Cofie to USC; Robinson to Xavier

By Jerry Ratcliffe

As expected, former Virginia freshman forward Jacob Cofie, has transferred to the West Coast to play basketball.

Cofie, who hails from Seattle, announced Saturday that he had committed to Southern Cal, one of the schools that heavily pursued him out of high school before Tony Bennett lured him across the coast to UVA. Cofie had a solid freshman campaign for the Cavaliers, appearing in 32 games, starting half of those, while averaging 7.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. He made 49.5 percent of his field goal attempts, averaged 1.1 steals and 1.0 assists per game. He was Virginia’s fifth-leading scorer.

A 4-star out of high school, he was the No. 89 overall ranked player in the country his senior season and the No. 14 power forward in the country according to On3’s ratings. Cofie is the No. 52 ranked player in this year’s transfer portal, the No. 13 PF.

Cofie joins five other former UVA players from last season’s team to find new basketball homes: Anthony Robinson (Xavier), Isaac McKneely (Louisville), Dai Dai Ames (California), Andrew Rohde (Wisconsin) and Blake Buchanan (Iowa State).

Redshirt freshman Robinson, a 6-foot-10, 240-pound big man, who appeared in 26 games last season, has committed to Xavier, now coached by Richard Pitino. Robinson has three years of eligibility remaining and is the No. 10 ranked center in this portal according to 247Sports portal ratings.

A player who clearly improved over the course of the season, Robinson averaged 9.1 minutes of playing time per game and averaged 3.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. With limited shooting skills, Robinson shot 72 percent from the field, making mostly dunks, stickbacks and layups. He shot 62 percent from the free throw line. Still, he gave Virginia a physical presence inside the paint, which no other player on the roster could fulfill. His career high came against Virginia Tech when he scored 15 points and pulled 7 rebounds in a UVA win in Blacksburg.

Rohde, arguably the ACC’s most improved player last season, is a 6-6 guard whose shooting and ballhandling skills made him a solid starter for the Cavaliers. After struggling his sophomore season, Rohde’s numbers jumped dramatically in 2024-25. He averaged 9.3 points per game, shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from the 3-point line. He also averaged 4.3 assists per game.

Rohde, who played with a lot of fire, is Wisconsin’s first incoming transfer this season, but plugs a big hole in the Badgers’ roster.

Of all the Virginia players who have transferred over the last three years, the most difficult to swallow is McKneely.

McKneely was the perfect fit for a Tony Bennett program, a clean-cut, no-nonsense kid who was truly a Virginia guy. Now, Cavalier fans will have to see the Poca, W.Va., product in a rival uniform.

McKneely announced via his Twitter (X) account on Thursday that he had committed to Louisville, where he posed in a Cardinals uniform, standing beside UofL coach Pat Kelsey. The former UVA star chose Louisville over Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.

One of the highest-rated players in the portal, McKneely led the ACC in 3-point shooting last season and led UVA in scoring with 14.4 points per game, but scored 20-plus points eight times down the home stretch, including 27 in his last appearance in a Cavalier uniform in a loss to Georgia Tech in the ACC Tournament. He was a 1,000-point scorer for the Cavaliers over his three-year career.

The 6-foot-4 junior guard ranked first in the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage (42.1) and was voted All-ACC honorable mention.

McKneely joins two other guards, Adrian Wooley of Kennesaw State and Ryan Conwell from Xavier, in what could be the beginning of one of the best transfer portal classes in the nation for Louisville.

Earlier, Blake Buchanan committed to Iowa State and Dai Dai Ames committed to Cal.