Virginia Basketball Makes The Final Eight For Four-Star Forward Jayden Hodge

Hodge is a 6'6 190 LBS forward who plays at Montverde Academy in Florida and according to 247Sports, Hodge is ranked as the No. 47 player in the country, the No. 20 overall small forward in the country, and the No. 10 player in the state of Florida. It is tough to see where exactly UVA stands in this recruitment, but they are in the mix and that should be encouraging to fans, even if Odom and his staff have not been able to close on a top player just yet.

Last week, Virginia made the cut for another four-star forward, Luca Foster.

Foster announced his top nine schools and the Cavaliers were among them alongside Gonzaga, Villanova, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, and Oklahoma.

According to 247Sports, Foster ranks as the No. 36 overall player in the country, No. 15 small forward in the country, and the No. 2 player in the state of Missouri. The 6'5 185 LBS forward plays at Link Academy in Branson, MO.

Here is his reported official visit schedule:

Villanova: August 29th
Oklahoma: September 6th
Michigan: September 13th
Georgetown: September 20th
Ohio State: September 27th
Virginia: October 4th
Gonzaga - TBD
Pitt - TBD
Oregon - TBD

Foster does not have a decision date as of the time this is being written.

The top center prospect in the nation is down to 12 schools, and one of them is Virginia. Ryan Odom and UVA made the cut for Arafan Diane, who is the No. 1-ranked center prospect at 247Sports. The 7'1 260 LBS prospect plays at Iowa United Prep and is the No. 15 overall player in the country. The other schools that made the cut included Houston, Kansas, Oregon, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, UConn, Indiana, Purdue, Arkansas, and Washington.

This would be a home run for Odom in his first full recruiting class with the program. The Cavaliers are in the mix for a number of the top prospects in the country, but can they land them? Odom and his staff will have to beat out some of the top programs in the country, but don't count them out.

Last week, Virginia officially announced that they will be playing Ohio State in a big-time non-conference game in February.

Virginia and Ohio State will meet for the seventh all-time meeting, with the series currently tied 3-3. Ohio State captured the first three games in the series, including matchups in 1931, 1932, and 1980, while Virginia’s victories came in 1981, 2015, and 2016. In the most recent meeting, Virginia rallied from a 16-point deficit to defeat the Buckeyes 63–61 in Charlottesville. That win followed a 64-58 Virginia road victory in 2015. Both matchups were part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.