A Glance At Virginia Tech's 2026-27 Portal Chances Off Historical Precedence

Right now, Virginia Tech men's basketball is presumably in the midst of searching for new players to bolster its 2026-27 hopes. Last year, the Hokies produced a mildly disappointing 19-13 season, watching their NCAA Tournament fall by the wayside via seven single-digit losses in league play and an overtime exit in the first round of the ACC Tournament to Wake Forest.

If that last bit sounds faimiliar, that's because it is. Virginia Tech's 2024-25 season ended the same way, albeit in double overtime and to California. Still, the Hokies enter their 2025-26 season, looking to snap a relatively long and arduous streak: their NCAA Tournament drought.

Virginia Tech has not qualified for the NCAA Tournament since the 2021-22 season, and moreover, it has not done so since the 2020-21 campaign in an at-large capacity.

Right now, Virginia Tech stands at 10 scholarship players; Shamarius "Snook" Peterkin was on the team last season, but did so in a preferred walk-on position. The question of Jailen Bedford's eligibility status has not been met with a definitie answer, though it appears unlikely that Bedford would be granted another year.

With that, here's a current look at how the Hokies' roster shapes up, recently updated with the departure of Izaiah Pasha, who enterred the transfer portal Tuesday:

Jaden Schutt (r-Sr.)
Amani Hansberry (Sr.)
Ben Hammond (Jr.)
Tyler Johnson (Jr.)
Sin'Cere Jones (So.)
Neoklis Avdalas (So.)
Christian Gurdak (So.)
Antonio Dorn (So.)
Brett Freeman (r-Fr.)
Solomon Davis (r-Fr.)

Avdalas may or may not be with the team in 2026-27 via his aspirations to go to the NBA. Whether he sticks around for a second season of collegiate basketball — at Virgrinia Tech or another school — has not been answered yet.

What is concrete is that Virginia Tech loses at least two players: Pasha, who played sparingly, and forward Tobi Lawal. The 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward from VCU started in 17 games last season, averaging 12.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Lawal also notched six double-doubles, No. 7 in the ACC. With his loss, the retainment of Gurdak comes at a premium, alongside obtaining more help in the frontcourt in case Dorn elects to depart.

With Bedford and Avdalas potentially exiting as well, Virginia Tech could find itself thin in both support at the guard spots and finding a suitable four.

For context, it's important to note the level of players the Hokies would presumably be engaging with. Here's a look at the transfers Virginia Tech brought in last season and their rankings on 247Sports as transfers:

Amani Hansberry: four-star transfer (0.9300), No. 104
Izaiah Pasha: four-star transfer (0.9300), No. 114
Jailen Bedford: three-star transfer (0.8900), No. 361

When Jaden Schutt entered Virginia Tech as a transfer in 2024, he was ranked as the No. 228 overall player in the class. One player stands out as a potential option, though he's a step out of Virginia Tech's league rankings-wise: Wofford shooting guard Nils Machowski.

This past season, the 6-foot-3, 183-pound shooting guard from Germany transferred to Wofford (from UCF) and was stellar, tallying 20.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Though it's been quite some time since Young has been in Wofford, his former assistant Kevin Giltner is now the head whistle there and could provide Virginia Tech with a small boost. Machowski is currently ranked by 247Sports as the No. 55 overall player in the portal's Class of 2026 (No. 12 shooting guard), which could place him too far out of reach for Virginia Tech's aspirations.