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Wednesday’s ACC Portal And Player Movement News

As Virginia Tech lands an intriguing big man and Virginia nabs one of their own

By JD King
/ new
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MAR 10 Big Ten Tournament - Penn State v Northwestern
CHICAGO, IL - MARCH 10: Penn State Nittany Lions guard Seth Lundy (1) is box out by Northwestern Wildcats forward Robbie Beran (31) and Northwestern Wildcats guard Chase Audige (1) during the second half of the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Northwestern Wildcats on March 10, 2023, at the United Center in Chicago, IL.
Photo by Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Virginia Tech picked up a much-need big man when Northwestern forward Robbie Beran picked the Hokies. It’s the third front court player Chris Collins has lost to the ACC in three seasons.

Beran got minutes too: he played 25 mpg and averaged 7.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg. At Northwestern, he’s in a more conservative, defensively oriented system than Mike Young runs at Virginia Tech, so there’s a good chance he’ll prove to be a better scorer than he has been for the Wildcats.

Virginia got Jacob Groves out of Oklahoma who should help shore up the inside. You may remember him; he and his brother, Tanner, left Eastern Washington for Oklahoma when Porter Moser took over.

It’s really too early to say a lot about any ACC teams portal success yet, though UNC and NC State seem to be doing well.

We can get some tentative ideas though, and most interestingly, about coaches who are either brand new or trying to establish their programs.

Take Damon Stoudamire at Georgia Tech.

Stoudamire has added four guys via the portal so far:

  • Kowacie Reeves, 6-6/190 (Florida). Averaged 8.5 ppg and 2.6 rpg.
  • Tyzhaun Claude, 6-8/235 (W Carolina). Averaged 15.4 ppg and 8.6 rpg.
  • Ebenezer Dowuona, 6-11/225 (NC State). Averaged 1.7 ppg and 1.9 rpg.
  • Tafara Gapare 6-9/205 (UMass). Averaged 3.4 PPG and 2.1 RPG

The Yellow Jackets have lost a number of players to the portal - Rodney Howard (TBD), Jordan Meka, Cyril Martynov (TBD), Freds Pauls Bagatskis (UT-Arlington), Deivon Smith (TBD), Tristan Maxwell and walk-on Jermontae Hill. And Miles Kelly is going to try his luck in the NBA Draft, but could still come back.

Of these guys, Claude may be the most promising, but he made his mark at Western Carolina and not typically against stellar competition. Reeves is pretty athletic and he’ll give Stoudamire a building block.

Dowuoana and Gapare...that’s harder to judge. Dowuona had a few moments at State but he didn't really make a deep impression. We don’t know much at all about Gapare so jury’s out for now.

There’s still a lot of work to do, but the portal means a steady supply of players. All Stoudamier needs to do next year is to be competitive and to show they’re on the right track. Anything else will be gravy, cause for optimism and momentum.

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