Virginia Basketball Gets Commitment From VCU Transfer Wing Martin Carrere

Martin Carrere/IG

Virginia landed its fourth transfer commitment of the offseason, as VCU freshman forward Martin Carrere announced his commitment to UVA in a social media post on Wednesday morning (April 9th). Carrere, a native of Pontonx-sur-l'Adour, France, redshirted this past season at VCU and so he comes to Virginia with four years of eligibility remaining.

Listed as a guard/forward on the official VCU roster, Carrere stands at 6'8", 180 pounds. Before coming to VCU, Carrere gained extensive experience playing at high levels of amateur and professional basketball in France. Carrere played for the French National Team at the U18 EuroBasket Tournament in the summer of 2024, averaging 6.7 points per game (in a little over 16 minutes per game) and shooting 41.9% from beyond the arc. His best game in that tournament came against Denmark in the group stage, as he scored 11 points and also recorded five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block and was +10 in his 17 minutes on the floor.

Watch some of Carrere's highlights from the 2024 FIBA EuroBasket U18 tournament in the video below:

In 2023-2024, Carrere played in the Betclic Elite U21 league, considered the top-tier professional basketball league in France, averaging 8.6 points per game and shooting 38.8% from three-point range to help his team, Limoges CSP Elite U21, finish with a 21-13 record. When that season ended, Carrere helped lead the Next Generation Paris U18 Team to the championship at the Adidas Next Generation Paris Tournament, averaging 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in a little under 20 minutes per game and shooting 57.1% from beyond the arc.

When Ryan Odom was announced as the next head coach of the Virginia men's basketball program, there was quite a bit of speculation that at least a few of his players from VCU would follow him to Charlottesville. VCU freshmen Brandon Jennings and Luke Bamgboye entered the transfer portal and were seen on Grounds at UVA a week after Odom was hired. At that point, it seemed likely those two Rams would be the first transfers Odom acquired at Virginia.

Instead, neither have committed to Virginia and Jennings announced on Tuesday (April 8) that he will be withdrawing from the portal and returning to VCU next season. Bamgboye has yet to announce his decision, and so Martin Carrere is the first, and so far only, VCU player to transfer to Virginia this offseason. With that said, Odom was also able to flip the commitment of four-star center and Hampton, Virginia native Silas Barksdale from VCU to UVA, giving the Cavaliers two four-star Virginia natives - Barksdale and Charlottesville's own Chance Mallory - in their incoming freshmen class for next season.

Martin Carrere is the fourth transfer to commit to Virginia this offseason, joining Toledo guard Sam Lewis, North Dakota State guard Jacari White, and Oklahoma guard Duke Miles. With those four transfers and the two incoming freshmen set to join UVA's lone returning scholarship player from last season, Elijah Gertrude, the Cavaliers now have seven scholarship players on their roster for next season. Expect Ryan Odom and his staff to continue to be aggressive in the portal over the next few weeks, particularly targeting experienced forwards and centers to man the Virginia front court next 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