Recruits react to Bennett hire

Now that Virginia has a new coach in Tony Bennett, one of the bigger questions is whether four-star recruit Tristan Spurlock will be joining him.

Furthermore, will David Chadwick — a 6-foot-8 forward from Charlotte, N.C., who has signed with Washington State — be following Bennett to Charlottesville?

On Monday, Spurlock told The Daily Progress that he is still “up in the air.”

“Right now, there are a lot of rumors that are saying that I’m trying to get out of my letter of intent, which is not the case,” said the versatile 6-foot-8 Spurlock. “I have yet to ask for a release. I’m not saying that I won’t or will, but right now I haven’t.

“I’ve just been waiting for this. I’m going to let things go for a couple of days and see how coach Bennett and I [get along] and then kind of just take it from there.”

Before Monday, Spurlock had never heard of Bennett, but had seen Washington State play on television a few times.

“This year they had a good year and last year they had a really good run in the tournament,” said Spurlock, alluding to the Cougars’ run to the Sweet 16.

Keeping Spurlock in the fold will be Bennett’s first big task. Doing so is paramount, considering Virginia has just one other player, Jontel Evans, in its 2009 class. Evans reportedly is leaning toward keeping his commitment.

Just like everyone, Spurlock was a bit surprised when Virginia tabbed Bennett.

“When it came to news, I heard everybody from Rick Barnes to Jay Wright to Tubby [Smith] — all types of names,” Spurlock said. “I just wanted to do what I could do — work out. I couldn’t pick a coach. The only thing I could control was my workouts.”

Spurlock, who strongly considered Georgetown during his recruitment, said he hasn’t thought about any other schools besides Virginia yet.

“After they fired coach [Dave] Leitao, that kind of got me a little bit because that was never even a thought [of that happening],” Spurlock said. “It caught me off guard, big time. Right now, I’m just still talking to my dad and mother.

“I’m glad that there’s a coach in place and things are starting to get going, but right now things are still up in the air.”

The same is likely true for Chadwick, rated as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com.

Recruiting guru Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports said he wouldn’t be shocked to see Chadwick, who played for Charlotte Latin, attempt to be released from his letter of intent and follow Bennett to Virginia.

Bennett played for Charlotte’s NBA team in the early 1990’s and still has strong ties to the city. Chadwick chose Washington State mainly because of Bennett.

“He’s a very skilled big guy who can score — not at all like some of Virginia’s current big guys,” Gibbons said. “He could be a very good face-the-basket player. I think he has a lot of upside.”

Gibbons spoke very positively of Bennett’s skills a recruiter.

“He’s a young guy who’s played in the NBA. He can sell kids on the concept of coming to UVa and getting a great education, having a good basketball experience and preparing them for playing at the next level after college,” he said.

After Gibbons got over the shock that Virginia had hired Bennett — he was thinking Tubby Smith was going to be the choice — he had nothing put praise for the 39-year-old.

“Tony Bennett is one of the bright up-and-coming head coaches in the business,” he said. “He’s done a phenomenal job taking a lowly Washington State program and rebuilding them into being contenders in the Pac-10.

“He’s proven that he can win and he’s got the basketball bloodlines.”

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