Cavaliers Now

Former Virginia Wing Leon Bond III Transfers to Northern Iowa

Matt Newton

Leon Bond III walks off the floor during the Virginia men's basketball game against NC Central at John Paul Jones Arena.
Leon Bond III walks off the floor during the Virginia men's basketball game against NC Central at John Paul Jones Arena. / Virginia Athletics

Former Virginia wing Leon Bond III has found his new home, announcing on social media on Sunday afternoon that he is transferring to Northern Iowa.

Bond's two seasons at Virginia saw him play just 296 total minutes across 24 games, averaging 12.3 minutes in mostly garbage time this season after redshirting his first year at UVA. Now, Bond's time as a Cavalier has officially come to an end as he heads to Northern Iowa, where he'll have a much better opportunity for extended playing time over his next three years of eligibility. The move also takes Bond to Cedar Falls, which is just a four-hour drive from his hometown of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.

Of Virginia's highly-touted recruiting class of 2022, only Isaac McKneely remains on the roster heading into the 2024-2025 season. Isaac Traudt transferred to Creighton after redshirting the 2022-2023 season and Ryan Dunn declared for the 2024 NBA Draft last month.

Interestingly, Leon Bond III is not the first Cavalier to transfer to Northern Iowa in the Tony Bennett era, as Paul Jesperson played for the Panthers for two seasons after beginning his career at Virginia and wound up hitting one of the more memorable shots in recent March Madness history, a half-court buzzer beater to give Northern Iowa an upset win over Texas in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.

Leon Bond III was one of two scholarship players and four total Cavaliers to enter the transfer portal this offseason. Dante Harris is in the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining and has yet to announce his new school. Walk-ons Tristan How and Desmond Roberts also entered the transfer portal, with How choosing to play his final year of eligibility at New York University. Roberts, who redshirted the 2023-2024 season, is in the portal with four year of eligibility remaining.

Virginia's departures this offseason left the Cavaliers with four open scholarship spots for the 2024-2025 season. They filled one of those spots on Saturday, as Florida State transfer guard Jalen Warley committed to UVA.

More Virginia Men's Basketball News and Content

Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker
Virginia Basketball Lands First Transfer Commitment From FSU Guard Jalen Warley
Still Empty-Handed, Where Does Virginia Go Next in the Transfer Portal?
Virginia's Updated Scholarship Picture With Dante Harris Transferring Out
Virginia to Host Four-Star Point Guard Trent Perry for Official Visit
Virginia Guard Reece Beekman Declares for 2024 NBA Draft
Could Trent Perry be the Solution to Virginia's Point Guard Problem?

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Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Managing Editor and Publisher, CavaliersNow Email: mattnewton@virginia.eduTwitter: @mattynewtssWebsite | LinkedInĀ | Instagram Matt Newton is the managing editor and publisher at CavaliersNow. He has been covering UVA athletics since 2019 andĀ has been the managing editor at CavaliersNow since launching the site in August 2021. Matt covers all things UVA sports, including Virginia basketball and football news and recruiting, former Wahoos in the pros, and coverage of all 23 of the NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Matt grew up a huge Philadelphia sports fan, but has also been a UVA sports fanatic his entire life thanks to his parents, who are alums of the University of Virginia. Matt followed in his parents' footsteps and attended UVA from 2017-2021, graduating with a degree in Media Studies and a minor in Economics in May of 2021.Ā