Northwestern guard Melannie Daley committed to Virginia Tech on Friday. (Nick Brown)

Melannie Daley 
5-11, G 
Northwestern 
1 year of eligibility (Sr.) 

Northwestern guard Melannie Daley announced her commitment to Virginia Tech and Megan Duffy on her Instagram Thursday morning.

Daley ventures to Blacksburg after spending the last four years in Evanston, Ill. She's coming off a campaign where she averaged 11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the Wildcats (9-18, 2-16 Big Ten). She ranked second on the team in points and assists.

The 5-foot-11 guard primarily came off the bench for Northwestern this season, starting just two of the 27 contests (which were the final two games of the year). That didn't stop her from producing, though. She made a team-high 135 field goals (on 289 attempts; 46.7%) and was an efficient 44-of-55 (80%) from the foul line while averaging 26.7 minutes per game.

Daley was inconsistent to begin 2024-25. She only scored in double figures once — a 23-point, 10-of-16 outing vs. Utah in the third game of the year — in the first nine games. Yet, she finally found her stride in December, eclipsing 10-plus points in six straight performances. She was in a groove from that point on, which included dropping 20 points on Penn State and 22 on Maryland.



Some of her numbers took a slight dip after she averaged 13.3 points and 27.3 minutes per game in 2023-24 while shooting 49.4 percent (173-of-350). She started 19 of the 30 games over that campaign, though 15 of those were in the first 17 contests. Her production was up and down before she capped off the season by scoring 24, 20 and 21 against Indiana, Rutgers and Purdue, respectively.

The Hastings, N.Y., product missed most of her sophomore season with the Wildcats in 2022-23 due to injury, appearing in just nine contests. That came after a true freshman year in 2021-22 where she played in 28 games with nine starts and averaged 6.5 points per game.

In all, Daley played 2,103 minutes over 94 games for Northwestern across four seasons. She accounted for 937 points, 408 field goals, 216 rebounds, 165 assists and 105 steals. She's primarily a mid-range player who gets to the rack and is just 6-of-22 from behind the arc in her career.

At Hastings High School, she averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game as a junior to go with 85 steals. She was an all-league, all-conference and all-section pick for multiple seasons. On the AAU circuit, she played with Empire State Hoops.

The Hokies were one of the programs that originally pursued her out of high school. She received heavy interest this time around, though Tech was able to get her on campus and seal her commitment. Per 247Sports, Cal, Florida State, Iowa State, NC State, Penn State and Vanderbilt were among those in pursuit.

Daley is the third transfer portal addition of the offseason for Virginia Tech, joining Kilah Freelon (Texas Tech) and Sophie Swanson (Purdue). With her in the fold, the Hokies have 12 scholarship players for the 2025-26 season. Here's a breakdown:

Melannie Daley links:

ESPN  Northwestern bio