Virginia Tech men's basketball transfer portal exodus starts with two wings entering

We are seven days away from the transfer portal officially opening for basketball and it was only a matter of time before there would be news about Virginia Tech players entering the portal. On Monday, it was reported that wings Rodney Brown and Jaydon Young will enter the portal.

Brown, who transferred from California, played in 18 games averaging 4.1 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists a game. He picked the Hokies last spring over Colorado State, San Diego, Richmond, Nevada, UNLV, and Arizona State.

Things didn’t go as planned this season for Brown the way he and the coaching staff thought it would. He had a couple of setbacks with an illness and a toe injury that limited his availability in the second half of the season. 

Brown, who has two years of eligibility remaining, was an athletic wing off the bench who shot 38% from the field, but his ball handling, defense, and decision-making needed to improve more than they did during the season. He did show flashes of his athletic ability on both ends of the floor, but inconsistency held him back. He scored a season-high 13 points in November against North Carolina A&T and then he had 11 in the next game against Navy. He had 10 points against Georgia Tech in January and six points in his return to Cal, also in January.

Young averaged 8.1 points a game this season off the bench for the Hokies and he came alive late in the season. He dropped a career-high 27 points at Miami and then had 26 a week later in an overtime win over Syracuse. He had 10 points against California in the ACC Tournament, despite going 0-for-11 from behind the arc. The North Carolina native shot 35% this season while averaging over 22 minutes a game. 

It’s not surprising to see Young enter the portal after this season, but it's not to see Brown enter and there will likely be more over time.