Ride alongs help Virginia’s Bronco Mendenhall get acquainted with new home

7:58 PM ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Bronco Mendenhall had never recruited Virginia. Marques Hagans embodies everything about Virginia.

So when it came time to learn about the area, Mendenhall turned to the only person on his staff who could teach him everything he needed to know. But there was no three-ring binder, whiteboard or Power Point presentation.

Nope, Mendenhall wanted to learn the old fashioned way: With a ride along. Scratch that; multiple ride alongs.

For an entire week in January, the new coach from BYU and the veteran Virginia assistant coach from Hampton, Virginia, hopped into an SUV and went up down and all around, from Richmond to Newport News, Williamsburg and the Tidewater and down into North Carolina as well.

There were even a few airplane rides to New Jersey and Pennsylvania sprinkled in between. Mendenhall got his crash course in recruiting the East, but the two also got a crash course in getting to know each other.

“Every ride was its own adventure,” Hagans says.

Most days would start this way: A 5 a.m. workout, then in the car around 6:30 a.m. Hagans did all the driving. He never turned the radio on because he had no idea what type of music to play. Then he started wondering what he should say because he did not want to say the wrong thing to his new boss.

The uncertainty was understandable. Mendenhall brought nearly all his coaches with him from BYU. Hagans, who played at Virginia and has been on staff since 2011, desperately wanted to stay. Shortly after Mendenhall was hired, the two chatted for about 30 minutes. Mendenhall was sold.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to retain anyone, but I don’t consider retaining Marques. I consider that I hired him …

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