Virginia Basketball Makes Contact With Transfer Portal Targets

See which players the UVA coaching staff has contacted in the transfer portal so far

With the 2022-2023 Virginia men's basketball season in the books, the UVA coaching staff has turned its attention to the transfer portal, which has already filled up with hundreds of college basketball players looking for a new home. 

With Virginia's current roster situation, the Cavaliers will likely be putting a heavy emphasis on finding a forward or center capable of making an impact right away. The collegiate careers of Ben Vander Plas and Jayden Gardner have come to an end as they have exhausted their eligibility and it appears that Francisco Caffaro is also done, even though he technically has one more season of eligibility remaining. That leaves Kadin Shedrick as the only returning front court player with playing experience. Isaac Traudt should be ready to play after redshirting his first year, but UVA doesn't have much depth beyond that, as the only big on the roster in 2023-2024 will be incoming first year Blake Buchanan, and freshmen big men do not usually find significant playing time in their first seasons at Virginia. 

Initial reports of UVA's transfer portal activity this week confirms that objective of looking to add a front court transfer. 

Virginia is one of several teams who have made contact with Jonathan Beagle, a 6'10" freshman forward from Albany. Beagle is in the transfer portal after a freshman season that saw him average 12.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game and garner the America East Conference Rookie of the Year Award. The Cavaliers saw Beagle up close back on December 28th when the Great Danes visited Charlottesville to close non-conference play. UVA won that game handily 66-46, but Jonathan Beagle had a well-rounded game with nine points on 4/6 shooting, five rebounds, and four assists. A native of Hudson Falls, New York, Beagle is in the portal with three years of eligibility remaining.

UVA has also reportedly been in contact with Jordan Minor, a 6'8" senior forward from Merrimack who was named the Northeast Conference Co-Player of the Year after averaging 17.4 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Minor helped Merrimack win the NEC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship, but since the Warriors are ineligible for the NCAA Tournament while they complete their four-year reclassification process from Division II to Division I, their opponent, Fairleigh Dickinson, got the automatic March Madness bid from the NEC. Of course, FDU then went on to become the second No. 16 seed to ever beat a No. 1 seed as the Knights stunned Purdue in the first round. After earning three All-NEC selections and the Player of the Year Award in his senior season, Minor is in the transfer portal as a graduate transfer with one year of eligibility remaining. 

Elijah Hutchins-Everett, a 6'11", 255-pound sophomore center from Austin Peay, has reportedly heard from Virginia in addition to several other programs. As a freshman in 2021-2022, Hutchings-Everett averaged 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds on 51.0% shooting on his way to being selected the Ohio Valley Conference Rookie of the Year. Austin Peay switched conferences to the ASUN this season and Hutchins-Everett saw his numbers dip slightly as a sophomore to 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, but he raised his three-point percentage from 30.8% to 32.3% on a higher volume of attempts, suggesting that he could develop into a three-point shooting center as his career progresses. Hutchins-Everett has two more years of eligibility remaining. 

Even before the season ended for the Cavaliers, there were reports that Virginia had already been in contact with some of the players who had entered the transfer portal. One of those players was Texas Tech freshman Robert Jennings. A 6'7" forward from Desoto, Texas, Jennings appeared in 30 games with four starts as a true freshman, but played just 8.7 minutes per game and averaged 2.7 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. The UVA coaching staff was involved with Jennings during his high school recruiting process and watched him play live multiple times during the summer of 2021 before Jennings ultimately committed to Texas Tech. Jennings has left open the option of returning to Texas Tech, but for now, he is in the transfer portal with three years of eligibility remaining. 

Virginia has made contact with one guard in the transfer portal so far, as the Cavaliers joined the wave of major conference programs to reach out to Wofford freshman Jackson Paveletzke, a 6'3" sharpshooting point guard who averaged 15.1 points and 3.7 assists per game, shot 39.3% from beyond the arc, and was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year this season. UVA's depth at the point guard position is relatively solid with Reece Beekman likely returning for his senior year and Georgetown transfer Dante Harris joining the program back in January, but Paveletzke being in the transfer portal is an opportunity that cannot be ignored and Virginia could certainly use the shooting boost. Paveletzke has three years of eligibility remaining. 

Stay tuned to CavaliersNow for extensive coverage of Virginia's transfer portal and recruiting activity this offseason.

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