Peter Casey-USA Today Sports
On Wednesday afternoon, the Virginia Cavaliers issued a press release stating that freshman guard Taylor Barnette had opted to leave the program and transfer elsewhere to continue his collegiate career.
“Taylor has informed me that he has decided to transfer from our program,” Virginia head coach Tony Bennett said in the release. “His main reason is that he wants a bigger role as a player at another school. His release will be granted and we wish him well.”
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Barnette, an original native of Lexington, Kentucky, was a three-star recruit coming out of high school, according to Rivals.com and the reasoning behind his decision to leave Virginia is simply based off the fact that he wants to pursue a larger role with a different program. Barnette averaged only 2.6 points per game in 26 games this past season. He shot 43.2% from beyond the arc last season, showing promise of being a consistent outside shooter.
“I am grateful for the opportunity given to me by Coach Bennett and his staff,” Barnette said. “I will miss all of the great people I have had the opportunity to live life with this past year, especially all of my awesome teammates.”
Barnette has plenty of upside at the collegiate level, so his choice shouldn’t really come as all that much of a surprise. Barnette wants to play and he wants to play in a system in which he can flourish and have a larger role. At this point, it remains unclear where Barnette will look to continue his collegiate career, but he will have three years of eligibility remaining wherever he so chooses.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
