Virginia Basketball Reaches Rare Status Without Any Transfer Portal Players

Ryan Odom did a masterful job keeping his roster in tact this offseason

Mar 20, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Virginia Cavaliers head coach Ryan Odom celebrates with Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) after the game against the Wright State Raiders during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Xfinity Mobile Arena. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Virginia basketball program has done something no other power conference team has done this season – not lose a player to the transfer portal.

In this era of college basketball, it feels unprecedented that that Cavaliers were able to pull off the feat and even more shocking that came in the first full offseason under head coach Ryan Odom.

There were no players who felt like they wouldn’t get a chance to play next season or were sold something that wasn’t true. It’s an entire roster that is bought into the culture and the rebuilding of Virginia basketball which was on display this season in an ACC Tournament Championship appearance, No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and winning a March Madness game.

Now, Odom will be looking to take the next step with his team and knows exactly what he has on the roster. Not only did Virginia not lose a player to the transfer portal but it hasn’t added anybody in the portal yet either – a dangerous game that can backfire on established coaches like it did with Marquette and Shaka Smart last season.

Virginia nearly had company in the power conference ranks by not losing a player to the transfer portal but Michigan State guard Divine Ugochukwu was a late minute addition to the portal ahead of its deadline last week.

Purdue also only lost one player to the portal this offseason in seldom used freshman Aaron Fine.

There are other teams that have lost insignificant players of its team to the portal, but none have neither lost nor added a player this offseason.

Now, the expectation is for the Cavaliers to still add players to its roster with seven of 15 scholarships filled but the team will feel good since its star, Thijs de Ridder, has returned after averaging 15.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.