Virginia Tech's Leila Wells Returning For Junior Season

Virginia Tech women's basketball announced on its socials that guard Leila Wells will return for her junior year. Wells, a 5-foot-9 prospect from Chelsea, Michigan, has two years of eligibility remaining.

𝗝𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻: 𝙇𝙊𝘼𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂... 🏀

See you in Cassell, Hokie Nation! @LeilaRose2024 pic.twitter.com/EkfQCbJOlz
— Virginia Tech Women's Basketball (@HokiesWBB) April 9, 2026

Wells was part of the first freshman class under new head coach Megan Duffy, entering as a two-time All-State player from Chelsea High School. In her first year with the Hokies, Wells averaged 2.0 points per game on 36.7% shooting from the field.

Wells saw the court for 9.2 minutes per contest and operated as a change-of-pace guard on the second unit. She gobbled up 24 assists and seven steals while committing 11 turnovers.

Her second year saw her step up and take a more concentrated role within the team's ecosystem. Maning the floor for 522 minutes (15.8mpg), Wells started in 17 games, taking over as one of the team's lead guards midseason in the stead of graduate student Mel Daley, who moved to a reserve role.

Wells averaged 3.5 points on 33.1%/25.0%/55.6% splits, the seventh-highest scoring mark on the team. The minutes distribution panned out the same way:

Carys Baker: 32.6 mpg
Carleigh Wenzel: 30.9 mpg
Mackenzie Nelson: 30.1 mpg
Kilah Freelon: 26.4 mpg
Samyha Suffren: 20.8 mpg
Mel Daley: 19.6 mpg
Leila Wells: 15.9 mpg

Baker, Nelson, Freelon and Daley all depart (former two to transfer portal; latter two due to exhaustion of eligibility), leaving Wells as the third remaining option minutes-wise.

Her strongest game came against Presbyterian; in a 92-36 blowout, the guard logged a career-high 31 minutes, tallying 13 points on a 5-of-9 clip from the field. Wells tacked on three rebounds, five assists and five steals, for good measure.

Wells also totaled 12 points against Wake Forest in an 85-57 win one of her two double-digit scoring outputs of the season. Against Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC Tournament, Wells totaled eight points, going 3-of-7 from the field and 2-of-7 from three-point range.

Wells ended her season with a three-point outing (1-of-5 from field) against Oregon in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament.

Wells is a solid-floor guard, with her retention serving as another valuable pillar to a solid guard room. Virginia Tech's guard rotation will be anchored by Carleigh Wenzel (guard, redshirt senior in '26-'27) again, while Wells, Samyha Suffren, Kate Sears (back from ankle injury in 2025-26, did not play last year) and freshman Kaleo Anderson round out the crew.

Here's a full look at how Virginia Tech's scholarship situation pans out with Wells back in the fold:

forward Alyssa Latham (Gr.)
guard Carleigh Wenzel (r-Sr.)
guard Samyha Suffren (r-Jr.)
guard Leila Wells (Jr.)
forward Amani Jenkins (So.)
forward Aniya Trent (So.)
guard Kate Sears (r-Fr.)
guard Kaleo Anderson (Fr.)
forward Arianna Harris-Mott (Fr.)