The last time Tony Bennett coached a team without a returning double-figure scorer was 2006-07, his first season as Washington State’s big whistle.

“Thanks for those fun facts,” Bennett needled me at Virginia’s preseason media gathering Monday. “I appreciate that.”

Actually, Bennett and the Cavaliers can only hope to match Wazzu’s success of 11 years ago.

Those Cougars finished second in the old Pacific-10 Conference, went 26-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. Bennett was the consensus national Coach of the Year.

Here’s a hunch his chops will be similarly revealed this season, his ninth at Virginia.

Not to suggest he’s going to collect an office-full of trophies, but there’s considerable talent here, London Perrantes’ graduation and Marial Shayok’s transfer to Iowa State notwithstanding.

Sure, that leaves fifth-year wing Devon Hall (8.4 points per game) as the top returning scorer from a team that went 23-11 and reached the second round of the NCAA tournament. Moreover, forward Isaiah Wilkins is the only other senior accustomed to Bennett’s demanding ways – senior point guard Nigel Johnson is a graduate transfer from Rutgers.

“I think there’s just a lot of unknowns,” Bennett said. “I’ll be honest … there have been some practices where … I’ve said, ‘Boy, we have a chance to be pretty darn good.’ And then there’s some practices where I say, ‘We got a ways to go.’ Now I think most college coaches would be saying that right now, but there is uncertainty.”

Most of the uncertainty surrounds redshirt freshmen DeAndre Hunter and Jay Huff. But an NBA scout who watched the Cavaliers practice last season told me that Hunter and Huff were the best prospects in the program.

Hunter is a 6-foot-7 wing capable of handling the ball, Huff a 7-1 stretch forward with 3-point range.

“They will make a huge difference,” guard Kyle Guy said. “DeAndre is uncanny with the ball in his hands. Jay is every bit of 7-1 and pretty athletic for his size. They bring a whole new dynamic to the team.”

“The first thing I’m going to say to all of the fans, all the media is please be patient,” guard Ty Jerome said of Hunter and Huff. “They’re still technically freshmen. (But) … their talent level’s out of this world.”

Guy and Jerome played significant minutes last season as freshmen, as did redshirt junior Jack Salt and redshirt sophomore Mamadi Diakite, both low-post players.

Some combination of Diakite, Wilkins, Hunter and Salt need to provide more interior offense, lest the Cavaliers be prone to the unsightly scoring droughts that emerged late last season, never more so than in a 65-39 NCAA tournament loss to Florida.

“That’s still a sensitive topic,” Jerome said.

“I’m not going to lie,” Guy said. “It was embarrassing, and it hurt all of us in different ways, especially London (since) it was his last game.”

Embarrassing though it may have been, it did not spoil a season in which Virginia advanced in the ACC and NCAA tournaments for the fourth consecutive year. That consistent success speaks to the program Bennett has built here.

So while ACC rivals such as Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Miami and Notre Dame appear better positioned this season, I still like the Cavaliers chances of a sixth straight winning league record and fifth consecutive NCAA trip.

Virginia has been among the top 25 in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency rankings each of the last six years. But last season’s No. 50 offensive-efficiency rating was the program’s worst since 2013.

Not coincidentally, that’s the last time the Cavaliers failed to reach the NCAA tournament.

“We have to become, you’re going to laugh, but we have to become a little more disciplined defensively,” Bennett said. “We have to handle some ball screen coverages a little better. Those things were exploited. Of course, offensively, finding out ways to, if we can get to the line more, if we can score inside more, if there are any opportunities in transition, to go.”

Hall is the most seasoned and wise Cavalier and among three captains Bennett appointed — Wilkins and Salt are the others — and Bennett paid him the ultimate compliment Monday by comparing his work ethic to Malcolm Brogdon’s.

“I am the old man,” Hall said. “I don’t feel like it. I am. … This is a very talented group. Guys are really good, and we’re trying to find more effective ways to be more efficient on the offensive and defensive ends because of that talent.”

Teel can be reached by phone at 757-247-4636 or by email at dteel@dailypress.com. For more from Teel, read his blog at dailypress.com/teeltime and follow him at twitter.com/DavidTeelatDP.