https://twitter.com/J15Cone/status/1375158577741099011
Virginia Tech shooting guard Jalen Cone has entered the transfer portal, per his announcement on Twitter, shown above.
"I don't even know where to begin ... Virginia Tech has become my second home," Cone wrote, before going on to praise Blacksburg, the basketball coaching staff, his teammates, and the basketball program as a whole. He then concluded with, "After prayer, giving it long thought and conversations with my loved ones I've decided to reopen my recruitment and enter the transfer portal."
The entire statement, in case the tweet above is not visible or is later deleted, can be seen here.
Cone played in 47 games in his Virginia Tech career, starting seven. Here are his career Virginia Tech statistics:
Cone's three-point shooting percentage of 0.457 in 2019-2020 would have finished fourth in the nation, if he had attempted enough shots to qualify.
Cone started out hot from behind the arc in 2020-2021, making 30-of-70 (42.9%) three pointers before hitting on just seven of his last 36. Cone missed the last six weeks of the season after injuring his foot against Miami on February 6th.
Jalen Cone is from Walkertown High School (Walkertown, NC) and was signed as part of Mike Young's first Virginia Tech recruiting class, the 2019 class that also included Hunter Cattoor, Naheim Alleyne, and John Ojiako. Cone was the highest-ranked player and the only 4-star recruit in that class, coming in at No. 102 in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Since this year is a free year of eligibility due to COVID-19, Cone will have three years of eligibility at his new destination. If he transfers to an ACC school, he will be able to play right away, due to the ACC recently eliminating the requirement to sit out a year in the case of in-conference transfers.