On Friday, Italy's Bertram Derthona announced it signed Virginia Tech forward Grant Basile to a three-year contract to play professional basketball in Serie A.
Basile, who recently gained Italian citizenship, is forgoing his final year of college eligibility to play in Europe. The Pewaukee, Wis. native only spent one season in Blacksburg, but he averaged 16 points and five rebounds per game.
https://twitter.com/GBasile00/status/1646955527690174465?s=20
An All-ACC Honorable Mention performer in 2022-23, Basile scored 354 points in conference play, which ranked third. He started 33 of Tech's 34 games and had 29 double-digit scoring outputs. He shot 51% from the floor and 39% from behind the arc, too.
A transfer from Wright State, Basile was a two-time All-Horizon League honoree who tallied 1,228 points and 616 rebounds across four seasons. He earned his bachelor's degree in accounting in December 2021 with the Raiders and made the All-ACC Academic Team in 2023 with the Hokies.
With Basile's departure, Virginia Tech has two open scholarships for the 2023-24 season. That is pending the decision of Hunter Cattoor, who has the option to use his COVID year of eligibility. Here's a full scholarship breakdown:
Mike Young & Co. added Old Dominion's Mekhi Long and North Carolina's Tyler Nickel out of the transfer portal in March. After associate head coach Mike Jones departed for Maryland in early April, Tech announced the hiring of J.D. Byers on Tuesday as its newest assistant coach.