Virginia Tech men's basketball guard Neoklis Avdalas is entering the transfer portal when it opens on April 7, he and his representation informed the media on Friday morning. Joe Tipton of On3 first reported the news.
Avdalas is the second Hokies player to put his name in the portal this offseason, joining guard Izaiah Pasha, after a 19-13 (8-10 ACC) campaign where they missed the NCAA Tournament and declined an NIT invitation. The 20-year-old will have three years of eligibility remaining.
The Kalamata, Greece, native spent one season in Blacksburg and averaged 12.1 points, 4.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game, but it was an overall disappointment.
Avdalas and Tech were connected through Alex Saratsis, his agent, who previously represented Rudy Gay, a longtime friend of Hokies associate head coach Chester Frazier. After going through the NBA Combine, Avdalas opted to go the college route and chose to head to Blacksburg in June.
He hit the ground running, dropping 33 points at the Mohegan Sun against Providence in a game that caught the attention of the college basketball world. He was 13-for-23 from the field, 5-for-8 from 3-point range and racked up six assists, five rebounds, a block and a steal.
However, it was mostly downhill from there. He wasn't known for his scoring ability when he arrived, but the 33-point output raised expectations that he never really met again. In the remaining 29 games, Avdalas only eclipsed 20 points twice: a 30-point outing vs. Western Carolina and a 21-point performance vs. Stanford.
Worse, he picked up a nagging injury in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving, which led to struggles in January and beyond.
Here's a breakdown of Avdalas' per-game averages over the first two months of the season compared to the last three:
• Nov. 3 through Jan. 31 (13 games): 14.8 pts, 3.8 reb, 4.9 ast, 2.2 TOs; 41.7% FG (65-for-156), 35.6% 3FG (26-for-73)
• Jan. 3 through March 10 (18 games): 10.2 pts, 2.5 reb, 4.2 ast, 2.3 TOs; 36.0% FG (64-for-178), 27.7% 3FG (23-for-83)
He never quite shook off the injury and was hot and cold from that point forward. After 10 double-digit games in his first 13, he had just nine in the next 18 as the competition ramped up.
Avdalas improved a bit with Tech's open date before facing NC State on Feb. 7, as he had a chance to get healthy. Later in the month, he had a three-game stretch against Wake Forest, North Carolina and Boston College where he looked more like himself, averaging 17 points and seven assists while shooting 41.8 percent from the field (18-for-43) and 52.4 percent from three (11-for-21).
Yet, the lows were painfully obvious. Despite eight assists and five rebounds at Miami, he was 1-for-3 with just two points, and head coach Mike Young sat him for the final 4:54 — with the game knotted up at 59 — until Tobi Lawal fouled out with 12 seconds remaining.
It was a similar situation in the ACC Tournament against Wake Forest. Trailing the Demon Deacons by four with 7:37 remaining, Young subbed Avdalas out at the under-eight media timeout and did not reinsert him in the lineup — even in overtime. Avdalas finished with five points, no assists and three turnovers on 2-for-8 shooting.
"I just thought those kids were playing better than Neo, and that's how it went," Young said after that game, citing performances from Jaden Schutt and Jailen Bedford.
For different stretches of the season, the Hokies were better with him off the floor — unexpected given how they shaped their style of play around him. They started the year by playing at the fastest pace ever by a team under Young, but by March, Ben Hammond had been given the reins, and the tempo slowed down.
Given how the season ended, Avdalas' decision to enter the transfer portal did not come as a surprise. It's also not a guarantee he stays in college, especially if he's invited to more NBA Combine events this summer and wants to pursue professional aspirations.
His departure leaves the Hokies with nine current scholarship players for the 2026-27 season.
For more information on the comings and goings of Virginia Tech men's and women's basketball this offseason, click here for Tech Sideline's roster management page.