The Virginia Cavaliers have been fairly successful with the transfer portal in the offseason so far. With new head coach Ryan Odom at the helm, the Cavaliers have been active in the transfer portal the past few months. On Saturday, Virginia landed arguably their biggest commitment yet out of the transfer portal in former USF Dons star guard Malik Thomas, as per Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.

Malik Thomas’s commitment to Virginia out of the transfer portal comes as the star guard was awarded an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. Thomas has played two seasons at USC from 2021-2023, and then two seasons at USF from 2023-2025. He did not have an extra year of eligibility due to arriving after the NCAA granted athletes an additional year due to COVID-19.

Following Thomas’ waiver being granted by the NCAA, Virginia had become the favorite to land him, as per college basketball insider Jeff Goodman. Thomas joins the Cavaliers after a breakout senior year at USF where he led the West Coast Conference in scoring and was named the All-WCC First Team.

Last season, Thomas appeared in 34 games for the Dons, all starts at a little over 31 minutes per game. He averaged 19.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals with splits of 44.4 percent shooting from the field, 39.4 percent shooting from the three-point line and 85.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

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Thomas was considered one of the best available guards in the transfer portal and should compete for a starting spot at Virginia from the get-go.

He joins an incoming group of seven players added through the transfer portal this offseason. That group includes former Kansas State center Ugonna Onyenso, former UC Irvine forward Devin Tills, former Yale guard Dallin Hall, former VCU forward Martin Carrere, former Toledo guard Sam Lewis and former North Dakota State guard Jacari White.

Virginia had lost several players to the transfer portal this offseason, including last season’s leading scorer Isaac McKneely.

Odom will be taking over a Virginia team that finished 15-17 last season and 8-12 in ACC play. Ron Sanchez was the Cavaliers head coach last season, filling in on an interim basis after the abrupt retirement of Tony Bennett.