Jailen Bedford
6-4, 180, G
UNLV
1 year remaining (Sr.)
Virginia Tech and Mike Young received a commitment from UNLV guard Jailen Bedford early Wednesday morning, per 247Sports. He has one year of eligibility remaining because of the JUCO waiver passed in December.
[Editor's note: The Hokies announced Bedford signed with the program on Wednesday afternoon, which the player confirmed.]
"We're thrilled to have Jailen join the Hokies," Young said in Tech's release. "His journey to this point has shaped him into a resilient and dynamic player. Jailen really came on strong towards the end of the season for UNLV. We believe his skillset and leadership will be invaluable to us this upcoming season."
The 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard is coming off one season with the Runnin' Rebels (18-15, 11-9 Mountain West) that saw him average 10.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game — both marks that ranked third on the team. He shot 39 percent from the floor (119-of-305) and 34.9 percent from 3-point range (52-of-149).
Though they weren't gaudy numbers, Bedford found his consistency at the end of the year. He scored in double figures in 10 of the final 11 contests, highlighted by a 17-point outing vs. Colorado State. Over that stretch, he averaged 11.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 36.8 percent from the field, 29.5 percent from long range and 73.3 percent from the foul line.
His best performance of the season came on Dec. 7 at Creighton when he dropped 20 points (8-of-15) and accounted for three rebounds, three steals and two assists. At the end of the month, he posted 18 points vs. Fresno State.
The Austin, Texas, native had a high steal rate last season (2.1%, 25th in Mountain West) and a low turnover rate (13.5, 22nd). According to Ken Pomeroy, he also led the league in percent of shots taken (31.1%) and was fifth in percentage of possessions (26.2%). He had the ninth-best defensive rebounding percentage, too, at 19.2 percent — an attribute that should complement the strengths of Amani Hansberry, Tyler Johnson, Tobi Lawal and Izaiah Pasha.
In all, Bedford had 20 double-digit scoring outings in 33 appearances. He started UNLV's first six games before coming off the bench the rest of the year, though he started the two conference tournament games vs. Air Force and Utah State. Yet, he saw some big minutes in that role — in his 25 games as a reserve, he played 28-plus minutes on seven occasions.
Before his time in Las Vegas, he spent the 2023-24 season at Oral Roberts, where he averaged 14.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.He started every game for the Golden Eagles and had five 20-point outings. Two of those came against Big 12 foes in Kansas State (23 points, 5-of-7 3FG) and Texas Tech (26 points, 6-of-8). For the year, he shot a 42.4 percent clip (159-of-375) and made 37.5 percent of his 3-pointers (66-of-175).
Bedford began his career at Trinidad State at the JUCO level. In two years there (2021-23), he averaged 16.6 points per game, was a two-time all-tournament pick and won a regional title.
A graduate of Hutto High School just outside of Austin, he averaged 19 points, five rebounds and two assists per game. He led his team to back-to-back regional championships and was the most valuable player.
He's the first Virginia Tech player from the Lone Star State since Zach LeDay (2014-16).
Bedford is the third transfer portal addition of the offseason for the Hokies, joining Amani Hansberry (West Virginia) and Izaiah Pasha (Delaware). They also picked up German center Antonio Dorn on Saturday.
With Bedford in the fold, Tech has 10 scholarship players for the 2025-26 season. Here's a breakdown:
For more information, check out Tech Sideline's roster management page.
Jailen Bedford links:
ESPN UNLV bio