Virginia basketball 2013-14 season preview

Overview: After being denied a spot in the NCAA tournament last season, Virginia has very different expectations this year. Returning its core and adding a highly-recruited freshman point guard, the Cavaliers will contend with Duke, Syracuse, North Carolina and Notre Dame for the ACC title.

In what will be his fourth year starting for the Wahoos, Joe Harris will try to improve on last season's 16.3 points per game and 42.5 percent 3-point shooting. Despite being the only returning All-ACC honoree, Harris finished one vote behind Syracuse’s C.J. Fair as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year. Maybe the most memorable game of Harris' career came against Duke last season when he led his team past the Blue Devils with a career-high 36 points. In the upset, Harris and classmate Akil Mitchell combined for 55 of the team’s 73 points. Mitchell, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound power forward, averaged 13.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game and will again be joined in the frontcourt by Mike Tobey. The 6-foot-11 sophomore center played just 13.9 minutes a game as a freshman and still averaged nearly seven points per contest. He demonstrated that he could one day be a premier ACC big man and, after spending a summer in the weight room and playing for Team USA in the U19 World Championships, Tobey hopes to take that step.

With Harris the focal point of the offense and the frontcourt set, the Cavaliers' biggest question comes at point guard. Replacing Jontel Evans, freshman London Perrantes will be forced to contribute right away and control the majority of the team’s ball-handling responsibilities. Virginia opens the season ranked No. 24.