Hokies guards Jaydon Young and Rodney Brown Jr. are entering the transfer portal, they each announced on Instagram on Monday.
They're the first two portal entries of the offseason for Virginia Tech after a 13-19 (8-12 ACC) campaign. They'll each have two years of eligibility remaining.
Young (6-4, 205) averaged 8.1 points per game this year. He played in all 32 games, starting 10 of them. He shot 34.7 percent (91-of-262) from the field and 29.6 percent (45-of-152) from behind the arc, though he appeared to hit his stride at the end of the season. In the final six games, he averaged 16.3 points per game while shooting 40 percent, and he dropped 27 and 26 points in a three-game stretch.
Interestingly, Young started the first four and last four games of the season but came off the bench for 22 of the 24 games in between. He began the campaign on a high with back-to-back double-figure games but was replaced by Jaden Schutt in the starting lineup. After combining for 24 points in the Fort Myers Tip-Off around Thanksgiving, he went quiet again until a 14-point, 6-of-11 outing at Cal in January.
It wasn't until his career-high 27-point performance at Miami on Feb. 22 that he really turned it back on, yet he finished the year on somewhat of a hot streak. He had 10-plus points in each of the final six contests, including a 10-of-20, 26-point game in an overtime win over Syracuse. However, he was 4-of-26 from 3-point range in his final three outings, including an 0-of-11 mark in the ACC Tournament loss to Cal.
The Goldsboro, N.C., native is a product of Greensboro Day School. He was a reserve as a freshman in 2023-24 who flashed in Tech's blowout loss to Auburn on Nov. 29, nailing three treys off the bench. He didn't quite find a consistent role until his sophomore season.
Brown Jr. (6-6, 185) averaged 4.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 18 appearances in 2024-25. The sophomore shot 42.4 percent from behind the arc (14-of-33) and was a capable secondary ball-handler for the Hokies when needed â particularly when freshman point guard Ben Hammond was injured against Stanford, Cal and NC State in January.
Brown played just 11 minutes in the first 10 games of the season but burst on the scene on Dec. 12 vs. North Carolina A&T by posting 13 points (5-of-7 FG, 3-of-5 3FG), six rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. The following outing against Navy, he was 3-of-4 from deep and had 11 points to go with four boards and two steals.
His production fluctuated in ACC play, though. He was solid on the West Coast in Hammond's stead, combining for eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds across two games. However, after a 10-point, five-rebound game at Georgia Tech on Jan. 22, he scored just 10 points the rest of the year. He picked up an injury and dealt with a sickness, and his only appearance in the final 10 games of the year was a three-minute stint off the bench in the blowout loss to North Carolina, where he made two quick shots for five points.
The Perris, Calif., native transferred to Tech from Cal, where he averaged 3.5 points per game and had three double-digit outings. Assuming he lands at a new school, it'll be his third team in as many years.
After Tech's defeat to Cal in Charlotte last Tuesday, head coach Mike Young said, "A lot was missing [this year]. ... We've got to get more talented, and we're going to, quick. ... I'm not living through that again." Monday's attrition of Young and Brown Jr. just feels like the start.
Here's a quick glance at the Hokies' scholarship situation heading into 2025-26:
