Strength In (Orange) Numbers

The University of Virginia hired Carla Williams to be the new Director of Athletics in the fall of 2017. Since then, the Cavaliers have seen a tremendous amount of success on and off the playing field.

In the classroom, student-athletes have set records for the highest GPA in program history, seven UVA student-athletes have been recognized with ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and, as a group, have set a program record for ACC Honor Roll placement. UVA has found similar success in athletics as well, winning 14 ACC championships, and 7 NCAA championships during AD Willams’ tenure. Her commitment to these students at UVA and in the future is unwavering. Name me another AD that is as close or as invested in their student-athletes as she is. You would be looking for a while, and would come up empty.

My point here is this: Carla Williams' satisfaction rate from UVA families, athletes, and fans across the nation is deservedly extremely high. You'd be hard pressed to find someone that would suggest she needs to change how she's running the athletic department.

That being said, there's one simple, yet critical, change she needs to help make happen.

Carla: We NEED you to bring back orange numbers to the men's basketball uniforms!

Why? Historically, UVA’s best teams have had orange numbers. If we take a look back at all time teams, players, and program defining moments we will clearly see that they have one thing in common: ORANGE NUMBERS. Why would we allow the big wigs at Nike to change something so sacred to our program? Let me take you on a little trip down memory lane. Take my hand 🫱🏼

The Ralph Sampson Era (1979-1983): The man who put UVA basketball on the map, won three Naismith National Player of the Year awards, Two-time Wooden Award winner, led UVA to its first ever final four in 1981, and the #1 draft pick in the 1983 NBA draft. ORANGE NUMBERS

The Bryant Stith Era (1989-1992): A historic three years for Stith and the UVA Men’s Basketball program. Over these four seasons, Stith would become UVA's all time leading scorer... a record that still stands to this day. ORANGE NUMBERS.

The Tony Bennett Era With Orange Numbers (2009-2020): Eight 20-win seasons, four 30-win seasons, six NCAA Tournament appearances, five ACC regular season conference championships, two ACC Tournament championships, and one NCAA Tournament Championship. An era that started with one of the best hires in College Basketball history and ended with one of the best redemption stories in sports history. ORANGE NUMBERS.

Present Day: The present day look is not a good one. The Hoos look like if the Penn State basketball jersey took a sip of an Orange LaCroix. All blue and white with the smallest of tints of orange.

We have all heard of the saying “look good, play good” right? The past four years have not been exactly that and I am not willing to put the blame on anything else but the lack of orange in UVA’s jerseys. Most programs would kill for three 20-win seasons out of the last four, but UVA should be held to a higher standard than most programs.

Historically, UVA’s strength has been in their orange numbers, and when you remove those from the athlete's chest, it's like removing the arc reactor from Iron Man’s chest.

It is going to take a village to get these numbers back to the way they should be, but it starts with the approval of AD Carla Williams. Let's get this on her desk so she can work her magic with Nike. Go Hoos.

We can go one of three routes:

• Leave the current set but simply add orange. Whether you are a fan of the re-brand or not you have to admit, these are pretty darn good looking uniforms.

• We can go throwback a la Villanova, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida. Old school numbers, old school font. Gorgeous uniform set.

• If we absolutely must have the rebranded font and numbers just stick those on the "retro" uniforms. Orange and blue stripes around the collar and shorts with modern font and numbers. A win-win, right?

These are my official proposals to Mrs. Carla Williams. Shoutout to @hawkedits_ for the amazing photoshop work here.