Virginia Basketball Is Reportedly Showing Interest In USC Transfer Guard Desmond Claude

Virginia Basketball has undergone plenty of change so far this offseason, from hiring new head coach Ryan Odom to pulling in six new transfers as they look to remake the roster into one that can contend in the ACC. Could there be more help on the way? According to ESPN's Jeff Borzello, the Cavaliers are showing interest in one of the transfer portal's top players, former USC guard Desmond Claude.

USC transfer Desmond Claude is hearing from Gonzaga, Duke, Virginia, Ole Miss & Kentucky, sources told ESPN, with Duke reaching out over the weekend. In his next school, sources said, Claude is looking for a proven backcourt mate to share playmaking & a team built for a deep run.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) May 5, 2025

Over at 247Sports, Claude is ranked as a four-star transfer, with a 96.00 transfer rating, and is currently the No. 34 overall player in the basketball transfer portal. Gonzaga, Duke, Ole Miss, and Kentucky were the other schools that Borzello mentioned as being interested in the former Trojans guard, but some schools may not be as involved as others. According to On3 Sports Joe Tipton, Kentucky is not expected to be involved in the recruitment for Claude.

Kentucky isn’t expected to be involved in the recruitment of USC transfer Desmond Claude, sources tell @On3sports.

As Polacheck writes here, I don’t expect anything materialize between Claude and UK. https://t.co/YSjyCk8D91
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) May 5, 2025

The 6-6 junior averaged 15.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game this season at USC and played at Xavier before coming to Southern California. He shot a career-best 48% from the field and a career-best 31% from three. There is no doubt that this would be a talented addition to the roster for the Cavaliers and would give them a big scoring boost. Claude had a career year on offense last season whether it was from scoring or from distributing the ball and there is a chance that he can continue to improve.

If UVA were to land Claude, it would give them a big boost in the transfer portal rankings. Currently at 247Sports, Virginia has the No. 9 transfer class in the ACC, but a big commitment from a player as talented as Claude could vault them into the top five. Right now, Louisville holds the top spot and has for much of the offseason. North Carolina, Clemson, Miami, and Syracuse round out the top five of the rankings. Wake Forest, NC State, and Cal are the other teams that are ranked in front of Virginia.

The two most recent commitments for Virginia are in the frontcourt. Kansas State transfer center Ugonna Onyenso and international prospect Johann Grünloh. Our own Aidan Baller broke down the commitment of Grünloh last week:

"A native of Löningen, Germany, Grünloh is 19 years old and will turn 20 on August 14th. Despite his young age, he already has quite an impressive basketball resume at the professional club level and on the international stage. In 2023, Grünloh played for Germany in the U18 European Championships and helped his country win a bronze medal as the top shot blocker at the tournament, averaging 3.9 blocks per game.

In the 2023-2024 basketball season, while Grünloh was still finishing secondary school, he played for both the professional Rasta Vechta team and the second Rasta Vechta team that plays in the highest youth division of basketball. Grünloh was instrumental in helping Vechta have the sixth-best defense in the BBL and also helped lead the junior team to a championship. He then graduated and played full-time with the professional Rasta Vechta squad for the 2024-2025 season.

This season, Johann Grünloh has played in 33 games, starting in every game, and averaged 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game. He shot 47.6% from the floor and 35.4% from three-point range. Grünloh had 13 games in double-figures, including a 20-point performance in his most recent game just last week, and posted two double-doubles this season."

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