COMMITMENT: UVA basketball lands 2024 guard Ishan Sharma

In a quick turn of events, the Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball team has nailed its second player out of the 2024 high school recruiting class with Canadian shooting guard Ishan Sharma. Out of the Fort Erie International Academy, Sharma is a 6’5” shooting guard who received an offer from Tony Bennett and staff a mere three days ago and has since committed.

After forward Jacob Cofie committed just over a month ago, Sharma adds a shooting presence to UVA’s 2024 class. Of course, point guard Christian Bliss was originally a 2024 recruit before reclassifying to join Virginia as a likely redshirt this season.

Poor perimeter shooting has doomed the Wahoos in recent seasons, so it’s encouraging that UVA has locked down an elite shooter for 2024. If there’s one thing Sharma does well, it’s shoot the ball. He’ll be a very good catch and shoot threat who Bennett and his staff can scheme open looks for, like they have for their best shooters over the years. He’s also displayed the ability to hit shots off the dribble, indicating that his offensive game could expand beyond the perimeter in time.

He’s got the requisite size and athleticism to play well in the Virginia defense. He doesn’t have the offensive skillset of a Kyle Guy or an Isaac McKneely, but he also won’t be a liability defensively and can be a “Three and D” type floor spacer at the two or three for the Wahoos without costing them on the other end.

Sharma also had offers from Seton Hall, Maine, Marist, NIU, and a handful of other mid majors. Presumably, this is another one of Tony Bennett’s attempts at finding one of his guys that nobody else has picked up on, a diamond in the rough, with the presumption that Sharma will blow up given more time and exposure. The Cavaliers have hit on countless late bloomers throughout the years after the coaching staff picked them out early and committed resources before any other upper echelon programs did. From the looks of him, Sharma could be the next in that line.