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Top 25 Transfer Portal Era Transfers at Virginia Tech: 25-21

Devin Taylor 1 VT Wake 2020 From ACC

Our ranking of the top 25 transfer portal era transfers at Virginia Tech kicks off today. I've reviewed every sport over the past couple days though there could be transfers that I've missed but I'm confident that list is minimal at most.

There will be some big name transfers who miss out on our top 25 including current Virginia Tech TE/QB/WR Connor Blumrick who received significant playing time for the Hokies this past season at QB. John Parker Romo had a solid season as Tech's kicker this past year while Ally Repko was a quality role player for VT Softball with some big RBIs in the postseason, but both also just missed out on the top 25.

So let's get it started with 25-21 on our countdown of the top 25 transfer Hokies of the transfer portal era. Check out the rest of our transfer portal era related rankings below as well.

25. Conor Hartigan

Virginia Tech's lefty hitting specialist Conor Hartigan may have not put up the biggest numbers, but the JMU transfer proved to be a quality bat in the DH spot and lower part of the order who came up big in some big moments.

In his lone season, Hartigan hit .232 with 4 home runs and 32 RBIs in 48 games including 44 starts for the Hokies primarily out of the DH spot. Hartigan was also solid in the postseason scoring 4 runs while having a pair of RBIs in the first of Tech's two victories against Columbia. Most importantly, Hartigan played a role in Virginia Tech winning the ACC regular season title while reaching their first Super Regional in program history along with earning the highest national seed in VT history at #4.

Hartigan may not have been a flashy player, but he was a solid, productive player for the Hokies who had some bigger moments as a starter and has earned his spot in this top 25 for his role on Virginia Tech's most successful baseball team in school history.

24. Azana Baines

On to #24 with a transfer who wasn't here for a while having entered the portal after this past season, but had a productive 1.5 seasons for the Hokies in Azana Baines.

The transfer from Duke proved to be a productive frontcourt role player for the Hokies averaging at least 5 points and 5 rebounds per game in both of her seasons for the Hokies. She played the power forward role well for the Hokies bringing quality frontcourt play especially with his rebounding upside for the Hokies.

The former Duke transfer had to wait initially though with an appeal for her to be immediately eligible going into the start of the season before about midway through, she was allowed to play. From there, Baines played a role in helping the Hokies reach back-to-back NCAA Tournaments with a win in the 2021 edition and a top 5 seed in the 2022 one.

23. Jordan Geber

Hartigan isn't the only 2022 Virginia Tech Baseball standout to join the top 25 in the first 5 part as Mount Saint Mary's transfer Jordan Geber comes in at #23 though plenty could argue that he should be higher.

Geber went from a concussion holding him back at the beginning of the season to stepping up as the Sunday starter for the Hokies to round out a rotation that was strong in ACC play, but simply ran out of gas at the end of the season. He finished the season going 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 16 appearances including 7 starts throwing 35 innings while striking out 40 and giving up only 9 walks.

Geber was big down the stretch in helping the Hokies seal the deal on the ACC regular season title honors while also earning ACC Pitcher of the Week accolades along the way. He may not have been a dynamic starter, but he played his role while stepping up down the stretch to give Tech stability in the Sunday spot of their weekend rotation to help them win an ACC title.

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22. Tae Daley

Tae Daley comes in at #22 after a solid season at Virginia Tech this past year in the backend of a secondary looking to replace a third round draft pick in Divine Deablo.

He was productive with 73 tackles including 4 for loss plus 1 interception and 3 pass deflections. He also proved himself to be a fairly good tackler in space with 47 solo tackles, an important skill for any safety to have to be able to be a complete defensive player. He also was at his best in the biggest moment of the season with 9 tackles, 1 interception, and 2 pass deflections in the win over UVA to retain the Commonwealth Cup and reach a bowl game despite VT being in flux after parting ways with Justin Fuente.

Daley provided veteran leadership on the backend of Tech's defense while he also was productive for the Hokies fitting well alongside Nasir Peoples. Though he may only be at #22 on a loaded list, Daley proved himself to be a more than capable safety who played a role in keeping things together to help the Hokies reach a bowl game with his best game coming at the right time to keep the Commonwealth Cup.

21. Devin Taylor

Devin Taylor just barely gets the edge over Tae Daley due to the fact that Taylor's one season in the Hokies came under trickier circumstances arriving weeks before the 2020 season that dealt with plenty of COVID effects.

Though Taylor arrived as a cornerback, he also had to adjust to safety to find his way on to the field and did so fairly well for the Hokies proving to be a quality ball-hawking safety that allowed Tech to use Divine Deablo closer to the line of scrimmage. The Illinois State transfer had 55 tackles including 1.5 for loss in only 9 games plus 2 interceptions and 4 pass deflections proving himself to be plenty versatile.

Similar to Azana Baines, Taylor also transferred albeit after only 1 season in Blacksburg with Taylor landing at Bowling Green and finding his stride again at cornerback. Like Baines, his tenure in Blacksburg was quite good and maybe underappreciated by comparison to some of the other, more talented transfers who surrounded him.

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