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Virginia Tech Currently Hosting Rice Transfer Mylyjael Poteat

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Virginia Tech isn't done pursuing talented transfer prospects with the Hokies currently hosting Rice 6'9'' PF transfer Mylyjael Poteat as he told us. George Michalowski of Pittsburgh Sports Now was first to report the news about Poteat visiting VT.

Poteat also told us that he is currently visiting the Hokies plus Pittsburgh and UMass with Poteat having visited both of those schools last week. His visit to Virginia Tech will wrap up tonight and then he plans to make his decision "within a few days or so after" his visit to Blacksburg.

Poteat is an intriguing transfer prospect who showed plenty of promise during his two seasons at Rice averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in only 13.8 minutes per game while shooting 62% from the field and 67.7% from the free-throw line.

Poteat was an efficient offensive player who has shown plenty of potential to develop into a quality starting big man down the road at the high major level. In the short term, Poteat projects out as a quality backup big at the high major who Tech can likely trust to play 7-12 quality minutes per night while he develops though fits and projections can prove fickle.

His offensive game around the rim should translate the best to the next level while his rebounding is also a big plus with his rebounding percentage from Sports Reference both overall and on the offensive glass being at a higher percentage than Keve Aluma, Justyn Mutts, or Grant Basile have had in their careers. While his defense has a lot of room for growth, his offensive low post skills plus his rebounding can make him a quality backup from day 1 for VT with lots of upside.

In many ways, Poteat is part of what transfer recruiting has become in terms of schools trying to go beyond the big names to guys like Poteat who have shown promise at lower levels and have time to develop into talented players with Poteat having three years of eligibility remaining plus a redshirt year as well.

We've seen the Hokies have success finding big men from lower levels who had been solid but not spectacular and developing them into stars. Both Justyn Mutts and Keve Aluma were not all-conference players prior to arriving at Virginia Tech from their lower conferences with Aluma having not averaged over 7 points per game in either season at Wofford. Both blossomed in Blacksburg with Aluma becoming a star and Mutts becoming a high-quality starting big man on an ACC Tournament winning team.

This isn't to say that Poteat can become that, but he's undoubtedly an intriguing prospect just like a three-star big man with all four years is coming out of high school.

On the actual transfer recruiting front, Tech may have an advantage compared to Pittsburgh and UMass of being closer to home for the North Carolina native. Tech's recent success having made back-to-back NCAA Tournaments plus an ACC Tournament title under Mike Young should help compared to Pittsburgh's instability and UMass being in the A-10 albeit with Frank Martin now at the helm.

Tech also has plenty of frontcourt need with Grant Basile locked in as a starter but Justyn Mutts still deciding whether to return or fully pursue the NBA, David N'Guessan entering the transfer portal, and Tech having Lynn Kidd and Patrick Wessler as true backup bigs plus bigger wins like John Camden and Darren Buchanan Jr.

Given all that, there's definitely a role that Poteat would have the opportunity to come in and immediately fill for the Hokies while Tech tries to develop him into the next talented power forward for VT should Poteat choose the Hokies.

Keep an eye on Mylyjael Poteat as Virginia Tech remains in hot pursuit in hopes of adding him to their frontcourt of the future.

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