Tony Bennett: Kihei Clark & Reece Beekman “Improved” Shots This Offseason

Without a double-digit scorer returning, the Virginia Cavaliers will need to lean on their experience this season. The problem is they don’t have a ton of players who have played heavily for Tony Bennett. Senior Kihei Clark is the only one with multiple seasons under his belt as a big-minutes guy and sophomore Reece Beekman is the only other returning starter. Ergo, the pair knew they’d be needed more on the offensive end this season and acted accordingly.

“He [Reece Beekman] and Kihei worked hard on their shots in the offseason,” Bennett told Jon Rothstein on a recent episode of the College Hoops Today podcast. “And they improved them.”

“You wouldn’t say they’re Kyle Guy out there,” he added, “but they’re doing things from a working-on-their-game and aggression standpoint that we’re gonna need because we don’t stretch the floor like we did last year.”

The pair combined to score 12.4 points per game a year ago on just 40.1 percent shooting. With three NBA players rounding out the starting lineup, the offense wasn’t too reliant on them and it worked well enough to win the regular-season ACC title. Transfer blue-chippers Jayden Gardner (from East Carolina) and Armaan Franklin (from Indiana) are certainly capable of filling some of the scoring void left by the Hausers, Huffs, and Murphys of the world, yet it’s still their first year in Charlottesville. So it’s back to Reece and Kihei to set the tone and make sure opposing defenses respect their ability. By the sounds of it, they’re taking the challenge seriously.

Clark was a Preseason All-ACC selection (second team) and the team will head into the year ranked in the Top 25.