UVA Basketball in the Mix for Florida State Transfer Malique Ewin

A 6'11", 230-pound forward from Lawrenceville, Georgia, Ewin began his collegiate career at Ole Miss, where he played very limited minutes as a freshman, averaging just 6.1 minutes played in 14 total appearances, though he did have a 10-point, five-rebound, five-block showing against UCF. Ewin entered the transfer portal at the end of the season and initially committed to South Florida, but then wound up going to South Plains College at the JUCO level in Levelland, Texas instead.

It was clear that Ewin was playing well below his talent level as he averaged a near double-double, shot 62.6% from the floor, and was named an NJCAA First-Team All-American and was the Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Newcomer of the Year in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference. Ewin led his team to the WJCAC championship, the No. 1 national ranking for 12 weeks during the regular season, and a No. 2 seed in the NJCAA Tournament, where South Plains made a run to the Elite Eight.

Ewin returned to the Division I major conference ranks last offseason, transferring to Florida State. He started 30 games for the Seminoles, averaging 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and shooting 59.6% from the floor. Ewin ranked first in the ACC in field goal percentage, seventh in rebounding, and 22nd in scoring.

Ewin missed two games late in the regular season due to an injury and one of those two games that he missed happened to be Florida State's 60-57 loss at Virginia on March 4th. He scored in double figures 24 times and had five games with at least 20 points, including a career-high 26 points in a victory over SMU in the regular season finale.

Now, Ewin is back in the transfer portal once again, though this move makes sense as Florida State, like Virginia, is going through a coaching change with Luke Loucks replacing Leonard Hamilton. On3 has Ewin ranked as the No. 52 overall player in the transfer portal and 12th-ranked available power forward. Naturally, competition is steep for Ewin. The other four suitors on his reported list all made the NCAA Tournament this year and Auburn made the Final Four.

With that said, Ewin is exactly the player the Cavaliers are looking for as their front court is in desperate need of size and experience, but mostly bodies. Virginia has just two forwards projected on its scholarship roster for next season - VCU redshirt freshman transfer Martin Carrere and incoming freshman Silas Barksdale - neither of whom have played a second of college basketball. Four of the five transfers UVA has picked up so far are guards, giving the Hoos an abundance of depth and talent in their back court and the opposite in their front court.

Ryan Odom is off to a good start in building his roster for year 1 at Virginia, but grabbing a commitment from a physical and productive big man like Malique Ewin would be a huge recruiting victory for UVA's new head coach and a massive addition to the Cavaliers' roster for the 2025-2026 season.

Keep track of all of the players Virginia has contacted in the transfer portal here: Virginia Basketball: Transfer Portal Contact Live Tracker

Stay up to date on all the latest Virginia basketball transfer portal activity, including outbound transfers from the current roster and UVA's effort to pursue players in the portal, here: Virginia Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates