Report: Top 2026 Center Prospect Favour Ibe Is Taking An Official Visit to Virginia Basketball

Can UVA land him?

As Shaw noted, Ibe is the current top available center prospect in the country and is coming off an official visit to Tennessee, who appears to be loading up their roster for next season and chase a national championship. The Volunteers will be stiff competition.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Ibe (7'1 235 LBS) is ranked as the No. 139 player in the country, the No. 22 center, and the No. 5 player in the state of Maryland. He played at Mt. Zion Prep in Lanham, MD and held other offers from Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Texas, and Villanova, among others.

The Cavaliers have prioritized retention from last year's team and and hav been as successful as any team in the country at bringing back their top players. Thijs de Ridder, Sam Lewis, Johann Grunloh, Chance Mallory, and others have all announced their decision to come back and play another year under Odom.

That being said, having to replace Onyenso, Dallin Hall, Malik Thomas, Devin Tillis, and Jacari White is not an easy task and I think Onyenso is going to be the toughest player to replace due to his elite defensive rim protection. UVA was one of the top teams in the country on defense last season and Onyenso is a big reason why.

So far, Virginia has brought in UC Irvine forward Jurian Dixon and Arkansas State guard Christian Harmon through the transfer portal.

Roster outlook for UVA

G- Christian Harmon (Transfer)

G- Chance Mallory

G- Sam Lewis

G- Martin Carrere

G- Elijah Gertrude

G- Desmond Roberts

G- Owen Odom

C- Johann Gruloh

F- Jurian Dixon (Transfer)

F- Thijs de Ridder

F- Carter Lang