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Virginia Makes Contact With Several Transfers, Who are the Players to Know?

Matt Newton

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In this chaotic day and age of college basketball, almost every program is experiencing unprecedented levels of roster turnover every offseason as players look to capitalize on NIL opportunities that, for many of them, offer life-changing money that will never be available to them again once their collegiate careers are done. When you throw in a coaching change, the roster turnover becomes inevitable. So, it came as no surprise when there was a mass exodus last week from the Virginia men's basketball program. Of the 12 scholarship players who were on the roster this season, one graduated, nine entered the transfer portal, and just two remain.

Ryan Odom has completed his introductory media interviews and, although no official announcements have been made, it seems he has a pretty good idea of what his staff is going to look like too. Now, his focus must be entirely on roster construction and the transfer portal. It took a little while for the reports to start coming in, but the dam burst over the weekend and we now have more than 15 transfers who have had reported contact with UVA. We're doing our best to keep track of all of the players Virginia is contacting in the transfer portal and you can see our tracker for those potential portal targets here - Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker - but there are a few names that are particularly important to keep an eye on. Let's break them down.

Brandon Jennings and Luke Bamgboye, VCU

There have been multiple reports that Brandon Jennings and Luke Bamgboye, both freshmen at VCU, were at Virginia this weekend on visits. While most of the key contributors on Odom's roster this season were seniors and graduate students who have exhausted their eligibility, Jennings and Bamgboye carved out nice roles for themselves and seem to have very bright futures ahead of them.

A 6'4" guard from Richmond, Jennings played in all 35 games and averaged 13.1 minutes per contest. Not relied upon much as a scorer, Jennings averaged 2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game and shot 39.3% from three. He had his best game of the season in his postseason debut, shooting a perfect 3/3 from beyond the arc and scoring a season-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds, three blocks, one assist, and one steal to lead VCU to a win over St. Bonaventure in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Bamgboye, meanwhile, was a regular starter for the Rams this year as a true freshman, starting 24 of the 35 games he played in. A physical specimen, Bamgboye is listed at 6'10", 200 pounds with a wingspan of 7'2" on the official VCU roster. The London native averaged 3.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game and shot 59.8% from the floor, but his real impact was felt on the defensive end, where he blocked an average of 2.1 shots per game.

Jennings and Bamgboye were likely going to be big-time contributors at VCU next season. Instead, Odom is looking to get them to follow him from Richmond to Charlottesville and be part of his foundation at Virginia.

Nick Davidson, Nevada

Another player who reportedly took a visit to Virginia this weekend, Nick Davidson represents a huge swing for Odom and the Cavaliers. Rated one of the best available players in the transfer portal by all of the major recruiting services, the 6'10" forward averaged 15.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game in 33 starts this season. He shot 50.0% from the floor and 37.1% from beyond the arc and tallied four double-doubles en route to earning All-Mountain West honors for the second season in a row. Davidson drew a ton of interest from major conference suitors, but reportedly narrowed his list to just five schools on Sunday and Virginia made the cut along with Washington, Texas, Notre Dame, and Clemson. This would be a massive victory for Odom and the Hoos if they can reel in a commitment from Nick Davidson.

Izaiah Pasha, Delaware

A 6'4" guard from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Pasha was named the Rookie of the Year in the Coastal Athletic Association after averaging 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game as a true freshman this season with the Blue Hens. Pasha led all CAA rookies in points and assists and had 19 games in double-figures and two games with 20 or more points. He was particularly impressive in the CAA Tournament, scoring in double figures in four of the five games as the Blue Hens nearly completed the remarkable feat of winning five games in five days to steal the CAA's automatic bid, but fell to UNC-Wilmington in the title game. In that championship matchup, Pasha shined with 21 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. There have been no reports of Pasha scheduling a visit to UVA as of yet, but he announced a top 10 list on Friday and included Virginia along with Wake Forest, Gonzaga, Penn State, College of Charleston, Michigan, Louisville, Villanova, Virginia Tech, and Texas Tech.

Tayton Conerway, Troy

Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney reported on Friday that Tayton Conerway was in the process of scheduling "meetings/zooms" with six schools: Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas Tech, West Virginia, Kansas State, and Virginia. A 6'3" guard from Burleson, Texas, Conerway was named the Sun Belt Player of the Year this season, becoming the first player in Troy program history to do so, after averaging 13.7 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game and setting a program record with 91 steals, fourth-most steals in a single season in the history of the Sun Belt. Conerway started his career at the NJCAA (Junior College) ranks, spending one season at Grayson College (Denison, TX) and two at Ranger College (Ranger, TX) before moving up to Division I NCAA at Troy, where he was the Sun Belt Sixth Man of the Year last season and now the league's Player of the Year this season. With Ryan Odom selecting Longwood head coach Griff Aldrich to be his associate head coach, that could be particularly helpful in this case, as Aldrich coached AAU basketball in Texas for several years and has well-established recruiting connections in the Lone Star State. This one is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Keep track of all of the players Virginia has contacted in the transfer portal here: Virginia Basketball: Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker

Stay up to date on all the latest Virginia basketball transfer portal activity, including outbound transfers from the current roster and UVA's effort to pursue players in the portal, here: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates

More Virginia Basketball News

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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.