Virginia Tech's Lynn Kidd, John Camden Enter the Transfer Portal

While it’s been a busy day on the women’s basketball side of the coin in Blacksburg, there’s some unfortunate news for Virginia Tech men’s basketball via the transfer portal. Tuesday afternoon, it was reported by multiple outlets that Hokies starting center Lynn Kidd and backup forward John Camden will enter the transfer portal.

Starting center Lynn Kidd transferred to Virginia Tech three years ago following his freshman season at Clemson. During his time under Mike Young, Kidd developed from a raw and unproductive big man into one of the better centers in the ACC.

Kidd played in just 10 games as a sophomore, averaging 2.5 minutes and less than a point per game in those contests for the 2022 ACC Tournament Champions. A year later in 2023, Kidd cracked the rotation as Tech’s backup big man and averaged 5.0 points and 3.4 rebounds per game in 34 appearances with five starts.

This past season, Kidd broke out for Tech and became one of the star players on the 2024 Hokies. Kidd was the team’s third leading scorer and top rebounder, averaging 13.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in 33 starts. Kidd also marked up five double-doubles in the 2023-24 season and notched third place in the ACC Most Improved Player race.

Joining Kidd in the portal is John Camden. The Downingtown, PA native transferred to Virginia Tech before the 2022-2023 season after spending his freshman season at Memphis. In two seasons in Blacksburg, Camden made 37 appearances as a rotational forward averaging 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per game. Camden came in with high hopes as a three point shooter, but shot just 31.7% from long range in his two years as a Hokie.

A Downingtown, Pennsylvania native, perhaps Camden will return to a school in his hometown state in the transfer portal after a couple of lackluster seasons at Tech. Camden will have two more years of eligibility at the college ranks.

While Camden isn’t a big loss for the Hokies, Kidd was set to be a returning starter for Tech if he had chosen to stay in Blacksburg for his final year of eligibility and would have been one of the best centers in the league. It was also already no secret that Mike Young and company had to hit the transfer portal hard to replace the likes of Hunter Cattoor and other key departures.

However, he need to hit the transfer portal for Tech is exacerbated even more with the loss of Kidd. The good news is that Mylyjael Poteat still has one more of year eligibility and another offseason should do young center Pat Wessler wonders, but the Hokies definitely have taken a hit at center. Poteat also was honored at Senior Day, which does make you wonder if he may be moving on after this season. If so, then Tech's need for a starting center would certainly grow.

The news of Kidd and Camden’s departures is the start of a long offseason for Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball and a critical one for the future of the program.