The three players poised for the biggest jump this season

After significantly underperforming for the opening and middle portions of the season, last year’s Virginia hoops team finally seemed to hit their stride by the latter bit of the season. Sadly, we never got to see them expand upon that growth with tournament play. However, we saw some players that looked as if they were improving upon what they had shown earlier in the season, specifically some of the players in smaller roles.

So it seems like a good idea to identify the players that look poised for the biggest improvements this season. Whether it’s stepping into bigger roles, having more of an impact, or just improving some of the little things, here are the three players that look as if they’ll improve the most between seasons.

3) Kody Stattmann

Easily my biggest question mark with less than three weeks until the season, the range for Stattmann stretches very wide. It’s not difficult to see him averaging double digits in points and being a solid rebounder, but it also doesn’t take too much imagination to see an inconsistent player that has long stretches of lackluster play. Whatever the case, it will be fascinating to watch it all play out.

The way the three freshmen look will also have a major effect on his playing time in the long run. They could take away his minutes down the road, but Kody should get his chance at the start of the season, as Tony Bennett rarely allows freshmen to come in and take minutes from upperclassmen early in the season.

2) Francisco Caffaro

With the departure of Mamadi Diakite last year, Caffaro is in an interesting spot as we approach the 2020-21 season. As far as what we might call a conventional big man is concerned, he’s the only one. There’s no other 7 foot, 245 lb player on the team. There is a Jay Huff though. Huff is listed as a forward, and he plays as a mix of a forward and a center. He’s a great example of the modern big man.

But in the recent past, there’s always been somebody who played a more old-fashioned game to supplement Virginia’s talented power forwards. Francisco Caffaro will be that guy this year. Diakite is gone, so Caffaro will have to step into a much bigger role. Should he prove successful in that role, it will provide a boost to what is already a team that looks like it could achieve greatness. He showed flashes last year that he could succeed, specifically the 10 point, 7 rebound game in the thrilling road win over North Carolina.

That stat line every game may be a tad optimistic, but if Francisco can go for 8 and 5 every game—and in all likelihood he will at least come close—this Virginia team is going to become even more formidable.

1) Casey Morsell

Stattmann and Caffaro may interest me, but when it comes to Casey Morsell the feeling is closer to excitement. I’m a lot higher on Morsell than might be wise given what we saw out of him for the majority of last year. His minutes progressively went down as the season marched on, and aside from one explosion in the beginning of the year, we didn’t see much to suggest what he could do on the offensive end.

But there are still a few things that cause me to want to put my money on the sophomore guard. For one thing, his defense is going to get him on the court, regardless of the state of his shooting and offensive play. And it also doesn’t feel as if that offense will be nearly as bad as it was. Casey spent a lot of time working on changing his shot flight from that flat shot to a more traditional arc. Again, we didn’t see him all that much at the end of last year, but that work looked as if it was paying off.

Ultimately for Morsell, it comes down to confidence. If he comes into the season confident and ready to go, I think he’ll turn into a rock solid ACC player. If he gets down on himself, it could be another long season for Casey. I’d bet on the first option.