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After just one season in Charlottesville, guard Taylor Barnette will not be returning to the Hoos next season.
The team announced early Wednesday afternoon that Barnette, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, will indeed be leaving the program in hopes of transferring to a different school.
"Taylor has informed me that he has decided to transfer from our program," Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett said in a statement. "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."
This announcement comes only a little over a month after guard Paul Jesperson left the team to transfer to the University of Northern Iowa.
Barnette, in his only season with the team, averaged 2.6 ppg in his appearances. He did, however, find his stroke during the end of the year, as he finished the season by draining 13 of 19 threes over the final 15 games of the season. He shot 43.2 percent from downtown.
The transfers may not have been entirely unexpected, as there was a serious logjam of perimeter players on the roster, and seeing time on the court was bound to be an issue for some reserves. Add to this the return of Malcolm Brogdon and the addition of two freshmen point guards, making for a crowded backcourt. Still, his role as a sparkplug scorer off the bench was valuable for a team that often struggled to put up a lot of points.
Ideally, the departures of Jesperson and Barnette would help smooth scholarships out over classes in the future. With Barnette leaving the program, the team currently stands at nine scholarship players plus the two incoming first-years, guards London Perrantes and Devon Hall.
The Hoos are looking to rebound off of a year that saw them narrowly miss the NCAA Tournament and gain a number 1 seed in the NIT.