When Kenny Brooks bolted Virginia Tech two years ago to take the job at Kentucky, there were a lot of questions surrounding what was going to happen to the Hokies' roster. It all depended on who the coach was going to be. Where are they going to try to retain players, or was there going to be a lot of roster turnover?
Virginia Tech hired Megan Duffy from Marquette to replace Brooks. She was able to get some key retention with some younger players, including guard Carleigh Wenzel. For two years, Wenzel has turned into a key player under Duffy and her staff for the Hokies. She had an outstanding junior season, and with the Transfer Portal opening next week, given the current state of college sports, nothing would surprise anybody anymore if a player decided to up and leave through the portal.
That isn't going to be the case with Wenzel.
Virginia Tech guard Carleigh Wenzel announces she is returning for the 2026-27 season
The Transfer Portal doesn't officially open until next week, unless you are a graduate student, but on Thursday, Wenzel announced on her X account that she is returning for next season at Virginia Tech. This is huge news for Duffy in terms of building a roster for next season.
This season, Wenzel averaged 15.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists a game. Part of the reason she scored more was because of the emergence of MacKenzie Nelson running the point, which allowed Wenzel to play off the ball. Wenzel scored her season-high on March 1 at Virginia when she had 29 points in the Hokies 83-82 victory.
Virginia Tech is going to go through some changes in 2026-27 as Kayl Petersen is leaving through the portal, while Mel Daley and Kilah Freelon are graduating. On Wednesday, Duffy picked up a commitment through the Transfer Portal from Tennessee's Alyssa Latham.