I could definitely see Pleta playing PF. They'll definitely be looking for a couple of transfers. One ball handler for sure and probably a wing/PF type. Xzavion Mitchell could be interesting too. I doubt he jumps from bench warmer to contributor, but it kinda seems like he might have a bit of that skillset like Joshua Jefferson. A little bit of ball handling and a decent outside shot.
Pleta playing PF on offense is intriguing. He hasn't attempted a 3PT as a Cyclone, but he was advertised as having some shooting range coming into the program. A 6'11" guy with long arms and a release that isn't obnoxiously slow is going to be dangerous at the pick 'n' pop or lurking in the corner.
I just don't know how he's going to do defending a mobile "4" on the perimeter. He doesn't have the fluid lateral footspeed of a Buchanan, Ward, or Jones. Unless they find another true big man (could be one of the freshman) and assuming Buchanan and Pleta are both back, I would imagine next year would be the two of them trading off at the "5" with occasional short bursts of playing small without a true center.
Otz definitely gets the most out of undervalued players. However, Oscar Cluff and Blake Buchanan were two of the highest rated centers in the portal. Maybe got outbid for Cluff and Buchanan didn't have the same hype from casual fans but I think he was the #2 or at least a top 5 ranked portal center on 247.
Power forward should be top priority, so hopefully that's a caliber they're looking at. Even then the relationship piece is key and it'll be a role player with upside, not an instant All American (unless we somehow get Yaxel money).
Team will be built around Toure, Batemon, Buchanan, Pleta, (probably not Milan but dang that'd be something), and Mason Williams who can all hopefully take leaps. I think offensively they'll play through guards more like last year but with better centers who could pick up more playmaking as well. The 4 needs to play defense and rebound and spacing + 4th or 5th option offensive production would be gravy
I don't disagree about the market value of Cluff and Buchanan, but oddly enough at the time the UVA people I knew (and I used to work with a ton of them in DC... the senior partner was a UVA guy and liked to hire fellow Cavaliers) didn't seem too sad to see Buchanan depart from Charlottesville.
I'm paraphrasing, but they basically said his hands suck, he "plays dumb" and takes bad shots and turns the ball over way too much, and yeah he's a good defender but that only takes you so far.
I heard all this and a lightbulb went off in my head of "seems like an Otz guy." And boy he was.
And yeah, I think the priorities for rebuilding the roster on the fly for next spring are obvious enough.
1.) All the seniors are obviously gone. Milan is likely going out with them -- go get it in the NBA.
2.) Retain (in rough order of importance) Toure, Buchanan, Batemon, and Pleta. You could argue #1 or #2 (Toure higher ceiling, but P5 big men are just so valuable) in the order, but it's close.
3.) Get a forward who can productively replace a good chunk on the minutes lost with Jefferson and Momcilovic moving on -- not at the same level of two guys playing like All-Americans right now, obviously, but a complimentary piece to Toure, Batemon, and Buchanan stepping up to lead the team.
4.) Get another guard for depth and ballhandling.
5.) Maybe get another Chatfield or Mulder emergency big man type.
...and I think you're rolling into 2026-27 as a competitive team even if not a Final Four favorite.
