One of my favorite songs to sing is "Young and Foolish" by the other Tony Bennett!

"Young and foolish, why is is wrong to be? Young and foolish, we haven't long to be. Soon enough, the carefree days, those sunlit days go by. Soon enough, the bluebird has to fly!"

Maybe an appropriate song in these portal cases.

BVP to Virginia

https://twitter.com/benvanderplas/status/1517972485479841792

Ben will prosper at UVA and UVA will gain an excellent player and a super scholar!!

I will be rooting for both BVP at Virginia and Sears at Alabama, until of course we meet them in the tournament in March... Or April ;-)

I might have the most bittersweet reaction to this news, now that he has picked his new school. Now, I am very thankful for everything Ben has meant to this program. I appreciate giving the program five years including this last one that he did not have to give. I appreciate that he showed out against some of the best name teams we faced in his time (He has the respect and name recognition among the Virginia, Illinois, and Kentucky fanbases). I appreciate that you can find a picture of him high-fiving my son on his Instagram. Believe me, I feel very differently towards Ben than I do about another player who will be in the SEC next year.

If Ben has exhausted his academic opportunities at Ohio, what are you gonna do? But with all the freedom the transfer market has given players on top of the NIL game-changer, will we ever see another truly GREAT player who begins and completes all of his college eligibility at Ohio*? And a tangent thought on that... Not counting this incoming class or this past season's freshmen, Jeff Boals has brought in nine high school signees (I'm including Mcday) since 2019. All nine still have college eligibility, but only two remain on our roster.

Another angle is imagine if BVP had true NBA potential and is drafted a year from now. Would the draft boards say he's from Virginia or Ohio? Would he be announced by Adam Silver as from Virginia or Ohio? Would he be announced in a starting lineup as from Virginia or Ohio?

*Players that leave Ohio early for the NBA and are drafted are exempt. Jason Preston and Gary Trent are feathers in this program's cap.

I hope he's selected, but I'm expecting him to be an undrafted free agent. Imagine him playing with Giannis

I thought Hades would freeze over before Matt Ryan would wear an NBA uniform for even one game in his life and yet he did play one late season game for the Celtics and hit a three. May not happen again, but good for Matt.

Also, when I saw Garrison Mathews play h.s. basketball early in his senior season, the people from that h.s. said he was more known for football. I thought maybe he would be a linebacker in the NFL today, not a 3 year NBA veteran that played in 147 games and started 57.

So, BVP in pro basketball? Perhaps but not overly likely unless he flat out lights it up from three at Virginia, because in reality his defense is not eye catching.

Is Ben's departure any different than the Grad Transfer setup that's been around for more than a decade now? I recall Russell Wilson doing this from NC State to Wisconsin quite a while ago. That's what makes Ben's different than Mark's, as Ben is a graduate multiple times over and would've been able to move without the current structure of the portal. I will always factor a student-athlete who graduates from OHIO as different than any other. It's why I hope that the university really celebrates Jason Preston for his graduation this spring.

+1 Agree completely with this!

Curious question, has there ever been a 3-time Academic All American? I think they said BVP was the first 2-time member since the late 70's or something like that.