CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Ugonna Onyenso hasn’t hit a single 3-pointer in three college basketball seasons. In fact, the 6-foot-11 transfer center never even attempted a shot from beyond the arc over 64 career games at Kentucky and Kansas State.

“I would guess he hasn’t in practice, either,” first-year Virginia coach Ryan Odom joked Wednesday. “Maybe in high school.”

But when Odom turned his new roster loose on the court during the offseason, he took note of Onyenso’s outside shooting touch.

And Johann Grunloh’s toughness crashing the glass. And Chance Mallory’s instincts pursuing long rebounds.

It’s all a product of Odom’s approach to getting to know his roster.

“Not put them in a box,” Odom said, during a 30-minute session with local media. “We wanted to allow them to play free of fear, of failure. Show us what you can do.”

Odom said that, particularly over the summer, the focus was on building team chemistry and getting the new players comfortable with each other and at UVA.

The Cavaliers return just three players from last year’s team – guard Elijah Gertrude, wing Desmond Roberts and forward Carter Lang. Roberts and Lang are walk-ons.

The approach gave the coaching staff a true chance to evaluate what type of players it had to work with – and gave those players a true clean slate to impress their new coaches.

“If you begin to put them in roles right away, initially, you come in with these preconceived notions of how you think they should play,” Odom said. “You might miss something.”

And as he looks to rebuild the Virginia program, Odom has been meticulous in his efforts to not a miss a thing.

The coach, known for his pressure-defense that he employed at VCU – and Utah State and UMBC, before that – didn’t even begin working on the press during the summer. Though, he said, he did jump into it immediately this fall.

“Right away,” Odom said. “We call it, ‘Hammer Up.’ Right away. First practice.”

The Cavaliers play two pre-season exhibitions, playing Vanderbilt in Nashville on Oct. 16 and hosting Villanova on Oct. 24. Odom said he’s an advocate of adding more preseason games in the future.

Virginia’s season opener will be Nov. 3 at home against Rider, the game that will mark Odom’s Cavalier debut.

Odom said Utah transfer guard Dallin Hall has quickly emerged as a team leader, in large part due to the consistency of his practice effort.

“There’s just a trust there,” Odom said.

Devin Tillis, a wing who played at UC Irvine last year, and Malik Thomas, a transfer guard from San Francisco, have asserted themselves as vocal leaders, and DeRidder brings both passion and high-level experience from his time in Europe.

Identifying strong leaders is something Odom did early at his previous coaching stops. Outside of that, he said there isn’t much similar between the circumstances at UVA and what he took over at Utah State and VCU, where he quickly delivered the Aggies and Rams to NCAA Tournament appearances his second seasons at those schools.

“This one’s been a lot different,” Odom said. “We have a totally new collection of guys.”

And, this offseason, he took the time to learn all about what they can do.