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DECEMBER 2020 11 BY KRISTIN THURMAN R edshirt fourth-year Jay Huff did not have a typical offseason. Not only was he dealing with a pan- demic and its unknowns head- ing into his final season, Huff was also making some big personal decisions. After proposing to his then-girlfriend Lindsay Knights in May, they decided that they were going to go ahead and plan the wedding for the fall. "A lot of things played into it," Huff ex- plained. "We started to realize what the school year and our living situation were going to look like. "We figured that we would at least start looking into getting married sooner. It seemed like a lot of things were lining up properly for that to happen." The Huffs got married in a small, outdoor ceremony in September. Luckily, they were able to have some family and friends attend safely. Not long after their wedding, fall basketball ramped up, and Huff was able to experience it as a married man. "It definitely has its challenges, and we have to try to maintain the basketball bub- ble, which is not always easy," Huff said. Over Thanksgiving, the then-No. 4 Cava- liers traveled to Connecticut to play San Francisco and lost 61-60. Though the team was gone only a few days, the newlyweds had to be apart on their first holiday. "I know that's not that long when you really think about it, but it was hard because that was our first Thanksgiving together," Huff said. That situation aside, Huff has enjoyed being a married man. "It's just been nice having someone to come home to after a game and spend time with," he explained. While Huff was planning for his wedding, he was also going through the NBA Draft process. The 7-1 forward had started 18 of 30 games last season, and averaged career highs of 8.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game — the latter ranked fourth in the ACC. "It was all over video interviews," Huff said. "There were no workouts to be had, unfortunately. "It was really good just to get feedback from the teams. I was trying to figure out whether it was a good idea or not for me to go or to come back to UVA for another year." Huff decided to return for his final season with the Cavaliers. "I was very happy about coming back and getting married," he said. "That was way better to me than possibly playing profes- sionally right now." After these experiences in the offseason, Huff can see a few personal changes. "I've matured in a lot of ways," he said. "I think I'm mature when it comes to being a relatively responsible adult. "I also think that Lindsay and I would both say that we're pretty goofy people. We have somewhat juvenile senses of humor, and I think I've maintained that." The pandemic has also forced other life- style changes. Huff cooks more and is also spending more time at home. "Through both COVID and being married, I feel like I have become more of a homebody," he said. "There's just not as many things to go out and do, and I've learned to enjoy spending time at home. It has been really good." Once the season started, Huff was able to use some of that newfound maturity and help lead a large group of newcomers, on and off the court. "I have more credibility, having been around for five years," Huff said. "I've seen lots of guys come and go. I've seen how they play and how they do things. I feel like I've learned a lot of little things that I can teach the younger guys, especially the bigs." Virginia has seven players that are seeing action for the first time as Cavaliers, creat- ing new challenges for the team and many eager mentees for Huff to help. "It's been hard for some guys just be- cause there's more competition, but we're still working out rotations," Huff said. "I can attest to the fact that just because you don't play much your first year, or even your second year, it certainly doesn't mean that you won't ever play. "Just putting in the work will yield big dividends in a program like this." Nobody knows that better than Huff, who redshirted his first season on Grounds, ap- peared in just 12 games as a first-year, and then averaged less than 10 minutes and five points an outing in 2018-19 prior to last year's breakout campaign. Entering this season, he was one of 20 players included on the watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year award, and he's made the most of his oppor- tunities to state a case for the honor so far. He started each of the first four contests and ranked first on the squad in field goal percentage (69.2) and blocks (10), while he tied for first in rebounds (27) and was second in scoring (12.3 points per game). There is one other question for Huff — when is Wahoo Wahoo Wahoowa TV return- ing? Developed by him, the popular videos feature Cavaliers answering strange and comical questions from Sean Doubletary (played by Huff, who noted his alter ego "is a much better on-screen character than I am"). "Producing that show has been a lot of fun," Huff said. "We're trying to have a COVID-friendly episode. So far, we haven't had the time or the resources to do it. We're still working with the producers on that, and soon I think we're going to have episodes." Until that time comes, fans can watch Huff on the court, helping Virginia prepare for ACC play in January. MARRIED MAN MARRIED MAN Redshirt Fourth-Year Forward Jay Huff's Life Changed Positively In The Offseason Before the season was temporarily paused after four games for COVID-19 issues, Huff was av- eraging 12.3 points per contest (second on the team), tied for the most rebounds with 27 and led the Wahoos with 10 blocks. PHOTO BY MATT RILEY/COURTESY UVA