With one scholarship spot still open for the 2024-2025 season, the Virginia men's basketball program paused following a recent flurry of portal commitments before completing its transfer class on Wednesday. Kansas State guard Dai Dai Ames became the fourth player to commit during the last two weeks with his decision to join the Hoos.

ESPN college basketball reporter Jeff Borzello confirmed the commitment on social media, citing Ames' agent Jack Lieb.

Ames joins a group of high-major transfers coming into the program. Florida State senior Jalen Warley announced first among the quartet with Duke's TJ Power and San Diego State's Elijah Saunders following two days later. With those three providing wing and frontcourt depth, Virginia turned to the backcourt with its final spot and Ames made the move from Kansas State on April 30. Interestingly, all four players entered the transfer portal on April 18 or later, more than a month after the window opened.

In the 247 Sports rankings, Ames carried a 4-star rating as the No. 13 point guard and No. 92 overall prospect in his class. The 6'1", 185-pound native of Chicago had offers from Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Michigan State, Maryland, Illinois, and more before deciding on Kansas State. 247 Sports maintained a 4-star rating for Ames in its transfer portal rankings as well.

Ames averaged 5.2 points, 2.0 assists, 1.1 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and 1.6 turnovers in 20.6 minutes in his true freshman season with the Wildcats. That included 35.3% shooting overall and 32.9% shooting from 3-point range alongside 69.8% shooting at the free throw line. Some numbers improved on the back of the season. In his final 16 games, he averaged 5.6 points on 46.3% shooting overall and 45.5% from 3-point range. He also hit 76.5% of his free throws in that half of the season. In the final 10 games, he averaged 6.0 points on 44.7% shooting overall and 40.7% from 3. In three postseason games in the Big 12 Tournament and NIT, he upped it to 10.3 points on 50.0% shooting overall and 44.4% from 3-point range; that included 3.3 assists and 1.7 turnovers. The question now becomes how do those numbers translate into a new system with a new coach.

UVA now has experienced options at all levels of the roster. Warley and Saunders, for example, have both played in 50+ college games. That joins up with Isaac McKneely and Taine Murray, who have each played 60+ games already at Virginia. Those players could hold down any of four spots on the floor potentially. With Ames, you add point guard to the mix as he appeared in 31 games with 16 starts at KSU. Previously, only redshirt freshman Christian Bliss, who has yet to appear in a college game, projected as a point guard specifically.

The roster layout also provides the potential for a core group to play together for multiple seasons, though nothing is ever certain obviously in the no-sit transfer portal era. Still, McKneely, Bliss, Andrew Rohde, Elijah Gertrude, Blake Buchanan, Anthony Robinson, Ishan Sharma, Jacob Cofie, Saunders, Power, and Ames all have at least two years of eligibility remaining. In fact, all but three have three or more years remaining. That possibly sets up an intriguing next few seasons to watch.

Some Kansas State highlights can be found on YouTube here.

Discuss it on the message board