Michigan Basketball: Ranking the contenders for 5-star Caleb Houstan

#3: Virginia

When Caleb Houstan released his top-four, it surprised me to see Virginia on that list. I thought Duke, Alabama, and Michigan basketball were locks, but I really thought Gonzaga would be that fourth team.

As a college basketball fan, it always surprises me to see so many top scorers including Virginia in their list cuts. I would think their style of play would be a turnoff to top high school talent.

But Tony Bennett continues to cement himself as one of the top coaches in college basketball and also one of the most genuinely good guys in the sport. So maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

Virginia has become known for their Pack Line defense, slow tempo, and painfully low scoring games over the past few seasons. In three out of their last four seasons, Virginia averaged under 68 points per game. That doesn’t seem like a system that would attract high level shooters and scorers.

Don’t get me wrong, Bennett has built a phenomenal program and they have won a ton of games. They won that thrilling national title game in 2019 that proved that his style of play can win when it matters most.

Virginia has capitalized on recent success and have become a much bigger threat in recruiting. But they still haven’t signed a top-30 recruit since 2007 and I still don’t think Bennett’s system is all that attractive to top recruits.

Yes, there are exceptions. Kyle Guy thrived in this system and there will be others. But in general, top guys want the freedom to put up big numbers and play at a quick tempo. I’m not sure Virginia provides that right now.

Here’s what Houstan said about Virginia while recently speaking to 247Sports:

"“I think the relationship with them stands out. They were one of the first programs to set up zooms with me during the quarantine period and they were really recruiting me heavily. They really took a lot of interest in getting to know me as a player. They told me about my strengths and how I could do in their system and they also told me about the things they could help me get better with. They won the National Championship the year before and I could definitely see myself playing in that system.”"