Virginia Tech loses four to transfer portal following spring practices

The Virginia Tech Hokies are going through their post-spring transfer cycle this week after the end of spring ball. Four players – wideout DJ Sims, safety Da’Shawn Elder, corner Jabari Parker and running back Marco Lee – entered the transfer portal on Monday, according to On3’s Matt Zenitz.

Parker and Sims signed with Virginia Tech in the 2021 class and were scout team participants this season. Both are Virginia natives and were three-star prospects coming out of high school.

Da’Shawn Elder signed in the 2020 class out of Fork Union Military. The redshirt freshman also didn’t see the field in his time in Blacksburg.

The fourth departure, Marco Lee, is moving onto the third school in his collegiate career. After high school in Columbus, Georgia, Lee went to Coffeyville Community College. He rushed for 1,232 yards and nine touchdowns in two seasons there but saw the field in just four games for Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech pulled a few players out of the transfer portal prior to spring practices but they’ll need more now to make up some numbers.

Brent Pry outlines next steps for Virginia Tech

The Brent Pry era at Virginia Tech got off and running this spring, but the new Hokies headman doesn’t sound satisfied with what he’s seeing just yet. He addressed why after the Spring Game on Saturday.

“Honestly, there were some good things out there today,” Pry said. “But I feel like we’ve just got so much to do in a ton of areas to get where we need to be. I don’t want to go out there and be solid and just put a decent team out there. We want to go out there and compete to win each and every game.

“Right now, we’ve just got a lot of areas that we first have to identify, then we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to improve these areas. So that’s not just for the individual players. That’s what we’re doing schematically, that’s what we’re doing culturally as a program. That’s all of it. So it’s a constant evaluation process for all of us each and every day, to be honest.”

Pry added summer workouts will be huge to get the Hokies to their full potential. But the workouts are a small part of his plan to build the program. It’s about getting the players to buy in.

“You’re able to do a little bit more in the summer now, which is good,” Pry said. “But you’re always looking for more, and we’re fortunate we’ve got a bunch of guys that are coming in on their own and doing the extra [work]. If you want to be a big-league program, that’s required. We can’t make it be that way, but they can. The guys gotta invest.”

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.