Virginia transfer F Elijah Saunders commits to Maryland

Former Virginia power forward Elijah Saunders has committed to Maryland via the NCAA transfer portal, per On3’s Joe Tipton. Saunders was a steady contributor for the Cavaliers this past year, averaging 10.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists for the ACC program during the 2024-25 season. 

Prior to his time in the ACC, Saunders played for the San Diego State Aztecs. He spent two seasons with the team, averaging 6.2 points during the 2023-24 campaign.

He’ll be hoping to improve upon his numbers now joining Buzz Williams at Maryland. Williams is coming off an incredible run of success as head coach at Texas A&M. This season, the Aggies reached the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.

Under his guidance, Texas A&M has now made the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons after last appearing in the Big Dance in 2018. It took Williams a little bit to get things going, but once he did the Aggies were a formidable team.

Saunders played high school basketball at Sunnyslope (Phoenix, AZ), where he was a three-star prospect in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 165 player in his class, and the No. 30 power forward that cycle.

Saunders originally entered the NCAA transfer portal on April 2 after Virginia hired new head coach Ryan Odom, who held the same position at VCU. Virginia finished this past season with a 15-17 record and an 8-12 mark in conference play under interim head coach Ron Sanchez, who took over after Tony Bennett’s depature shortly before the regular season.

As of Wednesday, March 26, over 1,250 Men’s College Basketball players have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. That number is expected to grow as the 2024-25 college basketball has now concluded.

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Industry recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.