McKneely to Louisville; Rohde to Wisconsin

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Two more former Virginia players have found new basketball homes as Cavalier guards Isaac McKneely and Andrew Rohde announced Thursday that they have committed to other programs.

McKneely, a rising senior guard, has committed to Louisville, while Rohde, also a rising senior guard, has committed to Wisconsin.

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.

He is the third former Cavalier to find a new basketball home with Blake Buchanan committed to Iowa State and Dai Dai Ames committed to Cal.