Virginia Tech's transfer portal rebuild of their frontcourt continued today as the Hokies landed a commitment from promising Rice transfer Mylyjael Poteat as he just announced on social media.
Poteat chose the Hokies over numerous schools including Pittsburgh and UMass with Poteat visiting those 2 plus VT prior to making his decision. Poteat is a valuable addition to the Hokie frontcourt who can immediately come in and provide 10-15 quality minutes as a backup behind Grant Basile and whoever else Tech lands in an ideal scenario whether that's the return of Justyn Mutts or someone else. His addition also leaves the Hokies with 2 scholarships open including 1 for Mutts should he choose to return to VT.
His visit to Blacksburg and what he got to hear and see proved to be decisive as he told us when we asked him.
"The deciding factor was the opportunity to make an impact on a program with a winning culture established.
He also expanded on why he chose the Hokies beyond his deciding factor.
"Ultimately, I felt that it was the right place to help me realize all of the aspirations I’ve developed for myself," Poteat said.
Poteat showed lots of promise at Rice averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in only 13.8 minutes per game this past season while shooting 62% from the field. Thanks to the free COVID year for the 2020-21 season, the North Carolina native still has three years of eligibility remaining plus a redshirt year.
Poteat is an extremely good rebounder and paint scorer who can be an offensive weapon down low. He has more work to do on the defensive end to become a more well-rounded player but there's no doubt that the promise is there.
So how does Poteat feel he will fit on Virginia Tech's roster and in Mike Young's system?
"That was one of the reasons I made this decision. I feel that I do fit perfectly with the way Coach Young plays. There is some familiarity with that from the time his staff recruited me at Wofford. He gives his bigs a lot of freedom and opportunity. Some of that includes being a decision maker and scoring in multiple facets. The roster is loaded with a ton of shooters and bigs like myself who love being surrounded with those kind of players," Poteat said.
Poteat also is ready for the competition that will be coming for minutes given the departure of Keve Aluma along with the unknown status of Justyn Mutts along with the opportunity that's now there for him.
"After a great offseason of hard work, I can see myself making an immediate impact. The player that had gotten most of the minutes at my position has entered the draft and signed with an agent. So they’ve communicated that that spot is open, and we are bringing in a lot of good players (whether they’re returnees, transfers or freshman) that can occupy that position. So it’ll be a lot of fun battling it out this summer and fall," Poteat said.
Virginia Tech's reloading of their frontcourt has continued with Mylyjael Poteat joining Wright State's Grant Basile and Memphis' John Camden as transfer additions to it.
