Report: Elijah Saunders "Seriously Considering" a Return to Virginia

Matt Newton | Apr 10, 2025

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With 10 Virginia players hitting the transfer portal this offseason and half of those transfers already finding new homes, the likelihood of having even one of those players withdraw their names from the portal and return to UVA has decreased significantly. But it's not out of the question yet. According to a report from Jon Rothstein on Wednesday, Virginia forward Elijah Saunders, who was the last of the Cavaliers to enter the transfer portal, is "seriously considering" five programs right now and that group includes a possible return to UVA along with a potential transfer to Texas Tech, Kansas State, Purdue, or Grand Canyon.

Saunders has been something of a special case relative to the rest of the Virginia roster this offseason. Of the 10 players who entered the portal, nine of them had entered their names into the portal within the first five days of the transfer window. Saunders, meanwhile, waited until more than a week after the window opened to officially declare for the portal. That would seem to indicate, although this is purely speculation, that there was a conversation had between Saunders and UVA's new head coach Ryan Odom, or some new information was learned, that resulted in Saunders deciding it was in his best interest to at least test the waters of the portal.

Wednesday's report from Jon Rothstein indicated that Saunders is keeping the door open on a return to Virginia, which also implies that Odom and the Cavaliers are keeping that door open themselves. That makes sense, considering how empty UVA's front court is on paper. As of right now, Virginia returns no forwards or centers from last year's roster and the front court players currently expected to join the roster for next year are incoming freshman forward Silas Barksdale and VCU transfer Martin Carrere, who similarly has zero games of college basketball experience after redshirting this past season.

Virginia has picked up five transfers so far and four of those additions are guards: Sam Lewis (Toledo), Jacari White (North Dakota State), Duke Miles (Oklahoma), and Dallin Hall (BYU). The back court should be fairly set, though don't rule out the Cavaliers bringing in another playmaking guard if a good opportunity presents itself. But for the most part, the focus of Ryan Odom and his staff should be on chasing experienced forwards and centers in the transfer portal. It be the case that an impactful recruiting win could be found by convincing Elijah Saunders to come back to Virginia.

After transferring from San Diego State last offseason, Saunders appeared in 29 games with 26 starts and averaged 10.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game and shot 42.0% from the floor and 34.7% from three, all career-best marks for the junior forward. Those numbers would have been much better had it not been for a foot injury he suffered two-thirds of the way into the season. Before his injury, Saunders scored in double-figures 12 times in the first 20 games of the season and was shooting above 40% from beyond the arc. After his injury, he scored in double figures only once and shot 26.3% from three in the last nine games of the year, culminating in an 0/7 shooting performance from three-point range in Virginia's loss to Georgia Tech in the second round of the ACC Tournament.

Could Saunders come back to Virginia? Sure, but the Cavaliers will have to outbid the other schools on his list that also have some strong cases. There's Texas Tech, who was a No. 3 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament and made it to the Elite Eight before falling to the eventual national champion Florida Gators. And there's Purdue, who went to the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 4 seed before falling to the eventual national runner-up Houston. Grand Canyon, meanwhile presents an opportunity for a homecoming for Saunders, a native of Phoenix, Arizona. It should also be noted that Memphis reportedly had a Zoom call with Saunders on Thursday (April 10), according to a report from Sam Kayser of League Ready.

It'll be tough competition, but Virginia should make a strong case to Elijah Saunders that he should remain in Charlottesville for his senior season.

Keep track of all of the players Virginia has contacted in the transfer portal here: Virginia Basketball: Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker

Stay up to date on all the latest Virginia basketball transfer portal activity, including outbound transfers from the current roster and UVA's effort to pursue players in the portal, here: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates

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