For Openers
- Virginia begins its 122nd season of men’s basketball, sporting a 1,761-1,234 (.588) all-time record.
- UVA is 26-2 in its last 28 season-opening games.
- The Cavaliers are 98-23 all-time in 121 season-opening games.
- UVA is 112-11 at JPJ in non-conference play since 2009-10.
- Ryan Odom is 6-5 all-time in season-opening games as a head coach (1-0 at UVA, 2-3 at UMBC, 1-1 at Utah State, 1-1 at VCU and 1-0 at Lenoir-Rhyne).
Broadcast Information
- The Virginia-Drexel game will be televised on the ACC Network and streamed online at ESPN.com/watch.
- The game will also be broadcast on Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
- Live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com and the Virginia Sports app.
Our Leader
• Head coach Ryan Odom enters his second season at Virginia after leading the Cavaliers to a 30-6 overall record, a 15-3 second-place mark in the ACC and a second NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025-26.
- Odom’s 30 wins are the most wins for a Virginia first-year head coach, surpassing Jeff Jones’ 21 wins in 1990-91.
- Odom has posted a 252-133 overall mark in 12 seasons of coaching. He has led Virginia (2026), VCU (2025), Utah State (2023), UMBC (2018) and Lenoir-Rhyne (2016) to NCAA tournament appearances.
- Odom coached UMBC to an upset against Virginia in 2018 NCAA Tournament, marking the first time a No. 16 seed defeated a No. 1 seed in the event’s history.
- Odom is the first UVA coach to start his tenure 5-0, surpassing the Cavaliers’ first coach Henry Lannigan (4-0 in 1905-06).
- Odom’s 30 wins were the most for a UVA men’s basketball head coach since Tony Bennett’s 35 in 2018-19.
- Odom’s 30 wins rank second for a first-year ACC head coach in his debut season, trailing only North Carolina’s Bill Guthridge (34 in 1998).
- Odom has led his teams to the conference championship game in each of the last four seasons (Utah State 2023, VCU 2024 and 2025 and UVA 2026).
The Virginia Standard
- The Virginia Standard is to pursue excellence and is built on the six pillars of humility, passion, unity, servanthood, thankfulness and accountability,
• We play with pace, share the basketball and our defensive style is to dictate and disrupt.
Hoo Are These Cavaliers?
- Virginia retained 10 of its 11 possible players from 2025-26, including three starters (Thijs De Ridder, Johann Grünloh and Sam Lewis) and sixth-man Chance Mallory.
- De Ridder (15.6 ppg), Lewis (10.6 ppg), Mallory (9.3 ppg) and Grünloh (7.1 ppg) were four of Virginia’s top-six scorers in 2025-26
- De Ridder earned All-ACC first-team honors in 2025-26 and was joined by Mallory on the NABC East All-District Team.
- Elijah Gertrude, Martin Carrere, Carter Lang, Silas Barksdale, Desmond Roberts and Owen Odom also return from 2025-26.
- UVA welcomes eight newcomers, including transfers Jurian Dixon (UC Irvine), Kalu Anya (St. Louis), Jan Vide (Loyola Marymount) and Christian Harmon (Arkansas State) and European import Nolan Adekunle (VET CONCEPT Gladiators Trier).
- Virginia added first-year center Favour Ibe along with preferred walk-ons Nick Rotter and Quincy Watson.
All Time vs. Drexel
- Virginia is 2-0 all-time vs. Drexel, defeating the Dragons 49-35 in the last meeting at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in St. Thomas on Nov. 19, 2011.
- UVA added a 72-58 win over Drexel in the first meeting between the teams in the inaugural season at John Paul Jones Arena on Nov. 20, 2007.
Last Time vs. the Dragons
- Mike Scott scored 21 points and added 10 rebounds as Virginia topped Drexel 49-35 at the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Nov. 19, 2011.
- Joe Harris added 12 points as Virginia avenged a 57-55 loss in its first game of the Paradise Jam against TCU.
- UVA led 28-14 at the half and held Drexel to 25.9% field goal shooting during the contest.
- Frantz Massenat led Drexel with 12 points and Samme Givens added 10 points.
Cavaliers Ranked No. 9 in AP Preseason Poll
- Virginia’s No. 9 AP preseason ranking is its highest since a No. 4 ranking to start the 2020-21 season.
- The Cavaliers’ No. 9 ranking marks its first AP top-25 preseason ranking since their No. 18 preseason ranking in 2022-23.
- UVA received two votes in the 2025-26 preseason AP Top-25 poll and finished
- UVA hasn’t been ranked in the AP Top-25 since a No. 21 ranking on Feb. 17, 2024.
Somebody’s Watching Me
- Thijs De Ridder was named to the preseason 2027 NABC Player of the Year watchlist.
- Chance Mallory (Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year ), Thijs De Ridder (Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year) and Johann Grünloh (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year) were named to other preseason position watchlists.
- Players can play their way onto and off the list at any point in the 2026-27 season. In late January, the watch list of 20 players for the awards will be narrowed to 10, and then in late February, to just five. In March, the five finalists will be presented to the Naismith Hall of Fame selection committees to determine the winner for each award.
There’s No Place Like Home
- Virginia is 272-64 (.810), including a 16-1 mark (7-1 in ACC play) in 2025-26, in 20 seasons at John Paul Jones Arena.
- The Cavaliers are 56-11 in their last 67 games at JPJ.
- UVA is 112-11 in non-league action at JPJ since 2009-10.
- UVA has won 10+ home games for 17 straight seasons.
- UVA is 25th nationally and third among ACC schools with a an .830 home winning percentage since 2009-10.
On The Horizon
- Virginia hosts Northeastern in non-conference action on Friday, Nov. 6. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 5 p.m. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.