While the Virginia Cavaliers football team is struggling, the men’s basketball team stays winning. Late on Sunday night, the Wahoos landed a commitment from 2024 four star forward Jacob Cofie. Cofie, a 6’9” Seattle native, has a diverse skill set that fits the type of versatile forward UVA has thrived with over the past half decade.

Cofie has the plus athleticism with the length and requisite mobility to be a great defender in the Virginia defense. He’s the type of player that Tony Bennett dreams of being able to coach up defensively, and his ability to get a bucket as a face up player in the post suggests that he’ll be able to expand his offensive game as well. He’s also got solid vision when the ball is in his hands and can hit a tough jumper with a hand in his face.

Like most forwards or bigs in the UVA system, he’ll need to grow comfortable as an under control aggressor on defense. But he has the potential to be a player who can allow Virginia to switch one through four (or five in a small lineup) similar to what De’Andre Hunter or Trey Murphy could do. Those two are quite clearly the UVA comps for Cofie.

Depending on how you count Christian Bliss — who was a 2024 commit before he re-classed to 2023 to (likely) redshirt for a season in Charlottesville — Cofie is UVA’s second 2024 commit and fills the forward spot that the program needed in the class. With Bliss, fellow freshman Anthony Richardson who’s likely to redshirt, and Cofie, the ‘Hoos have a really solid group of players who will likely log their first minutes in the fall of 2024.

Looking ahead, Bennett and his staff will now hone their attention on getting the shooter they’ve been hunting in 2024. Five star Kon Knueppel — who’s visited Charlottesville in the last week — would be the dream pickup for that spot. But that’s far easier said than done with Marquette, Alabama, Wisconsin, and (of course) Duke all vying for his services and receiving visits recently as well.

No matter how that goes, Cofie is a classic Bennett recruit with a tangible high floor and an exciting ceiling. He has all the tools to blossom into an elite player under the Virginia staff’s tutelage, and that’s exactly the type of player the program wants to pick up in its frontcourt.