Commitments in the college basketball transfer portal are picking up, but so far, it's been quiet on that front for the Virginia Tech men. On Thursday, freshmen Ben Hammond and Tyler Johnson both announced that they were returning for the 2025-26 season.
On the flip side, the Hokies have had five players enter the portal, and veteran coach Mike Young has some holes left on his roster that need to be filled. They have been linked to a number of players in the portal, as have a lot of other schools, and one player they have been linked to is a talented guard who is highly sought after.
Virginia Tech in the mix for Wofford guard Justin Bailey
Guards are one of many needs for the Hokies for next season and beyond. One guard who is being recruited by several schools, and some big ones along with Virginia Tech, is Wofford junior Justin Bailey. The 6-foot-3 Taylors, South Carolina native averaged 9.7 points a game, 3.5 rebound and 1.7 assists. He shot 49% from the field and 46% from behind the arc, which is a huge jump from his first two years.
This year the Terriers made the NCAA Tournament and fell to Tennessee, 77-62, in the first round with Bailey scoring 10 points three rebounds and an assist. Right now, Hammond is the lone point guard after Brandon Rechesteiner entered the transfer portal, despite sounding like he was going to return to Tech, and that makes a guard that can play either the 1 or the 2 a priority for the Hokies.
Bailey had a Zoom call with Georgia while St. John's, UNLV, South Carolina, UTSA, College of Charleston, Liberty, Virginia and Clemson. That's a deep list of schools and some programs coming off a run to the NCAA Tournament. Bailey makes sense for the Hokies and is someone who they likely recruit hard once the dead period is over.