instant offense when deployed

Four-star freshmen Chance Mallory and Silas Barksdale are capable of providing immediate offense to the Virginia Cavaliers. The 5-foot-9 Mallory played for St. Anne's Belfield School and was ranked the seventh-best point guard in the 2025-26 season.

Mallory's ball handling skills are truly elite and he has complete command of his handle and a pure release on his jumper.

On the other hand, Barksdale can play the small forward or power forward spots, despite his assigned position in the ballgame is a center. He is a high-volume rebounder who can play both inside and out offensively.

Barksdale was one of the leading rebounders in the EYBL this year. He can also haul down boards both in traffic and outside his area.

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#3 Ryan Odom has veteran leadership skills to help his team to victory

Ryan Odom has been a 28-year coaching veteran and was given a chance to preside over the huddle as Charlotte's interim coach in 2015.

Odom had a 63.6% winning percentage, including two NCAA tournaments. He helped the UMBC Retrievers enter the Round of 32. He also helped Utah State reach the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

His years in VCU Rams were eventful as he guided the team to the 2024 NIT Quarterfinals. The following year, Odom guided VCU to the Atlantic 10 conference regular season and tournament titles.

Despite the fact that the Rams lost in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, the experts saw a lot of promise with Odom's guidance and leadership.

However, the upgrade in competition may affect Virginia's ascent to the 2025-26 regular season. Various squads have beefed up their teams to beat Duke and make it to the NCAA Tournament afterwards.