Virginia Tech wide receiver Jayden Anderson enters NCAA transfer portal

According to On3’s Pete Nakos, Virginia Tech wide receiver Jayden Anderson has entered the NCAA transfer portal. Anderson will wind up never playing a snap for the Hokies after recently signing his national letter of intent. Instead, the true freshman will head elsewhere with four years of eligibility remaining.

“Jayden is our team captain who has been a big-time playmaker for us since the day he walked through our door,” Anderson’s high school coach, Brandon Williams, said via Virginia Tech. “It has been a joy and a privilege to coach Jayden.”

Anderson played high school football at Virginia Beach (VA) Green Run, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 674 overall recruit in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. Within the Commonwealth of Virginia, Anderson was viewed as the No. 20 overall player.

The Hokies held a long-time commitment from Anderson, stretching over 20 months. Feb. 9, 2024, is when he pledged to the program and remained that way all the way through signing day. Now, just before fall practice is set to begin, Anderson opens things up and puts his name on the open market.

Before ultimately committing to Virginia Tech, Anderson put out a final top three. Tennessee and West Virginia were runners-up in the recruitment. Now, if one of Josh Heupel and Rich Rodriguez wanted another shot at him, the opportunity will be there.

Explaining why the NCAA transfer portal is open

The NCAA Committee on Legislative Relief announced it will issue a one-time waiver to allow Division I athletes that programs place on the “Designated Student-Athlete” list to enter the transfer portal between July 7 through Aug. 5. The deadline for FBS programs to assign DSAs is Sunday, July 6.

Players placed on the “Designated Student-Athlete” list are grandfathered-in that are exempt from the new roster limits implemented as part of the House v. NCAA settlement that was approved last month.

As Yahoo! Sports insider Ross Dellenger pointed out Wednesday, an athlete is eligible to be placed on a DSA list if he/she would have or had already been removed from the school’s roster due to the new House-mandated roster limits, and was an eligible member of the team during the 2024-25 season, and/or recruited and assured a 2025-26 roster spot by the program.

On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this report