Virginia Tech RB Jalen Hampton became the fourth scholarship Hokie to enter the transfer portal this week with Andy Bitter of The Athletic being first to report the news.
#Hokies RB Jalen Hampton has entered the transfer portal, @TheAthletic has learned. A 2020 signee, he didn’t appear in a game for VT. That gets the running back room down to six scholarship players. He joins Jordan Brunson, Marco Lee and Tahj Gary as RBs who entered the portal.
— Andy Bitter (@AndyBitterVT) April 29, 2022
Hampton departs after one season at Virginia Tech with Hampton being buried on the depth chart and falling behind guys of the same class and younger including Malachi Thomas and likely Bryce Duke. Hampton will have all four years of eligibility remaining after redshirting this past season and not playing during the free COVID 2020 season.
As mentioned above, Hampton is the fourth scholarship Hokie to enter the transfer portal along with fellow RB Marco Lee plus DB Da'Shawn Elder and OL Bryce Goodner.
Hampton is the fourth running back to depart the Virginia Tech roster since the arrival of Brent Pry along with Tahj Gary, Jalen Brunson, and Lee as Tech's bloated RB room gets a significant slimming down that seemed inevitable for a long time.
Hampton's departure leaves the Hokies at 84 scholarships based on current best guesses which would give Tech room to either elevate a walk-on to a scholarship or pursue various transfer and JUCO options that are still out there. Offensive line may be a priority for the Hokies with their open scholarship spot.
We will have more as this story develops.