UVA basketball lands commitment from 2026 four-star center Favour Ibe

Virginia’s offseason roster picture is starting to come into focus.

After adding UC Irvine transfer Jurian Dixon and Arkansas State transfer Christian Harmon earlier in the portal cycle, the Cavaliers have now landed a commitment from 2026 four-star center Favour Ibe. The 7-foot-1, 235-pound big man out of Mt. Zion Prep in Maryland visited Charlottesville earlier this week and left pledged to Ryan Odom and company. This makes him the first member of Odom’s 2026 freshman class.

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The Cavaliers have spent this offseason trying to do two things at once. They have needed to capitalize on the momentum of Odom’s first season while also avoiding unnecessary disruption to a roster that already returned most of its core. That is a tricky balance. Compared to 2025, Virginia was looking to supplement its roster instead of rebuilding.

Dixon and Harmon addressed important questions by adding guard/wing depth, but fans were still clamoring for a replacement for fan favorite Ugo Onyenso at the backup five.

Ibe fits that description.

Ibe is huge, mobile, and still developing. Rivals recently jumped him from No. 126 to No. 82 overall recruit in the 2026 class and the best high school center still available. Playing for Mt. Zion Prep, Ibe averaged 16.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game in league play, the kind of interior production that makes the high-major interest easy to understand.

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Ibe has been recruited like a high-major big for a while. In 2024, he held power-conference offers from Maryland, Arizona State, Georgia, Louisville, and Georgia Tech. In 2025, that list grew to include Villanova, Mississippi State, Texas, Alabama, Florida State, Kansas State, and Michigan. Recently, he made visits to Tennessee, Alabama, and Villanova in addition to Virginia.

That is big news as it highlights Virginia’s ability to land top high school talent over other high-major powerhouses after a transfer portal season that was filled with a lot of almost for UVA. Virginia…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/uva-basketball-lands-commitment-2026-110200165.html

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Publish date : 2026-05-10 11:02:00

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