Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Bennett announced at Media Day on Thursday that redshirt freshman forward Francesco “Frankie” Badocchi is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the program to tend to an unspecified medical issue.
Badocchi, a 6-7 forward originally from Italy, did not dress for the preseason scrimmage on Oct. 13 and said afterward to a small group of fans that he was sick but okay. In a prepared release, UVA said that Badocchi is still enrolled at the University during his time away.
It’s unclear whether this is related to an injury or an illness; Badocchi had surgery on his right kneecap in the summer of 2017 to fix a nagging problem.