Grading Virginia Basketball's Acquisition of Arkansas State Transfer Christian Harmon

Virginia Basketball has been careful with their portal additions this spring, focusing on retaining the top players from last year's team, but they made their second addition from the portal today with the commitment from Arkansas State transfer Christian Harmon.

Last season, Harmon averaged 12.8 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists and shot 34.6% from deep, while earning 3rd team All-Sun Belt honors.

There were only 7 players in the transfer portal with 60+ threes, 16%+ assist rate, and a 2.5+ RAPM, per @CBBAnalytics.

Virginia has picked up two of them with Christian Harmon and Jurian Dixon. Shooting, passing, and on-court value to fit alongside a returning core. Love it. https://t.co/Zd3ypp01JL
— Matthew Winick (@matthewwinick) May 5, 2026

As pointed out in the above post, I think that Harmon is going to fit Ryan Odom's system at Virginia quite well and replace some of the production that they lost in guys like Jacari White and Malik Thomas, who were two of the best shooters on the team.

How does he fit?

Harmon reached double figures on the scoreboard in 13-of-18 conference games, including four 20-plus point performances alongside a career-high 33-point game against South Alabama.

Having a skilled shooter and ball handler who has size is a great asset to have on a roster and something that every team wants.

In terms of concerns, there is always a question about the jump up in competition that some of these transfers are going to face when they get to the ACC. The Sun Belt is not the strongest mid major conference and the ACC is a big leap up.

However, last offseason showed that Odom has a knack for identifying portal talent and system fits. White, Hall, Thomas, Devin Tillis, Sam Lewis, and Ugonna Onyenso had their fair share of questions to and they all played a huge role in helping Virginia to get back to the NCAA Tournament.

The Cavaliers had a lot of good shooting on this team last season, but as I already mentioned, they are losing White, Thomas, and Dallin Hall, who were also great system fits for UVA.

In the 247Sports transfer rankings, Harmon is ranked as the No. 139 overall transfer and the No. 27 shooting guard. He is considered a four-star transfer and of the two transfers that Virginia has landed so far in their portal class,

Will he be a starter or a bench player? Lewis, Thijs de Ridder, and Johann Grunloh seem like locks to start and Chance Mallory could be as well, but there are still some open spots that either Harmon or UC Irvine sharpshooter Jurian Dixon could fill.

The shooting and passing skills from Harmon make it feel like he is going to be a seamless fit in Charlottesville and given Odom's track record in the portal, I think there is reason to beleive that is going to be the case.

Updated Roster outlook for UVA

G- Christian Harmon (Transfer)

G- Chance Mallory

G- Sam Lewis

G- Martin Carrere

G- Elijah Gertrude

G- Desmond Roberts

G- Owen Odom

C- Johann Gruloh

F- Jurian Dixon (Transfer)

F- Thijs de Ridder

F- Carter Lang

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