Live tracker: the men’s basketball offseason

Editor’s Note: This article was first published March 19 and will be updated throughout the men’s basketball offseason.

Virginia men’s basketball has, in the span of six months, seen a legend retire and his successor get fired. Now that saga has entered a new phase, full of coaching changes and transfer portal turnover and recruiting battles. The offseason is here.

And it is a mammoth one. Almost two decades have passed since uncertainty hovered around the program like this. But after a 15-17 season that included an 8-12 ACC mark, Virginia is searching for a new head coach, and that will only amplify the transfer portal’s usual vagaries.

This tracker will follow the offseason’s biggest updates.

April 12: TJ Power

The 6-foot-9 forward is transferring to Penn, he announced on Instagram April 12. He becomes the eighth Virginia transfer to find a new school.

Power will join his third team in three years after struggling at Duke and Virginia. The rising junior will spend 2025-26 with the Quakers, who went 8-19 this season with a 4-10 mark in Ivy League play.

Power, a Massachusetts native, will return to New England for his first season outside of the ACC. — Emory Huffman

April 12: Elijah Saunders

The rising senior forward is transferring to Maryland, he announced on Instagram April 12. He becomes the seventh of Virginia’s 11 portal entries to commit to a new school.

After spending his first three seasons at San Diego State and Virginia, Saunders will remain on the East Coast and join the Terrapins, who were eliminated in the Sweet Sixteen this season after posting a 27-9 record and going 14-6 in Big Ten play.

The departure of Coach Kevin Willard prompted an exodus, as nearly the entire roster of Maryland players entered the transfer portal, perhaps presenting an opportunity for Saunders. — Emory Huffman

April 11: Devin Tillis

The 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward from UC Irvine has committed to Virginia, he announced Friday on Instagram. He became the second forward of the Cavaliers’ five committed transfers.

Tillis, who played one season at UNLV before three at UC Irvine, averaged 13.7 points and 7.8 rebounds this season. He also shot 39.5 percent on three-pointers and dished out 2.4 assists per game. In the NIT final against Chattanooga, he dropped 19 points and yanked down eight rebounds.

In the picture of Virginia’s roster, as it slowly coalesces, there have been deficiencies in two areas — non-guards and veterans. Tillis helps plug both holes. — Michael Liebermann

April 11: Duke Miles

The Oklahoma transfer, who committed to Virginia April 7, has decommitted, The Athletic’s Tobias Bass reported Friday. The decision dropped the size of Virginia’s transfer recruiting class from five players to four.

Virginia’s roster, even at this infant stage of its construction, is wadded with guards. Rising sophomore guard Elijah Gertrude is returning, St Anne’s Belfield High School’s Chance Mallory is matriculating, and then there are the transfers — Sam Lewis from Toledo, Jacari White from North Dakota State and, on April 9, Dallin Hall from BYU.

Hall is no longer among that group. — Michael Liebermann

April 9: Dallin Hall

The 6-foot-4 rising senior guard from BYU has committed to Virginia, he announced April 9 on Instagram. He became the fifth member of Virginia’s rapidly swelling transfer class.

Hall averaged 6.8 points and 4.2 assists in 24.6 minutes per game last season, playing for a Cougars squad that reached the Sweet 16 as a No. 6 seed. His production and playing time at BYU remained relatively steady across his three years, and he shot 35.3 percent from deep and 40.2 percent from the field this year.

Like three of the four other denizens of this transfer class, Hall is a guard. Unlike the other three, his strengths lie more in facilitating and athleticism than in three-point shooting. — Michael Liebermann

April 9: Martin Carrere

The 6-foot-8 wing, who redshirted at VCU this season and has four years of eligibility remaining, has committed to Virginia, he announced on Instagram April 9. He became Virginia’s fourth transfer addition.

A native of Pontonx-sur-l’Adour, France, Carrere won an Adidas Next Generation Paris Tournament Title with the Next Generation Paris U18 team in 2024. He also played for the French National Team at the U18 FIBA EuroBasket tournament last summer, where he shot 41.9 percent from beyond the three-point line. Carrere is described as an excellent shooter and passer but has yet to play a Division I game.

Carrere is the first Ram to follow Coach Ryan Odom to Charlottesville and the first frontcourt transfer for the Cavaliers. — Emory Huffman

April 8: Returning staff

Mike Curtis, Virginia’s strength coach for the last 16 years, and Ethan Saliba, its head trainer for the last 42 years, will stay on as part of Coach Ryan Odom’s staff, the program announced Tuesday.

Curtis, the head strength and conditioning coach, joined the staff early in the Tony Bennett era. He played at Virginia from 1994-98 and for the Memphis Grizzlies from 2002-08.

Saliba, the associate athletic director for sports medicine, has spent nearly his entire career in the athletics department. He joined as an assistant athletic trainer in 1983 and is an institution at the end of the men’s basketball team’s bench. Both are program mainstays. — Michael Liebermann

April 8: Staff additions

Four support staffers are following Coach Ryan Odom to Virginia from VCU, the program announced Tuesday. They joined three already-announced assistant coaches making the same move, completing a nearly complete transplant of Odom’s VCU staff.

The four additional support staffers are Director of Operations Kelsey Knoche, Director of Analytics Matt Hart, Video Coordinator Billy Bales and Director of Recruiting Ahmad Thomas. All four served under Odom in both his years at VCU.

Knoche, whose addition to the staff had been previously reported, is entering her fifth season with Odom. Bales played for Odom at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne and has been part of his staff since his final season at UMBC. Hart started coaching under Odom at Utah State, and Thomas, a former star player at UNC Asheville, joined Odom at VCU. — Michael Liebermann

April 7: Duke Miles

The graduate student guard from Oklahoma has committed to Virginia, The Athletic’s Tobias Bass reported April 7. He became Virginia’s third commit out of the transfer portal and third guard.

Bass played three seasons at Troy before transferring to High Point for a season and then to Oklahoma. With the Sooners, he averaged 9.4 points and 2.0 assists, shooting 43 percent from three-point range. He will play his sixth season of college basketball next year.

He will do so trying to find his place in an increasingly crowded backcourt. In the last couple weeks, Virginia has added Toledo’s Sam Lewis, North Dakota State’s Jacari White and Saint Anne’s Belfield High School’s Chance Mallory. — Michael Liebermann

April 7: Kyle Guy

Kyle Guy will not serve on Coach Ryan Odom’s staff. Guy, who served as an athlete development mentor and special assistant under Ron Sanchez, posted a farewell note on Instagram April 7.

“Although I would have loved to stay in Charlottesville forever, it’s time to move on to a new coaching opportunity. I want to thank the Virginia community/fans for your constant support; it’s truly been an honor to give back to the place that helped shape me both as a player and as a person,” Guy wrote on Instagram.

In constructing his staff, Odom recently hired Griff Aldrich, Matt Henry, Bryce Crawford and Darius Theus as top assistants, all of whom have spent time with Odom together at other programs. It is yet to be seen if other incumbent personnel will remain involved with the program. — Xander Tilock

April 6: Jacari White

The 6-foot-3 guard from North Dakota State has committed to Virginia, he announced on his Instagram April 6. White became Coach Ryan Odom’s second transfer addition in two days, joining Sam Lewis from Toledo.

White, from Orlando, Fla., averaged 17.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game in his senior season at North Dakota State. He attempted more three-pointers than any Bison player and made them at a 39.8 percent clip, and he collected Summit League All-Conference Second Team honors.

Virginia’s guard corps now contains White, Lewis, rising junior Elijah Gertrude and high school commit Chance Mallory. — Emory Huffman

April 5: Sam Lewis

The rising junior guard from Toledo has committed to Virginia, Jeff Goodman reported April 5. He became Coach Ryan Odom’s first addition out of the transfer portal.

Lewis averaged 16.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season, leading the Rockets in scoring. He shot 44.4 percent from three point-range and 74 percent from the field. Lewis is 6-foot-6 and weighs 200 pounds.

Of the five players presently expected to be on Virginia’s roster next season, Lewis joins rising freshman Chance Mallory as the only guards. — Michael Liebermann

April 5: Jacob Cofie

The rising sophomore forward has committed to USC, On3 reported April 5. He became the sixth of Virginia’s 11 players in the portal to find a new school.

Cofie, a Seattle native, will return closer to home to play for Coach Eric Musselman, who is coming off his first season with the Trojans. They went 17-18 this season and 7-13 in their first season in the Big Ten.

Terrence Williams II and Saint Thomas, the Trojans’ leading forwards in minutes this season, were both seniors. That potentially clears the way for Cofie. — Michael Liebermann

April 4: Anthony Robinson

The 6-foot-10, 238-pound rising sophomore big man has committed to Xavier, On3 reported Friday. He became the fifth of 11 Virginia players in the portal to decamp to a new school.

The Musketeers, now approaching their fourth season under Coach Sean Miller, reached the NCAA Tournament as a No. 11 seed this year and beat Texas in the First Four before falling to No. 6 seed Illinois in the Round of 64. They went 22-12 and finished fifth in the Big East.

Zach Freemantle, a 6-foot-9, 227-pound big man, led Xavier in points and rebounds this season. But he is graduating, potentially clearing the way for Robinson. — Michael Liebermann

April 3: Odom contract details

Coach Ryan Odom’s contract lasts for six years, through 2030-31, and pays him $3.25 million per year, according to an offer sheet signed last week. The Cavalier Daily obtained the offer sheet Thursday through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Odom’s compensation will increase annually by $100,000. He has a list of bonuses, including $50,000 for winning the ACC Tournament and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, $75,000 for reaching the Sweet 16, $100,000 for getting to the Elite Eight, $250,000 for the Final Four and another $250,000 for a national title.

If he’s terminated without cause within his first five years, Odom will make 100 percent of his remaining pay. That reduces to 60 percent in his sixth year. If he leaves, he’ll pay a buyout of $15 million in the first two years, $10 million in the third or fourth years, $7.5 million in the fifth year and $5 million in the sixth year.

The contract also contains provisions for a car, moving expenses up to $25,000 and a family membership at a local country club. — Michael Liebermann

April 3: Andrew Rohde

The rising senior guard is headed to Wisconsin, On3 reported April 3. He is the fourth Cavalier to officially commit to a new program this offseason.

He now joins Coach Greg Gard’s Badgers, a team that went 27-10 en route to a runner-up finish in the Big Ten Tournament and eventual second round exit in the NCAA Tournament. The move is a homecoming for Rohde, who is from Milwaukee, Wis.

Rohde, who led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio, was a key contributor for Virginia this season. He shot 41 percent from three-point range and averaged 9.3 points per game. — Xander Tilock

April 3: Isaac McKneely

Virginia’s leading scorer is officially gone, he announced April 3 through a post on X. McKneely, who averaged 14.4 points per game in 2024-25, is leaving Charlottesville and heading to Louisville. He is the third Cavalier to find a new program after entering the portal.

He joins a Cardinals squad that reached the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round to Creighton March 15. Early exit aside, Louisville posted a strong 27-8 record this year —- and as a result, Coach Pat Kelsey was honored as the 2024-25 ACC Coach of the Year.

McKneely was a highly touted talent in this year’s portal namely for his shooting prowess. He led the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at a blistering 42.1 percent. The Cardinals are slated to face Virginia twice next season, including a contest at John Paul Jones Arena. — Xander Tilock

April 3: Desmond Roberts

The rising sophomore guard is entering the portal, Verbal Commits reported April 3.

Roberts played in high school at the nearby St. Anne’s-Belfield School, the same program where Chance Mallory, an incoming four-star recruit, hails from. Out of high school, Roberts was recruited by James Madison, a few Ivy League schools and other mid-major programs.

Roberts, a walk-on, played in five games in the 2024-25 season. Previously, he redshirted during the 2023-24 campaign. — Xander Tilock

April 2: Elijah Saunders

The rising senior forward is entering the transfer portal, The Athletic’s Tobias Bass reported April 2. He became the 10th player from last season’s roster to enter the portal.

Saunders, Virginia’s second-leading scorer and rebounder this season, transferred in from San Diego State last offseason and almost instantly stepped in as one of the team’s focal points. He scored in double-figures in 12 of the first 19 games. But then he suffered an injury in late January, and he never recouped his previous form.

On the season, he averaged 10.4 points and five rebounds. Rising junior guard Elijah Gertrude is now the only returning scholarship player left on the roster. — Michael Liebermann

April 2: Silas Barksdale

The 6-foot-8 center, the No. 91 recruit in the Class of 2025, flipped his commitment to Virginia, he announced on social media April 2. He followed Coach Ryan Odom, having previously committed to VCU.

Barksdale is a four-star big man, the No. 11 center in his class. His strength comes in his rebounding and his soft hands, and he can also occasionally step outside and hit threes.

Barksdale becomes the second member of Odom’s incoming high school recruiting class. — Michael Liebermann

April 1: Dai Dai Ames

The rising junior guard has committed to California, On3 reported April 1. He became the second of nine Virginia players in the portal to commit elsewhere. See below for more on Ames.

The Golden Bears, coming off their first season in the ACC, are entering their third season under Coach Mark Madsen. They went 14-19 this season and 6-14 in the conference.

Ames played just four minutes against his future school in the teams’ meeting this season, scoring zero points and registering in the box score only with two personal fouls. In his 30 other games, he never played fewer than seven minutes. — Michael Liebermann

March 31: Assistant Coaches Matt Henry, Bryce Crawford and Darius Theus and Director of Basketball Operations Kelsey Knoche

The three former VCU assistants and the Rams’ director of basketball operations will join Coach Ryan Odom at Virginia, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein reported March 31. All four will occupy the same roles with the Cavaliers as they did at VCU.

Henry and Crawford were on Odom’s staff for the entirety of his tenure at Utah State before following Odom to VCU — Henry worked closely with the Aggies’ wings, whereas Crawford spent more time with the guards. Both coaches also worked under Odom at UMBC, and Crawford coached with Odom before that in their one season at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne.

Theus, a former standout on the court for the Rams, has spent much of his coaching career at VCU. He started as the Rams’ director of player development before becoming an assistant coach, spending short periods in between at Texas and Siena.

Knoche also worked under Odom at Utah State before following him to VCU, serving as director of basketball operations at both programs. She began her career as a student assistant and then moved to assistant coordinator at Maryland, where she worked for 10 years. Like Henry and Crawford, she is making her third Division I stop with Odom. — Emory Huffman

March 30: Blake Buchanan

The rising junior forward has committed to Iowa State, he announced Sunday via Instagram. He became the first of Virginia’s nine players in the portal to commit to another school. See below for more on Buchanan.

The Cyclones, who have made the NCAA Tournament in each of their first four seasons under T.J. Otzelberger, are coming off a 25-10 season in which they finished fifth in the Big 12. Their season ended in the second round of the tournament, against No. 6 seed Ole Miss.

Joshua Jefferson and Milan Momcilovic, 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-8 forwards, functioned as Iowa State’s main big men this season. 6-foot-11 Dishon Jackson, who played 18.7 minutes per game, entered the portal last week, clearing the way for Buchanan. — Michael Liebermann

March 27: Christian Bliss

The 6-foot-4 guard will enter the transfer portal, On3 reported March 27. Bliss, now a rising sophomore, redshirted his first year and never played this season, dealing with a foot injury.

Bliss’s status was something of a mystery throughout the season. Interim Coach Ron Sanchez said in January that his sitting out was a ‘player decision’ and that the coaches would not force him to play if he did not feel he could.

A highly-anticipated arrival in Charlottesville two years ago, Bliss leaves the Cavaliers without having played a single minute, or even dressed for a game. He becomes the ninth Virginia player to hit the portal. Only two returning scholarship players, Elijah Gertrude and Elijah Saunders, have kept their names out of the portal. — Emory Huffman and Michael Liebermann

March 27: Ishan Sharma

The rising sophomore is entering the portal, 247 Sports reported March 27. The Canadian sharpshooter is the eighth Cavalier to hit the transfer portal.

Sharma, a 6-foot-5 guard, averaged 3.4 points per game in 2024-25, and made 33.3 percent of his three-point attempts.

For now, rising senior forward Elijah Saunders — and rising sophomore guard Elijah Gertrude, who redshirted due to injury — are the only returning scholarship players from the 2024-25 roster. — Xander Tilock

March 25: Jacob Cofie

The rising sophomore is entering the portal, On3 reported March 25. This means that at the moment, Virginia currently has zero big men who saw game action in 2024-25.

In his freshman campaign, Cofie averaged 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He scored 16 points against Villanova in his collegiate debut against Campbell Nov. 6, the most by a new Cavalier since Jayden Gardner’s debut in 2021.

As reported by On3, Cofie will consider a possible return to Virginia. But, for now, he is the seventh Cavalier in the transfer portal out of the 10 total players who logged more than 10 minutes of game action for Virginia this year. — Xander Tilock

March 24: Anthony Robinson

The rising sophomore is entering the transfer portal, 247Sports reported March 24. Robinson leaves rising sophomore Jacob Cofie as the only non-portalling Virginia big man that recorded minutes in 2024-25.

Robinson, a 6-foot-10 forward, averaged 3.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He played his way into consistent minutes in the latter half of the season, providing a powerful interior presence as the Cavaliers struggled to score in the paint.

Robinson is the youngest Virginia player to depart thus far. He becomes the sixth Cavalier to hit the portal and the fourth on the same day. — Emory Huffman

March 24: TJ Power

The former five-star recruit is entering the transfer portal, On3 reported March 24. Power is the fifth Virginia player to do so.

The 6-foot-9 forward transferred from Duke prior to this past season but only made five starts in Charlottesville. Power played in a limited role early in the year before his struggles eventually relegated him to sporadic minutes off the bench. He averaged 1.3 points per game.

