Nice, long profile on Ben from The Athletic. Most of us probably know most of the backstory but good to see it getting publicity in such a large publication. Stories like this always seem helpful for future recruiting efforts, particularly with transfers.
And always nice to see a Mike Curtis shout-out and a reference to how Tony's improved his stats...
Virginia’s Ben Vander Plas is the ‘connector’ for Cavaliers — and two families
These details on his recruitment are new to me...The basketball staff leaned heavy into show-don’t-tell. Throughout the process, Vander Plas absorbed film clips with three stages: what he did at Ohio, how Virginia practices the same movement or concept, and how that movement or concept has been applied productively in games. The Cavaliers’ “chase shooting” drill, for example, involves managers or GAs, outfitted with long arm pads or sticks, following shooters around the perimeter. The shooter has to catch and release quick enough to avoid the block. During their sales pitch, coaches rolled clips of Vander Plas shooting off the move at Ohio … followed by video of the drill … followed by film of former Cavaliers wing Sam Hauser sinking the same type of looks in game flow. In fact, for all the talk about the Bennett-Vander Plas connections, Hauser might’ve been the most critical name drop and reference point in this process. “He did the homework with Sam Hauser,” Dean Vander Plas says. “He bounced things off of us, but I think his respect for Sam Hauser, and that Sam verified what he was feeling, was probably more important to Ben.”
And always nice to see a Mike Curtis shout-out and a reference to how Tony's improved his stats...
He had enough self-awareness to prioritize a strength program that could get him moving more fluidly while showing him ways to prevent injuries before they happened. “I’m not the most athletically blessed person ever,” he says. Virginia strength and conditioning coach Mike Curtis checked that box with a presentation about the individualized programs he creates for each member of the roster, how it could make Vander Plas look more like a viable wing at this level and some version of the next.
Vander Plas played at 245 pounds in his final year at Ohio. With an improved diet and a regiment that included resistance bike and medicine ball routines on top of regular training and practices, Vander Plas trimmed down to 230 by the first day of the season. It’s enabled him to be a viable option to guard upper-shelf college threes and fours. “There were a couple times in practice where we would be doing one-on-one drills or three-on-three drills, and after a segment I would just think to myself, ‘I’m definitely a lot better at that than I was when I first got here, or that had been in the past, this is definitely paying off,’” Vander Plas says.
Meanwhile, Bennett and the staff fine-tuned Vander Plas’ shot all summer, coaching him to keep his shoulders forward and his elbow in and his follow-through straight. The results early on? A true shooting percentage (.588) and offensive rating (120.2, per KenPom) that are career-best and both second to Kadin Shedrick among Virginia rotation regulars. His turnover rate (8.8 percent) is the lowest in that cohort, too. The raw numbers (7.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists per game) are modest, but fit and efficiency are the critical variables in whatever minutes he logs.
