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Report: Virginia Guard Dai Dai Ames Plans to Enter Transfer Portal

Matt Newton

Aaron Snyder
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Virginia sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames plans to enter the transfer portal, as reported by On3's Joe Tipton on Wednesday evening (March 19). The transfer portal opens on Monday, March 24th, but two Cavaliers have already made known their intentions to enter the portal, as Ames follows sophomore center Blake Buchanan.

A 6'1", 190-pound guard from Chicago, Ames played in all but one of Virginia's games this season and started 26 of those 31 games. A transfer from Kansas State, Ames was fourth on the team in scoring at 8.7 points per game and shot just below 40% from three (39.7%) on 2.5 attempts per game. After having his minutes dry up at the beginning of ACC play, Ames battled back into a starting spot and ended the regular season on a streak of 10-consecutive games in double figures. That streak was broken in the final game of the year, as Ames was held to just four points on 1/9 shooting from the field in Virginia's loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament.

On the flip side, Ames was also responsible for one of the best individual performances of the season by any Cavalier, scoring a career-high 27 points to lead UVA to a big win at Pittsburgh on February 3rd. With a significant increase in usage as compared to his freshman season at Kansas State, Ames responded by raising his numbers nearly across the board while also improving his shooting efficiency both from the floor (46.0%, up from 35.3% the previous season) and from three-point range (39.7%, up from 32.9%).

Read more: Virginia Basketball Coaching Search HQ: Candidates List, Carousel Updates

The expectation is that most of Virginia's roster will at the very least consider entering the transfer portal this offseason on the heels of what was a turbulent 2024-2025 season. All of these players were recruited to UVA to play for Tony Bennett, who announced his retirement just a couple of weeks before the season. Most of those players stuck it out through the season with interim head coach Ron Sanchez - with the notable exception of former Florida State transfer Jalen Warley, who hopped back in the portal and transferred to Gonzaga in January.

With UVA director of athletics Carla Williams announcing just hours after Virginia's season-ending loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament second round that Sanchez would not be retained as the program's full-time head coach, it makes sense that at least a few of these players are getting their names out there on the market before the portal opens on Monday. It should be noted that any player who enters the transfer portal could technically come back to Virginia if the new coaching staff wants him. That could be the case for any number of these Cavaliers who are making plans to enter the portal. With the way Ames played throughout most of ACC play, though, it should be expected that Ames will have his fair share of suitors in the transfer portal.

Like Blake Buchanan, Dai Dai Ames will enter the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

More Virginia Basketball News

Blake Buchanan Set to Enter the Transfer Portal

UVA Basketball Coach Search: Is Ryan Odom the Frontrunner?

Virginia Will Not Retain Ron Sanchez as Head Coach, Carla Williams Announces

Revisiting the Coaching Carousel: Who is UVA Competing With This Offseason?

Revisiting Potential UVA Basketball Head Coaching Candidates

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.