On Wednesday, Virginia fans received some more bad news when the school announced that senior forward Jamil “The Thrill” Tucker was taking an “indefinite leave of absence” from the team.

Just six days from the season opener and the start of the Tony Bennett era, the Virginia men’s basketball program has suffered a big loss.

This afternoon in Raleigh, N.C., the Wahoos (9-13, 3-8 ACC) — flying high after back-to-back wins — take on N.C. State.

Yes, things certainly have the potential to get ugly when Virginia (7-9, 1-4 ACC) travels to Cameron Indoor Stadium this afternoon to play No. 1 Duke at 2 p.m.

Jamil “The Thrill” Tucker played the best game of his college career in Virginia’s 84-78 loss at Maryland on Tuesday night.

On a day when change was the key word floating around the nation’s capital, all Virginia got a few miles up the road was the same old thing.

The only thing more impressive than Mustapha Farrakhan’s career-high 12 points in the win at Georgia Tech on Sunday night was the size of his fan club.

“I just followed directions,” said Jamil Tucker, who nailed the huge 3-pointer with 14 seconds showing to knot the game at 74-all.

Tonight, Virginia (2-0) will be looking for another good performance out of one of its elder statesmen when it hosts Radford at 7 p.m.

For three years, Virginia — for various reasons — hasn’t subscribed to it. Instead of working inside-out, UVa has attempted to go outside-in.

Well, maybe this year’s strain of injury virus won’t be as vicious as some Virginia basketball fans feared.

Toward the end of practice on Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia coach Dave Leitao decided it was time to see what his players were really made of.

Will Harris’ 2007-08 campaign subsequently went up in smoke, with the Queens, N.Y., native reduced to spot duty. He had to watch as Virginia stumbled to a 17-16 season that culminated in a semifinal loss to Bradley in the inaugural College Basketball Invitational.