Elijah Saunders transfer portal: Top 5 landing spots for Virginia forward ft. VCU

Forward Elijah Saunders transferred to Virginia this past season after spending his first two college basketball seasons at San Diego State. However, after one season, he is back in the transfer portal. Saunders was the second-leading scorer for the Cavaliers, averaging 10.4 points per game. He is joined by the team's leading scorer, Isaac McKneely in the transfer portal.

The Cavaliers did not have an overly successful season, missing out on the NCAA Tournament. As a result, Saunders is in the transfer portal looking for a bigger opportunity on a team that is more likely to qualify. These are five of the best landing spots for him in the transfer portal.

Top 5 landing spots for Elijah Saunders in the transfer portal

#1 VCU

After a close 80-71 loss to BYU in the first round of March Madness, VCU will be looking to improve next season. The team had a balanced offense this season, with five players scoring at least 9.7 points per game. The Rams could be looking to have a similar approach next season, and as a result, Elijah Saunders would be a good fit.

Saunders will be able to put up points. However, he is not a ball-dominant forward and will not cause issues within the pre-established offensive system.

#2 Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt is likely to have many of its top players from last season back. As a result, the team will be looking to add scoring depth to give it a better chance of making a deep March Madness run. Elijah Saunders would be the perfect fit as he can slot in as a secondary scoring option.

#3 Robert Morris

Similar to VCU, Robert Morris had a balanced scoring approach this past season, with no player averaging more than 15 points per game. This approach nearly allowed them to pull off an upset in the first round, narrowly losing 90-81 to No. 2 Alabama. Adding Elijah Saunders could put them over the edge.

#4 High Point

Two of High Point's three leading scorers are leaving the team this season as seniors. As a result, if Saunders wants to have a bigger role on an NCAA Tournament quality team, the Panthers could be a good option.

#5 Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a more prestigious program, and as a result, it could be harder for Saunders to get consistent playing time with them. However, if he is confident in himself and wants to develop in a strong program, it could be a good fit.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Rajdeep Barman