Florida State junior guard Jalen Warley has broken the transfer portal logjam for Virginia, committing to the UVA Basketball program on Saturday.
Warley is a big (6’7”, 205) combo guard who can initiate the offense (2.8 assists per game in 2023-2024), but isn’t much of a threat from the perimeter, and that’s being charitable (23.8 percent on jumpers, only attempted two three-point shots in 2023-2024).
Defensively, Synergy Sports rated Warley below average in 2023-2024. Opponents averaged 0.958 points per possession and shot 43.0 percent against him last season.
We could hope those numbers would improve once he gets into the structured Pack Line that Tony Bennett uses at Virginia.
On the offensive end, Warley gets the bulk of his shots at the rim (68-of-145, 46.9 percent) and off runners (14-of-30, 46.7 percent).
His 23.8 percent mark on jumpers was his five makes divided by his 21 attempts.
The one thing that stands out for me with Warley is the eye test. I’m the oddball who goes to every game at the ACC Tournament when I’m in town, because why not, and I remember liking what I saw out of Warley in his two games in D.C.
In FSU’s 86-76 win over Virginia Tech in the second round, Warley scored 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, and had four assists, three rebounds and two steals in 34 minutes.
And then in the quarterfinal loss to UNC, Warley had 10 points (4-of-10 FG), three assists, two steals and two blocks in 33 minutes.
Last year’s Florida State team wasn’t very good, and again, that’s being charitable.
Warley is an athletic kid, he’s long, as Bennett likes to say, and twitchy, and I think that will translate on the defensive end, once he gets reps under a coach who emphasizes work on defense.
Offensively, he’s Reece Beekman without a jumpshot, but with four extra inches.
Jalen Warley isn’t a difference-maker, but he’ll be a good hand in the 2024-2025 Virginia rotation.
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Chris Graham
