Thijs de Ridder Is Back, and Richmond Is the First Check

Virginia hosts Richmond on Friday, October 9, at 7 p.m. ET at John Paul Jones Arena. It is an exhibition. It is also the same night as North Carolina–USC, and it is the better game if you care about who is actually returning. Ryan Odom is in his second season. Virginia brings back four of its top six scorers, including the freshman who led the team. The defense finished 17th in KenPom. The offense does not have to be rebuilt around a portal class. It has Thijs de Ridder.

Thijs de Ridder

De Ridder is a 6-9 forward from Brasschaat, Belgium, and he is back. As a freshman he averaged 15.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in 36 games, shot 50.8% from the field and 35.7% from three, and made All-ACC and the ACC All-Freshman team. He scored 22 in the round of 32 against Tennessee. He is the leading scorer on a team that was 17th in KenPom defense, not a one-year rental.

That is the Friday watch. If de Ridder is getting touches in the post and on the wing, and Richmond cannot keep him off the glass, the second-year case is already on the floor. If he is standing in the corner while the new guards hunt, Odom does not have the hierarchy yet.

Who else stayed

Chance Mallory is back at the point. He averaged 9.3 points and 3.4 assists as a freshman. Sam Lewis is back on the wing at 10.6 points and shot over 40% from three. Johann Grunloh is back at center: 7.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 blocks. Four projected starters from last year’s rotation are in the building before a single transfer is counted.Dallin Hall is not one of them. He started every game and played 28 minutes a night on that 17th-ranked defense, then transferred to Utah State. The stops do not all walk back. The scoring does.

Who is new

The open job is shooting guard. Jurian Dixon comes from UC Irvine at 15.9 points and 2.0 threes a game. Christian Harmon comes from Arkansas State at 12.8 points and 2.6 threes. Jan Vide comes from Loyola Marymount at 12.1 points and 4.0 assists. One of them starts. None of them is the story if de Ridder is himself.

Richmond

Richmond added Derin Saran from UC Irvine, 11.5 points and 5.3 rebounds, off a Big West defense that finished 26th in KenPom. He is the Spider worth a line. Friday is his first look at an ACC defense, and it is Virginia’s first look at whether the 17th-ranked defense still functions without Hall.Virginia does not need to win by 20. It needs de Ridder to look like a 15-point All-ACC forward, Grunloh to protect the rim, and one of Dixon, Harmon, or Vide to make a shot Hall is no longer there to create. Richmond needs Saran to score once against that frontcourt. The margin is noise. The matchup is the piece that is actually back.