The 2024–25 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team represented the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

during the

2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 4, 2024. The regular season ended on March 16, 2025, with the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament that began with the First Four on March 18 and ended with t ...

. They were led by interim head coach Ron Sanchez after former head coach

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

announced his retirement before the start of the season on October 17, 2024. They played their home games at John Paul Jones Arena in

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...

, as members of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

. Despite the last-minute coaching change, the Cavailers started the season 3–0, including a ten-point victory over Villanova in the Hall of Fame Series. They then traveled to the Bahamas to participate in the Baha Mar Hoops Championship where their fortunes changed. They lost in the semifinals to eleventh-ranked

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

64–42 and in the third place game against twenty second-ranked St. John's 80–55. They won two games against non-Power 4 opponents before losing their ACC–SEC Challenge game against thirteenth-ranked

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

87–69. They followed that with a loss in their ACC opener against SMU. They finished their non-conference slate 2–1, with a loss against twenty first-ranked Memphis. They closed the 2024 portion of their schedule with an ACC win over NC State. The Cavailers had a rough start to the 2025 portion of the schedule, as they went on a five-game losing streak. The streak included two losses to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, and losses in California to

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, and a loss in a rematch with SMU. They broke the streak by going 2–2 in their next four games. This streak included a loss in their

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

game against

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. The team went 4–2 over their next six games, which included a three game winning streak. They defeated

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, Wake Forest, and won the rivaly rematch with Virginia Tech. However, they lost to third-ranked

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. They lost to thirteenth-ranked Clemson and defeated

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

by three points in their next two games. The Cavaliers lost the regular season finale to

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

84–70. The Cavaliers finished the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

15–16 and 8–12 in ACC play to finish in a five-way tie for ninth place. The team finished atop the five-way tiebreaker and were the ninth seed in the 2025 ACC tournament. They faced eighth-seed Georgia Tech in the First Round. Despite defeating the Yellow Jackets during the regular season, they were defeated 66–60 in the tournament. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the NIT. Interim coach Ron Sanchez was not retained at the end of the season.

Previous season

The 2023–24 Cavaliers finished the season 23–11 and 13–7 in ACC play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the ACC tournament, they earned a bye to the quarterfinals, where they defeated third seed

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

in overtime before losing to eventual champion NC State in overtime in the semifinals. They earned a controversial at-large bid to the NCAA tournament and were placed as a tenth seed in the First Four in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

region. They lost their matchup with Colorado State 67–42 to end their season.

Offseason

Tony Bennett Retirement

On October 18, 2024, longtime head coach

announced his surprise retirement. Bennett posted a 364–136 record at UVA, guiding the Cavaliers to the 2019 NCAA Championship, two ACC Tournament titles, six ACC regular-season championships and 10 NCAA tournament appearances. Bennett was named ACC Coach of the Year in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Former Charlotte head coach and longtime assistant Ron Sanchez was named the interim head coach following Bennett's announcement.

Departures

Incoming transfers

2024 recruiting class

Roster

Players

Coaches

Schedule and results

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Rankings

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024-25 Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball seasons

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball team