The 2025-26 season began with so much promise for the Virginia Tech men's basketball team. There was a lot of hype surrounding the program after Tobi Lawal withdrew from the NBA Draft process and the Hokies landed five-star freshman Neoklis Avdalas. Tech started 11-2 in non-conference play before a triple overtime win over Virginia to begin ACC play on New Year's Eve.
Then things went downhill as fast as they could have. Literally. Injuries to Lawal and Tyler Johnson forced them to miss a good chunk of the conference schedule. Avdalas struggled after teams got more film on him and defended him differently. Painful loss at the buzzer after painful loss at the buzzer all led to an 8-10 ACC record. Still somehow on the NCAA Tournament bubble, the Hokies were eliminated in overtime in the first round of the ACC Tournament by Wake Forest.
When the team got back to Blacksburg, they announced last Friday that they were not accepting a bid to the NIT, and the season was over at 19-13. This ended a season filled with so much promise and hope way too early. There are going to be changes coming for Virginia Tech this offseason. Just how deep the changes go remains to be seen, but here are three players unlikely to come back in 2026-27.
Izaiah Pasha
Sophomore guard Izaiah Pasha transferred to Virginia Tech last spring from Delaware. In 2024-25 with Delaware, Pasha averaged 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists a game in just under 30 minutes. When he's rolling, he can fill up the basket. We never saw that in Blacksburg. He played in 18 games and averaged eight minutes in those games. He averaged just two points, but he struggled from the field and the free-throw line. He was stuck on the depth chart behind a group of guards, but it feels like he's going to move on and find a role somewhere else next season with more playing time.
Neoklis Avdalas
After a promising start, things went sideways quickly for Avdalas once ACC play began. Like Lawal, he withdrew from the NBA Draft process and was projected to be a very late first-round pick. However, his stock has dropped off so much that he might not be drafted if he goes that route this spring. If he doesn't, it feels like the Transfer Portal is a likely route he'll go.
There are several ways you can spin his time in Blacksburg this season, from maybe the fit wasn't right to him sitting the seven-plus minutes of regulation against Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament last week and sitting the whole overtime, the writing is on the wall. If he hits the portal, there would be no shortage of schools after him.
Jailen Bedford
Yes, I know, Jailen Bedford is a graduate student after transferring from UNLV. He should be out of eligibility, but in this day and age of college sports, never say never. Bedford played his first two years in college at Trinidad State College, a JUCO school. Young said earlier this year that they could explore Bedford's chances of getting an extra year of eligibility, but it seems like a long shot at best.
Bedford was good for Virginia Tech this year, playing in 31 games, averaging 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists a game. He averaged 26 minutes a night. He made some big shots this season for the Hokies and took over the Clemson game on the road. As much as Young would like to have him back, it seems like a very long shot.
There are likely going to be some bigger names on the move once the portal opens, but we'll see how everything plays out beginning next month.