D.W. Daniel junior AJ Oliver made the trek from Central, South Carolina, to Charlottesville last Saturday to play in Tony Bennett’s Elite Camp. No stranger to UVa, AJ’s father is former Cavalier basketball player Anthony Oliver and his mother is Audra Smith, who also played basketball at UVa and later was an assistant coach. Smith is now the head women’s basketball coach at Clemson.
“They said they had a really good experience [at UVa]. Classroom, basketball… everything was amazing,” AJ Oliver said.
The Virginia coaches have been in consistent contact with Oliver, a 6’4″, 175-pound wing prospect who averaged 22.7 points per game his sophomore season. A scholarship offer, however, has not been discussed at this point.
“I think we’re kind of beginning to get into there, but I feel like if they do offer me it would be huge. I don’t think I’d be able to explain how big that would be. Knowing my parents went here and they would want to offer me as well… it would be huge,” Oliver said.
Primary recruiter Jason Williford has spoken with Oliver “a lot. Coach Williford is like my second father. I talk with him almost all the time,” said Oliver, who added that Coach Bennett has spoken with him as well.
Oliver was part of the championship team in 3-on-3 competition at last Saturday’s camp. His 3-point shooting stroke was on display throughout the day, but especially so during the 3-on-3 competition.
Reflecting on his play at the Virginia camp, Oliver said: “I feel like I performed well. Played really hard. Used my talents to the best of my abilities, like my dad always talked about. There’s a couple plays I could have changed a little bit, but all in all I felt like I played well.”
Following the stop in Charlottesville, Oliver headed to the University of Richmond for Chris Mooney’s camp on Sunday. His camp season is now over and his primary focus is now on his junior season.
Oliver has six scholarship offers in the fold so far, including Clemson, College of Charleston, Florida International, Old Dominion, South Carolina Upstate and Wofford.
