Virginia Tech suffers transfer portal blow when guard shuns Hokies for Virginia

The Hokies suffer a huge portal loss to Virginia.
North Dakota State v Butler
North Dakota State v Butler | Justin Casterline/GettyImages

On Saturday night, the Virginia Tech men's basketball team picked up its first transfer portal pickup when West Virginia's Amani Hansberry committed to the Hokies. That is a huge get for Mike Young and he was hoping for anohter one that was highly-sought after.

Virginia Tech hosted North Dakota State transfer Jacari White last week and was one of the finalists for him. The Hokies were seen as one of the favorites, but on Sunday, he committed, and he committed to a school that came in from out of nowhere.

North Dakota State transfer Jacari White commits to Virginia

Last Wednesday, Joe Tipton of On3 reported White's final five schools were Virginia Tech, Houston, West Virginia, Ole Miss and Texas. Then, all of a sudden and out of nowhere, Ryan Odom and Virginia swooped in and got a commitment from White, which is a double loss for Young and the Hokies.

Losing White to another school is one thing, but to lose him to Odom and Virginia is devastating for Virginia Tech. He is a player that the Hokies coveted this portal cycle, and this is a major loss for Young and his staff.

The Orlando, Florida native averaged 17.3 points a game for North Dakota State and grabbed 4.3 rebounds a night. The 6-foot-3 guard was a four-star, according to 247Sports, coming out of high school.

Now it's back to the drawing board for Young and the Hokies in terms of the portal and getting additions to the roster for the 2025-26 season. Everything is still a need for Virginia Tech which is why White was a priority as one of the top players in this cycle.

Schedule

Schedule