Virginia point guard Dante Harris enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Virginia point guard Dante Harris officially entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Friday, On3’s Jamie Shaw has learned. Harris wasn’t the proper fit for much of the year in Tony Bennett’s slow down pace of offense. Virginia’s coaches certainly didn’t help things by not catering their offense to fit his skill set. He averaged 2.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game this year for the Cavaliers, while shooting 28% from the field and 10% from beyond-the-arc.

Harris likely decided to hit the portal after Virginia recently began courting point guard Trent Perry this weekend on his official visit, a former McDonald’s All-American. If the Cavaliers could land Perry’s commitment, it would lead to a surplus of guards there. Perry originally committed to USC, but decommitted once Andy Enfield decided to pack his bags and become the new head coach for the SMU Mustangs.

Virginia currently has guards Christian Bliss and Elijah Gertrude returning for next year, so things would have been quite crowded. At shooting guard, the Cavaliers return one of the best shooters in college basketball in Isaac McKneely. They’re also bringing in sharpshooter Ishan Sharma, one of the top prospects from Canada.

Things in the transfer portal are incredibly fluid, so we’ll have to see how their roster shakes out. There’s still plenty of time for things to take shape, especially with a new roster spot opening up.

One of Harris’ best games for Virginia came when he returned from a severely sprained right ankle, scoring five points and dishing out five assists in a 65-57 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies. Harris’ performance in that game proved crucial in lifting the Cavaliers to a victory over their rivals. He missed the previous 10 games tending to that ankle.

While Harris never seemed like the right fit for the Cavaliers, he did show flashes of impressive effort in moments of adversity. When Virginia was getting whipped 73-48 by the Duke Blue Devils, he still managed to grab six rebounds in just 11 minutes. And he drilled two jumpers against Boston College in the 2024 ACC Tournament, which proved to be crucial in the Cavaliers’ 66-60 win in overtime.

Before Virginia, Harris spent the last two seasons with the Georgetown Hoyas, where he averaged 11.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists during the 2021-22 season. Additionally, he shot 37.5 percent from the field and 27.5 percent from three. Harris also scored a career-high of 23 points at Creighton (Feb. 14th).

In the 2020-2021 season as a freshman, he appeared in all 26 games, ranking second on the team with 82 assists. Harris also shot 89.7 percent from the free throw line and tallied a team-high 30 steals. In his first career start against St. John’s (Dec. 13th), he erupted for 22 points.

In one of the more impressive stretches of his career thus far, the six-footer earned Most Outstanding Player honors in the 2021 Big East Tournament, averaging 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. His impressive showing lifted Georgetown to the 2021 Big East Tournament Championship and punched their tickets to the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas routed Creighton 73-48 in the championship game.

During his high school days, Harris was an explosive scorer his final two years. As a junior, he averaged 30.6 points per game and 9.0 assists per game at Lakeway Christian Academy (White Pine, Tennessee). He was even named a Mr. Basketball finalist for the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA) in Division II-A. His senior year, Harris erupted for four 50-point performances. His head coach at Lakeway Christian was Curtis Staples–Virginia’s all-time leading three-point shooter and one of the best shooters in college basketball history.

On3’s Joe Tipton also contributed to this article.