Clemson's Shawn Poppie Lands First Transfer Portal Addition from ACC Foe

Over the past two years, Clemson Tigers head coach Shawn Poppie has demonstrated his strong recruiting prowess, adding three transfers and, most recently, one of the best high school recruiting classes in the nation.

Now, over a week after the transfer portal opened — which occurred on April 6 — he's already added another piece to the puzzle ahead of next season.

That player is Virginia Tech's Makenzie Nelson, who committed on Tuesday afternoon, as first reported by On3's Talia Goodman. She will have two more years of eligibility remaining with the Tigers.

NEWS: Virginia Tech transfer Mackenzie Nelson has committed to Clemson.

The 5-8 sophomore averaged 8 ppg, 5.7 apg and 1.4 spg this season.

TRACKER: https://t.co/wYv1Ze6704 pic.twitter.com/LoWKI32d20
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 14, 2026

The rising redshirt junior started all 32 games for the Hokies last season and is coming off a career year, averaging eight points, 5.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. She finished top-20 nationally — and second in the ACC — in assists per game, while also ranking top-25 in the conference in steals.

It's also important to note that she was extremely efficient as a pass-first guard, leading the ACC with a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranked sixth nationally. Additionally, she notched two double-doubles on the year, with both coming in conference play against Florida State and Virginia. Safe to say, she should fit perfectly in a Poppie offense that prioritizes ball movement.

The one drawback in her season was inconsistent shooting, as she connected on just 38.7% from the field, a noticeable drop from her 50% mark the year before.

However, one of the most intriguing aspects of Nelson's addition is her connection to Clemson's staff. If you didn't know, Poppie was an excellent assistant coach at Virginia Tech from 2016 to 2020 before being promoted to associate head coach for his final two seasons with the program. So while he leads his own system now, he still will always have a taste of how the Hokies run their show.

A secondary connection spews from a former teammate, Cayla King. The 6-foot guard was a four-year starter at Virginia Tech and was a senior when Nelson was redshirting as a freshman. This past season, she sat alongside Poppie on the bench as a graduate assistant coming off two years of playing pro ball overseas.

While there are already four guards assigned to the 2026-27 roster, Nelson fills a huge need defensively and experience-wise, as three of the four players at the position are underclassmen. Not to mention, the hole created by five-star shooting guard Trinity Jones, who was recently released from her letter of intent after signing in early November of last year.

🚨BREAKING🚨 5-star SG Trinity Jones has been released from her signing with Clemson, @TaliaGoodmanWBB confirms.

Read: https://t.co/LCP4utAShP pic.twitter.com/WRzILe3Gst
— Rivals (@Rivals) April 4, 2026

Looking ahead, it's likely that Nelson will start alongside senior Rusne Augustiniate — who transferred in from Georgia Tech last season — as rising sophomores Amaia Jackson and Holland Harris both played under 10 minutes per game last season. However, we'll see how the cards unfold as the transfer portal remains open and there's still a lot of offseason to go.

Add us as a preferred source on Google