Virginia guards Carson McCorkle and Jayden Nixon are joining Malachi Poindexter in the transfer portal.
McCorkle, a 6’3” sophomore, was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2020, but never could earn regular rotation minutes in his two seasons in Charlottesville, averaging 4.1 minutes per game in 24 appearances, including 16 in 2021-2022.
Nixon and Poindexter were both walk-ons who had played as preps at nearby St. Anne’s-Belfield.
Nixon, a 6’3” senior, saw action in 24 games over four seasons, getting a total of 68 minutes of playing time, including 18 minutes over five games in Virginia’s 2019 national title season.
Poindexter, a 6’2” sophomore, actually did play some rotation minutes this past season. Poindexter only averaged 1.0 points per game in his 19 appearances, but he logged time in the 69-68 win at Duke on Feb. 7, in which he played 14 minutes at guard after Reece Beekman was sent to the bench with foul trouble, and 11 minutes in a 63-53 home win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 12.
Nixon would be eligible next season as a graduate student. Poindexter and McCorkle would each have three years of eligibility remaining, taking into account the extra year of eligibility granted to student-athletes from the 2019-2020 COVID year.
McCorkle’s departure frees up a scholarship for coach Tony Bennett to use on a player from the transfer portal or a possible late-addition prep recruit.
Along the latter lines, Virginia is in the running to land four-star Georgia prep recruit London Johnson, a 6’4” point guard who is expected to announce his college destination on Friday.
Story by Chris Graham
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