Virginia PG Dai Dai Ames plans to enter NCAA transfer portal

Virginia point guard Dai Dai Ames plans to enter the NCAA transfer portal, per On3’s Joe Tipton. He spent just one season with the Cavaliers after transferring from Kansas State last offseason.

Ames averaged 8.7 points per game this past season while shooting 39.7% from 3-point range. He had his best performance in a matchup against Pittsburgh on Feb. 3, scoring a career-high 27 points.

Ames played high school basketball for Kenwood Academy, where he was a four-star recruit. He ranked as the No. 67 overall player and No. 14 point guard in the 2023 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

The 6-foot-1 guard immediately stepped in to contribute during his first college season at Kansas State in 2023-24. He started in 16 of 31 appearances to average 5.2 points, 2.0 assists and 1.1 rebounds across 20.6 minutes per game.

Virginia is coming off of a season in which it failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past four years. The Cavaliers finished 17-15 after coach Tony Bennett surpringly stepped down with less than a month to go before the regular season.

That in mind, Ames never got to play for the coach whom he believed he would when he initially transferred to Virginia from Kansas State. Ron Sanchez took over as the interim coach but the school announced at the end of the season that he will not be retained. That in mind, it makes sense for Ames to move on to elsewhere, but it’s still a big loss after the year he had in Charlottesville.

The college basketball transfer portal is starting to mirror the NBA’s free agency. Last spring alone, 1,962 Division I players tested the portal waters.

The college basketball transfer portal is now scheduled for 30 days during the spring of the 2024-25 academic year. The portal will open after the second round of the NCAA Tournament and conclude before the end of April. Athletes would still be given a 30-day window to transfer after a head coach’s departure.

According to the NCAA, the portal opens for business on Monday, March 24, and closes on Tuesday, April 22, 2025. The national championship game will be played on April 7 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.