By Jerry Ratcliffe
Virginia started the weekend with a bang on Saturday, hauling in four new players from the transfer portal, including a promising corner from Wisconsin, a third receiver, a safety and a defensive lineman.
UVA now has 25 players committed or signed from the portal for the 2026 season.
The Cavaliers coaching staff received more good news Saturday when rising junior slot receiver Kam Courtney withdrew his name from the portal and will return to Tony Elliott’s program.
Perhaps the biggest catch of the day was from former Wisconsin cornerback Omillio Agard, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound, redshirt freshman.
A former 4-star prospect out of Philadelphia, when he was rated a top 25 corner in the 2024 recruiting class, Agard was recruited by UVA before he chose the Badgers over Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Penn State, Clemson, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Florida State and Michigan.
After redshirting in ‘24, he played in 11 games during the 2025 season with starts against Oregon, Ohio State and Iowa.
His role diminished in the last two games of the season and Wisconsin brought in four more corners via the portal to build depth in its secondary. Even though Agard was expected to be a starter next season, he decided to leave the program and entered the portal last Monday. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
He had 21 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 interception, 1 sack and 2 PBU last season.
UVA gained three more commitments Saturday:
Jacquon Gibson, wide receiver, UMass: Gibson, who has one year of eligibility, is a 5-11, 195-pound wideout, the third receiver coming to UVA from this portal class.
A native of Fayetteville, N.C., he posted 63 receptions for 616 yards (9.8 ypc) in 2025 for the Minutemen, including a dozen catches for 132 yards vs. Temple. He appeared in 12 games.
In 2024, he played in 12 games and had 23 receptions for 270 yards.
For the ‘23 season, he appeared in four games before he was injured and took a redshirt. In 2022, Gibson played in 12 games and had 4 catches for 62 yards.
Darrion Henry-Young, defensive lineman, Coastal Carolina: The 6-4, 294-pound lineman from Cincinnati has had an interesting career. As a high school senior in 2020, he was a 4-star prospect and the No. 2 ranked player in the state of Ohio according to 247Sports, which also ranked him the No. 16 defensive tackle in the nation for that recruiting class.
Henry-Young signed with Ohio State and played in two games as a freshman in 2020, then as a redshirt freshman in 2021, he played against Nebraska and Rutgers before deciding to transfer to Kentucky.
In 2022, he played in five games for the Wildcats, then 8 games in 2023, making 10 tackles, 2 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 1 hurry before suffering an injury in the first half against Mississippi State.
Henry-Young missed the entire 2024 season with the injury and transfered to Coastal where he had his best season, playing in 13 games and registering 8 tackles, 1.5 TFL and 1 hurry.
Jalen McNair, safety, Buffalo: Played in 12 games for the Bulls last season, putting up 60 tackles, 2 interceptions 4 PBU, 2 fumble recoveries and 2 TFL.
He is the type of sure-tackling, aggressive safety that John Rudzinski likes in his UVA defense, a head hunter, at 5-8, 198.
McNair, who has one year of eligibility remaining, started 13 games in ‘24 for the Bulls, had 53 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 interception and 3 PBU on 716 snaps.
In 2023, he started the opening game for Buffalo, but suffered a season-ending injury after making three tackles against Wisconsin. He played 8 games with one start in 2022, 1 game as a redshirt freshman in 2021, and four games while redshirting in 2020.
