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18 CAVALIER CORNER have worked on and make sure that we are as sharp as possible. "We're going through our checklist and making sure we have our defensive plan in place while continuing to improve and find our rhythm and synergy offensively." While Sanchez will be the head Hoo this season, he would be remiss not to men- tion the impact that Bennett will have on this team without ever calling a timeout for them. "If the team looks any different, it was by the design and by Tony," Sanchez said. "We decided to recruit different guys to bring this roster together. We spent our time in the summer thinking about some ways to evolve in what we do offensively. Whatever change you see, they won't be my changes." Knowing that the defensive end of the court will still be the calling card for the Cavaliers this season, the coaching staff met this summer to think about ways to build upon the offensive side of the ball and how it might look. "I don't know if it is an up-tempo pace or a higher pace," Sanchez said. "It'll be more spacing. We're still going to value the ball, and we're still going to play Virginia basket- ball. We are going to do things the Virginia Way." The Virginia Way has been a constant that has been preached during this time of transition and newness surrounding the program. Sanchez still wants his players to play with selfless, tough minds while playing together with humility, passion, unity, ser- vanthood and thankfulness, just like Ben- nett harped on for his 15 years at the helm of the Virginia basketball program. Elijah Saunders has spent most of his life out west. Growing up, he lived in different pockets of Phoenix before playing two seasons at San Diego State University, which reached the NCAA championship game and Sweet 16 his first-year and second-year campaigns, respectively. Follow- ing his second season, Saunders entered the transfer portal, and despite the vast distance from his hometown, Saunders chose the University of Virginia, led by head coach Tony Bennett. If getting out of his comfort zone by moving to the East Coast was not a leap of faith in and of itself, then the ensuing news that shocked the college basketball world certainly would put Saun- ders' faith to the test. On Oct. 17, Saunders and his fellow UVA teammates learned in a team meeting that Bennett, who led Virginia for 15 seasons and guided the program to its only national championship, was retiring effective immediately. Shortly thereafter, UVA an- nounced a press conference for the following morning and the news was plastered across every major sports media outlet. "It was kind of a lot of emo- tions you feel coming out of the portal, committing here, not expecting this to ever happen," Saunders said. "But I would never take anything Coach Bennett is doing [as] selfish … I really feel like he did that for us. "He probably felt like that was the most selfless thing he could do — was give the program to one of our other coaches because I guess he didn't feel like he was in the right position anymore." In conjunction with Bennett's retirement, Ron Sanchez was tagged interim head coach for the 2024-25 season by UVA direc- tor of athletics Carla Williams. Sanchez spent a combined 12 seasons under Bennett at Washington State and Virginia before becoming the head coach at Charlotte (2018-23). In the sum- mer of 2023, Sanchez returned to UVA as associate head coach. Sanchez was heavily involved in Saunders' recruitment and a big factor in his decision to transfer to UVA. Upon learning Sanchez would lead the Hoos this season, Saun- ders admitted he was "excited to play for Coach Sanchez," who Saunders said has helped him with his self-belief. "[As] the guy who recruited me out of the portal, he instills a lot of confidence in me," Saunders said. "So, I don't know if I would be feeling as confident in myself right now without Coach Sanchez being the head coach." How Virginia's 2024-25 sea- son shakes out remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Sanchez likes what Saunders brings to the table. "He's a guy that can shoot the three-ball," Sanchez said during a preseason press availability at John Paul Jones Arena. "I think he's a guy that can guard multiple positions. He's got great size, very strong. I think that his experience at San Diego State is something that we [can] benefit from here due to the fact that he played on a Final Four team [and] played big minutes on a very good team. … "On top of that, he's a phenomenal kid. He's just a great team- mate, so we knew that about him as well." — Patrick Boling ELIJAH SAUNDERS GETS OUT OF HIS COMFORT ZONE Saunders played two seasons at San Diego State before entering the transfer portal and choosing Virginia. (Photo courtesy UVA)