Former Virginia wing Leon Bond III has found his new home, announcing on social media on Sunday afternoon that he is transferring to Northern Iowa.
Bond's two seasons at Virginia saw him play just 296 total minutes across 24 games, averaging 12.3 minutes in mostly garbage time this season after redshirting his first year at UVA. Now, Bond's time as a Cavalier has officially come to an end as he heads to Northern Iowa, where he'll have a much better opportunity for extended playing time over his next three years of eligibility. The move also takes Bond to Cedar Falls, which is just a four-hour drive from his hometown of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Of Virginia's highly-touted recruiting class of 2022, only Isaac McKneely remains on the roster heading into the 2024-2025 season. Isaac Traudt transferred to Creighton after redshirting the 2022-2023 season and Ryan Dunn declared for the 2024 NBA Draft last month.
Interestingly, Leon Bond III is not the first Cavalier to transfer to Northern Iowa in the Tony Bennett era, as Paul Jesperson played for the Panthers for two seasons after beginning his career at Virginia and wound up hitting one of the more memorable shots in recent March Madness history, a half-court buzzer beater to give Northern Iowa an upset win over Texas in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Leon Bond III was one of two scholarship players and four total Cavaliers to enter the transfer portal this offseason. Dante Harris is in the transfer portal with two years of eligibility remaining and has yet to announce his new school. Walk-ons Tristan How and Desmond Roberts also entered the transfer portal, with How choosing to play his final year of eligibility at New York University. Roberts, who redshirted the 2023-2024 season, is in the portal with four year of eligibility remaining.
Virginia's departures this offseason left the Cavaliers with four open scholarship spots for the 2024-2025 season. They filled one of those spots on Saturday, as Florida State transfer guard Jalen Warley committed to UVA.
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