Rice Transfer Mylyjael Poteat Commits To Virginia Tech

On Tuesday, Rice transfer Mylyjael Poteat (pronounced Muh-LIE-juhl) announced his commitment to Mike Young and Virginia Tech.

A 6-9, 260-pound junior from Reidsville, N.C., Poteat will play center for the Hokies. He has three years of eligibility remaining (two and a COVID year) and visited Blacksburg the weekend of May 7. Tech beat out Pitt and UMass, the other two schools he visited.

Poteat played in all 33 games for the Owls this season, averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. Though he started just three games and averaged just 13.8 minutes, he was efficient on the court, shooting 62% (93-150).

He’s a former three-star recruit who was rated as the No. 24 player in North Carolina. However, Rice was his only offer out of high school.

His addition is a large boost to Tech’s frontcourt, one that lacked depth after a few departures. With the commitment of Grant Basile on May 4, the Hokies now have a handful of experienced frontcourt players.

Poteat has 46 appearances in two seasons at Rice while Basile played in 95 in four seasons at Wright State. Before the two commitments, Tech’s frontcourt had just 18 collegiate appearances (17 from Lynn Kidd, one from John Camden). Overall, that’s 159 total games played.

Here’s an updated breakdown of the Hokies’ scholarship situation heading into the 2022-23 season and beyond, sorted by position:

With the addition of Poteat, Virginia Tech currently has 12 players on scholarship for the upcoming season. That number includes Justyn Mutts, listed on the graphic above, who has not made a decision on whether he will return to Blacksburg.

If Mutts comes back for another season, the Hokies will have one scholarship available. Should he decide to pursue professional opportunities, that opens up a second slot.

14 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. College sports are real screwed up. Never thought I’d live to see amateur (college) sports like this

  2. Alright!!! This pick up is huge. I think he will be a nice 5 for VT. Good size and hungry to play in the ACC. I’m hoping for another NCAA bid. Go Hokies!!!

  3. Does it (not) make sense to bring on another schol. player as a transfer this year, as long as the player adds quality depth? Save one for mutts but bring someone else in, as long as that player is available.

    I understand that existing players want to play as many minutes as possible, but it seems to me that the top contenders have significant depth of quality players (not just players who come in to give the starters a breather).

    The EOS difference maker in those games seemed to be MY’s ability to quickly substitute his players on/off the floor (esp. when it was for off / def reasons).

  4. Would like to think that among Kidd, Wessler and Poteat, we could get 30 minutes, 8 points, 10 rebounds and some solid defense. More than that is likely a bonus.

    1. According to the Rice website, Poteat is on the 2022 & 2021 Conference USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, so evidently he’s a bright young man.

  5. Off by one on the scholles (?) You have 12 on the chart so one remaining schollie unless Mutts leaves, which would leave two spaces available for next year. Regardless the spreadsheet is good stuff.

    1. I should add if this is correct then we have a pretty full pattern, maybe leave one open so regardless of Mutts decision, VT would have two spaces open next year which I would hope VT can snag an h.s. player or two for longer term development. Or is VT going to get into a cycle of replenishing players year-to-year with transfers?

      1. Im not informed about how all of this works but i would think a successful program will need to be around 60-40 on HS vs Portal mix.

        Ur going to lose a couple eACh year that are impatient and u must use the portal for immediate needs.

      2. They don’t have much choice now that players tend to leave every year, you have to replace them and the TP is the only way .

        1. so is this a fait accompli forever and ever? I kinda like Tally’s way as answering the question, eg 60-40 hs to portal. or should it be 50-50? or 70-30?

    2. Apologies – this has since been fixed. Thanks. Counting Mutts, VT is at 12 scholarship players.

      1. Hey David. Is Poteat actually the #24 center in North Carolina as a Senior in HS or is that the. US?

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