Virginia Tech basketball gets Florida transfer

Virginia Tech’s basketball team has received a commitment from Allan Chaney, a 6-8, 231-pound forward who played sparingly as a freshman last season at Florida. Chaney, who is from Baltimore, will be on scholarship next season while sitting out under NCAA transfer rules. He will be eligible to play in 2010-11.

Before the Hokies landed Chaney, they were already on track to have an NCAA-maximum 13 scholarship players next season. They are scheduled to return nine scholarship players from last season’s team and welcome four freshmen.

Tech head coach Seth Greenberg cannot publicly comment on Chaney until he signs a national letter of intent.

Chaney played in 23 of Florida’s 36 games last season, averaging 9.8 minutes, three points and 2.1 rebounds. His playing time was limited during the second half of the season because of a sprained arch in his left heel.

Gators coach Billy Donovan said March 20 that he was suspending Chaney for the rest of the season, which amounted to one more game, a loss to Penn State in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals. Donovan did not give a reason for the suspension. “First of all he’s injured, so he couldn’t play anyway,“ Donovan told reporters at the time. “It’s just other things that I dealt with.“

Florida announced April 10 that Chaney was transferring. “Allan, his family and I have spoken and we have mutually decided that he will be transferring from the University of Florida,“ Donovan said in a statement.—Darryl Slater