Virginia Forward TJ Power Enters Transfer Portal Again

Matt Newton | Mar 24, 2025

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Virginia forward TJ Power entered the transfer portal on Monday (March 24), as first reported by On3's Joe Tipton. Power is back in the portal for the second offseason in a row after transferring to UVA from Duke last year. The 6'9" forward and former five-star recruit enters the portal with two years of eligibility remaining.

Despite playing extremely limited minutes at Duke as a freshman, an outcome most people attributed to the Blue Devils' loaded roster, expectations were very high for Power when he transferred within the ACC to Virginia, which was his second-choice school coming out of high school. It's possible that Power was destined to re-enter the transfer portal from the beginning, since the primary reason he came to UVA in the first place was to play for Tony Bennett, who of course retired a couple of weeks before the season began. But that outcome became even more likely based on the way this season went for Power.

Billed as a 6'9" stretch four with the shooting ability to stretch the floor, Power never found a rhythm in UVA's offense and he proved to be a liability on defense. Various players on Virginia's team said at the beginning of the season that Power was a lights-out shooter in practice, even rivaling Isaac McKneely for the title of best shooter on the team. But it never translated to game time. He made just six three-pointers in the entire season on 33 attempts for a dismal 18.2%. By the beginning of ACC play, Power's minutes had dried up anyway. Whether that's more due to Power's inability to capitalize on the opportunities he was given or due to Virginia's staff not utilizing him effectively, the result was that Power barely saw the court in ACC play and wound up playing just 226 total minutes this season, only marginally more playing time than he saw as a freshman at Duke.

Power spent most of the last three months on the bench, so it isn't a surprise that he is now back in the transfer portal looking for a fresh start. Maybe a different staff will be able to extract some of that five-star potential seen by recruiting experts and by the coaching staffs at Duke, Virginia, and many more major conference programs, but the likeliest outcome is that Power will head to a mid-major program to rebuild his confidence.

TJ Power is the fifth Virginia player to enter the transfer portal this offseason, joining junior guard Isaac McKneely, junior guard Andrew Rohde, sophomore guard Dai Dai Ames, and sophomore center Blake Buchanan. Those other four players all started at least 22 games this season.

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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