Virginia Tech gets another painful portal twist fans will truly hate

When Mackenzie Nelson hit the Transfer Portal last month, it was a tough loss for the Virginia Tech women's basketball team and coach Megan Duffy. She was one of the top guards in the country when it came to the numbers.

Losing her after a breakout season was less than ideal for Virginia Tech, which made the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Megan Duffy in her second season after being the first team left out last March. Not only did Nelson leave, but so has forward Carys Baker. Players in the portal are beginning to commit slowly, and on Tuesday, Nelson committed and will remain in the ACC.

Virginia Tech transfer Mackenzie Nelson commits to Clemson

Nelson reportedly took a weekend visit to Tennessee, but in the end, she ended up committing to former Hokies assistant coach Shawn Poppie at Clemson. Poppie was hired in the same coaching cycle that Duffy was in Blacksburg and was a former assistant to Kenny Brooks when he was at Virginia Tech. This is a major recruiting pickup for Poppie.

Nelson led the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.7 this past season. On top of that, in 32 games this season, she averaged 30 minutes with eight points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 1.4 steals. She shot 39% from the field and 29% from behind the arc. She had a season-high 18 points at Florida State in January with 12 assists in a Hokies 79-54 victory. She had 10 points and 11 assists in March in an 83-82 win at Virginia, before scoring 14 points, grabbing nine rebounds, and dishing out six assists in a second-round ACC Tournament win over Georgia Tech. Nelson had five points, three rebounds, and six assists in Tech's NCAA Tournament loss to Oregon.

Virginia Tech beat Clemson at home in January, which means they'll travel there next season to match up against Nelson.

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