Transfer portal claims four Wahoos, but biggest decision still looms

It was announced overnight, perhaps in an attempt to draw the least attention possible. “Virginia F Igor Milicic Jr has entered the transfer portal,” read the tweet from Verbal Commits, which tracks transfers. 

Little fanfare greeted the news. There was maybe some mild surprise, a couple interested exclamations, but that was the extent of it. The muted reaction was conspicuous. Oh, another one gone? Damn. Sucks.

And just like that, a fourth vacancy appeared in Virginia’s roster. Milicic joined Carson McCorkle, Malachi Poindexter and Jayden Nixon as Wahoos sucked into the swirling depths of the transfer portal.

This type of mass exodus has become standard practice across college basketball. The offseason is a whirlwind, a hurricane of action that upends some rosters and furnishes others. Without ceremony, without warning, players are thrusting their names in growing numbers into the portal. 

The number of players in the portal as of this writing: 1,130, according to verbalcommits.com. That number will have grown by the time this article gets from my computer to your screen.

Virginia is, obviously, no stranger to this portal-induced hoopla. But the ax cuts both ways. The vast ocean of talent that is the transfer portal beckons, and Tony Bennett will be setting up a chair beside it and casting his fishing rod into the depths. Odds are he’ll get a couple bites.

The four departees are leaving for a simple reason: Each knew his role would be limited at Virginia next season. The path to playing time is now clear(er) for the four four-stars that comprise Virginia’s incoming recruiting class, which is ranked ninth nationally.

As for the concern that this is the latest progression in a trend that’s eroding the foundation of Virginia basketball—that, somehow, transfers are destroying the sanctity of Bennett’s storied pillars—well, no program in college hoops is immune to transfers. 

Transfers are the future, like it or not. The landscape of college hoops is a fluid one, and Bennett has made the prudent decision to adapt to it. That four players walked out the door whose future impacts would be negligible only gives Bennett more room this offseason. 

Meanwhile, Virginia’s immediate future hangs in limbo. The person who can free the program from its holding pattern? Kihei Clark, whose impending decision whether to return for a fifth, “super-senior” year hangs over Virginia like a dark cloud parking itself before the moon late at night. You see, that moon is lighting the way, and without it Virginia is lost, adrift in the darkness. Not until the cloud is dispelled will the path forward reveal itself.

Mixed feelings abound about Kihei’s decision. Unanimity can be found only in appreciation for Kihei’s role in the 2019 national title run. Past that, sentiment about this most momentous of decisions ranges anywhere from “get him the hell outta here” to “I like him but the time has come” to “we need him next season.” 

The indication, according to random speculation floating around Twitter, is that Kihei is leaning toward a return. That’s unverified. 

The decision remains up in the air, floating around in the wind like a wayward kite. When the gusts die, Kihei will drift back to the ground. Whether he lands back in Charlottesville or somewhere outside of it will make all the difference.

Image – Virginia Athletics