The Virginia basketball team's roster makeover continued Friday with another transfer portal commitment. This time, UC Irvine forward Devin Tillis made the call for the Cavaliers.
Tillis gives UVA an experienced option in the frontcourt as he comes to the program with one year of eligibility remaining. He announced his decision on social media.
In his first weeks on the job, Ryan Odom has landed multiple commitments from the transfer portal. BYU's Dallin Hall, Toledo's Sam Lewis, North Dakota State's Jacari White, and VCU's Martin Carrere remain in the fold with Tillis now joining the list. Oklahoma's Duke Miles also committed in the past week, but has since withdrew his commitment Friday.
Of that group, Tillis is the first with significant frontcourt experience. He played in 24 games with 8 starts in 2020-2021 at UNLV when he was a freshman, but that year did not count against eligibility due to the COVID waiver across the NCAA. He then transferred to UC Irvine where he redshirted in 2021-2022. Over the next three years, Tillis played in 105 games with 103 starts and logged 2,652 minutes of time. He averaged 10.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in his career there.
Tillis produced his best season in 2024-2025. He averaged 13.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists for the Anteaters as they posted a 32-7 record on the way to the NIT Championship Game. They lost to Chattanooga 85-84 in overtime. He also shot 39.5% from 3-point range on 49-124 shooting this past season. He earned second team All-Big West honors.
Tillis has shot 35.6% or better from 3-point land in each of his three seasons with Irvine. That fits the pattern for UVA's pickups in the portal so far. Over three seasons at BYU, Hall posted a 35.9% career percentage. Lewis led the MAC last season at 44.4% and White hit 39.8% of his 3’s last season at North Dakota State. Carrere redshirted at VCU as a freshman last year, but made 41.9% of his attempts in the 2024 U18 FIBA EuroBasket Tournament while playing for France.
While Tillis will be another potential floor spacer thanks to that shooting ability, he will be undersized in the ACC as frontcourt forward. The 6'7", 225-pound California native has been consistent on the boards each year at UCI with 200+ rebounds each season, though. He had 296 this season.
With most of UVA’s players from last season in the transfer portal and multiple already committed elsewhere already, Odom’s first roster in Charlottesville is starting to take shape. He’s added two class of 2025 recruits in Chance Mallory and Silas Barksdale, both 4-star prospects in the 247 rankings, in addition to White, Lewis, Carrere, Hall, and Tillis from the portal. The Hoos will be in pursuit of many more players this cycle, though. Elijah Gertrude, a former 4-star prospect coming off a knee injury, and Carter Lang, a walk-on from local school St. Anne’s-Belfield via a transfer from Vanderbilt, are the only returning Virginia players that have not entered the transfer portal or completed their eligibility from last season.
Highlights for Tillis can be found on YouTube here.
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