Virginia Tech's Mackenzie Nelson Entering Transfer Portal

According to On3 Sports' Talia Goodman, Virginia Tech guard Mackenzie Nelson plans to enter the transfer portal. The redshirt sophomore will have two years of eligibility at her next stop.

NEWS: Virginia Tech’s Mackenzie Nelson plans to enter the transfer portal, she told @On3.

The 5-8 sophomore averaged 8 ppg, 5.7 apg and 1.4 spg this season.

TRACKER: https://t.co/wYv1Ze6EPC pic.twitter.com/yvifYOhQxv
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 4, 2026

Nelson, a 5-foot-8 redshirt sophomore from Greenwich, Connecticut, redshirted her first year with the Hokies in the final year under then-head coach Kenny Brooks. The next season, under new head whistle Megan Duffy, Nelson averaged 6.0 points, 3.3 assists and two rebounds per game. Against Elon, she totaled 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Fifteen days later, she started for the first time.

Against Radford, she logged a then-career high nine assists and rounded out the regular season with 11 and 14 points. In the first round of that year's Women's Basketball Invitation Tournament (WBIT), she logged 11 points in a then-career-high 32 minutes.

The following season, Nelson took on a larger role with the graduations of Matilda Ekh and Rose Micheaux.After starting one game the year prior, Nelson started every game in the 2025-26 season.

She averaged eight points per game on a 38.7% clip from the field, shooting 29.2% from the three-point line and 73.7% from the line. She also averaged 5.7 assists and 1.4 steals per contest, pairing that with an ACC-leading assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.7 (No. 7 in D-1). Nelson's strongest performance came against Florida State on Dec. 18, when she logged a career-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. She was 8-of-9 inside the arc, and tacked on a career-high 12 assists for her first career double-double.

In the first round of the ACC Tournament, Nelson scored 14 points on a 6-of-10 clip, aiding the Hokies in a 62-54 victory over Georgia Tech. In the following round, Nelson scored nine points before rounding out her tenure at Virginia Tech with a five-point performance against Oregon. That game, Nelson shot 1-for-8, part of a collective 31.8% Virginia Tech shooting percentage — the third-lowest mark of the season for the Hokies.

Nelson produced three outings with double-figure assists, including against Virginia in the regular season finale, where she logged her second double-double with 10 points and 11 assists.

Nelson is the third Virginia Tech player that intends to enter the transfer portal when it officially opens on April 6. She joins forward Kayl Petersen and guard Sophie Swanson.

With the exit of Nelson, Virginia Tech is down to 11 scholarship athletes, four below the maximum of 15. Here's how it sorts out by eligibility:

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