Power, a rising junior, will potentially join his third team in three seasons. — Emory Huffman

March 24: Andrew Rohde

The ACC’s leader in assist-to-turnover ratio is entering the transfer portal, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported March 24. He became Virginia’s fourth player to do so, as his announcement closely followed that of backcourt mate Isaac McKneely.

Rohde, a 6-foot-6 rising junior guard, averaged 9.3 points and 4.3 assists this season, shouldering the team’s primary ball-handling duties with aplomb. He led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio during conference play, including a three-game stretch in which he had 25 assists and zero turnovers.

He struggled earlier in the season but quickly morphed into a ball-handling wizard and apt scorer. Three guards averaged 25 or more minutes for Virginia this season, and all three are now in the portal. — Michael Liebermann

March 24: Isaac McKneely

Virginia’s leading scorer in 2024-25 will enter the transfer portal, On3 reported March 24. McKneely becomes the third Cavalier to enter the portal this offseason.

The 6-foot-4 rising senior guard averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 42.1 percent from beyond the three-point line as a junior. McKneely was Virginia’s most reliable shooter and has served as an integral piece of the offense for multiple seasons.

The On3 report specified that McKneely “will maintain the possibility of returning to Charlottesville.” But if he does go, with the accompanying portal entry of rising junior guard Dai Dai Ames, Virginia could lose the vast majority of its guard production. — Emory Huffman

March 23: Associate Head Coach Griff Aldrich

Coach Ryan Odom has made the first addition to his coaching staff. Longwood’s Griff Aldrich will step down from his head coaching position at Longwood to become Virginia’s associate head coach, CBS Sports’s Matt Norlander reported March 23.

Aldrich, a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, is connected to Odom in several regards. Aldrich and Odom played together at Division III Hampden-Sydney College. After a hiatus from college coaching, Aldrich joined Odom’s UMBC staff in 2016 as director of basketball operations.

As the head coach at Longwood, Aldrich guided the Lancers to their first two Division I NCAA Tournament appearances in program history, winning the Big South Tournament in 2021-22 and 2023-24. He also earned Big South Coach of the Year honors in 2021-22. This season, his team posted an 18-14 record and a 7-9 record in conference play, finishing sixth in the Big South. — Emory Huffman

March 22: Chance Mallory

The four-star point guard is coming home. Class of 2025 recruit Chance Mallory announced his commitment to Virginia at his high school Saturday.

Mallory, from Charlottesville, initially committed to Virginia Sept. 20 but reopened his commitment Oct. 29 following Tony Bennett’s retirement. He considered Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Maryland and Virginia Tech as other finalists before ultimately deciding to recommit to Virginia.

Mallory is a 5-foot-9 point guard from St. Anne’s-Belfield School and ranked No. 54 in his class. He is considered one of the top scorers in the 2025 high school class. Mallory is the first offseason addition for Odom and his Cavaliers. — Xander Tilock

March 22: Coach Ryan Odom

Virginia hired Ryan Odom as its next men’s basketball coach, Athletic Director Carla Williams announced in a press release Saturday morning. The bulletin came roughly 16 hours after CBS Sports reported Friday evening that Odom had signed a deal.

Odom and No. 11 seed VCU exited the NCAA Tournament in the first round Thursday with an 80-71 loss to No. 6 seed BYU.

Odom’s introductory press conference will be held Monday on the court at John Paul Jones Arena at 3 p.m. and is open to the public. The conference will also be live streamed at VirginiaSports.com. — Michael Liebermann and Xander Tilock

March 19: Dai Dai Ames

The rising junior guard is entering the transfer portal, On3 reported March 19. He became the program’s second player in two days to make his plans clear.

Ames’s production dipped and rose early in the season. On the year, he averaged 8.7 points and delivered 1.9 assists per game in 25.7 minutes. But something clicked in his final 10 games of the regular season, in which he never failed to reach double-figures scoring.

As a shot creator, Ames often flashed his creativity, and his three-point shot snapped into place during that torrid stretch. He transferred to Virginia last offseason after his freshman season at Kansas State. — Michael Liebermann

March 18: Blake Buchanan

The rising junior forward is entering the transfer portal, The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman reported. He became the first member of the roster to do so.

This season, Buchanan, who is listed at 6-foot-11, averaged 5.4 points and 5.3 rebounds in 22 minutes per game. He manufactured a mid-season surge, including 16 points and nine rebounds at Miami and a double-double two games later at Pittsburgh. But despite newfound offensive aggression, he never achieved consistency.

Virginia’s other big man, Anthony Robinson, remains out of the portal for now. — Michael Liebermann