On November 6th, the Virginia Cavaliers of 2024–25 will have a lot of new players on the court. This year’s team has two true freshmen, five incoming transfers, and a new head coach. One of the most interesting players on this year’s lineup is Ishan Sharma, a true freshman. The 6-foot-5 guard, who is from Canada, is a confident shooter who can confidently stretch defenses well beyond the three-point line.
Early in the past 15 years, a few true freshmen have played and made an impact. At the guard position, players like Kyle Guy, London Perrantes, Kihei Clark, and Joe Harris had some of the most memorable career debuts. The next player to contribute meaningful minutes for the “Hoos” could be Ishan Sharma.
His shooting prowess commands the attention of defenses
Although they didn’t score much consistently last season, the Hoos appear to have a lot of shooting alternatives this year. With a three-point shooting range that helps open up the rest of his game, Sharma may be one of the more versatile scorers.
Sharma made eight three-pointers in an international tournament game the previous season, which is one of the more amazing clips of his game that is currently available. In the first clip, he instantly demonstrates the range by hitting a triple from well beyond the arc. His release is the most notable aspect of his shooting in this video. Whether it’s off the dribble or the grab, he gets the ball up and out in the college game, which significantly cuts down on the amount of time needed to get shots off.
The importance of his shot creation
So much of the intrigue with Sharma is his size. At 6-foot-5, 192 pounds, Sharma is no slouch physically and has a solid handle to get downhill at his defenders.
Outside of Reece Beekman, last year’s team struggled to create offense off the dribble. Sharma excelled at facilitating the offense and scoring at different levels throughout his high school career. While Fort Erie Academy played a more up-tempo style than Virginia does, it seemed to have helped Sharma sharpen his skills as more all-around scorer, an attribute the ‘Hoos could desperately use.
As much as the ‘Hoos want to play balanced, team-first basketball, there comes a time late in the shot-clock where a player needs to go get a basket. Sharma has the potential to grow into that type of guy as he gains experience against high-level ACC defenses.
Fans saw their first dose of Sharma in a Cavalier uniform in the Blue-White scrimmage, where he finished with nine points on 3-11 shooting. He connected on two nice mid-range jumpers and an impressive step-back three as the shot clock dwindled down.
While he wasn’t great from an efficiency standpoint, what stood out was his willingness and confidence to attack for his own shot. Like most high-profile recruits, Sharma put up a large volume of shots and big numbers. UVA’s offense will require him to be more efficient. The adjustment of playing a slower, more methodical offense is something we’ve seen plenty of new UVA guards go through and eventually figure out. There’s no reason to think he won’t do the same as the season progresses.
Scoring off of screens
The importance of screens to UVA’s offense is well known. The ‘Hoos strive for many opportunities to catch and shoot off screens, especially when flares and pin-downs are used to liberate shooters. The ability to set up their defender, get close off of screeners, and bury quick shots off the grab are all critical skills for guards. His versatility as a shooter may be most evident in those circumstances due to his mid-range ability and ability to penalize defenders for cheating screens around the three-point arc.
He’ll have the opportunity to learn from one of the best with Kyle Guy on staff as Guy was phenomenal at reading whether to curl screens or fade out for jump shots during his career. Sharma previously mentioned how he tries to model his game after Guy and after watching his quick shooting release and confidence off the dribble, it makes sense.
Where does Sharma fit in the lineup?
The ‘Hoos have noticeable size at the guard position and a handful of shooters to help space the floor. Judging by the lineups Virginia used in the Blue-White scrimmage, 6-foot-7 Jalen Warley projects to be the starting point guard with 6-foot-4 Isaac McKneely as a starter at shooting guard.
Both Taine Murray and Sharma are candidates to come off the bench for McKneely, who averaged over 30 minutes per game a season ago. This year’s team features more scoring options at guard than last, so it will be interesting to see if McKneely’s minutes stay the same or get spread around. How the freshman grows within the defense is key as with any first time Virginia player looking for playing time. His length should allow him to be a solid enough on-ball defender where it wouldn’t limit his playing opportunities.
It seems likely the ‘Hoos use him as an off the ball guard to give McKneely a break. Coach Sanchez and staff have options to get multiple shooters on the floor together. Any combination of Sharma, TJ Power, McKneely, and/or Taine Murray could be an exciting wrinkle as well.
Given Sharma’s college-ready frame and overall offensive game, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the floor anywhere from 8-to-12 minutes per night based on how both he and the other guards perform in the early stages of games.
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