Virginia secured its fourth transfer commitment of the offseason when VCU freshman forward shared on social media Wednesday morning (April 9th) that he would be joining UVA. Carrere, originally from Pontonx-sur-l’Adour, France, redshirted last season at VCU, meaning he has four years of eligibility left at Virginia.
Listed as a guard/forward on the official VCU roster, Carrere is 6’8″ and weighs 180 pounds. Prior to joining VCU, he gained significant experience competing at both amateur and professional levels in France. Carrere represented the French National Team at the U18 EuroBasket Tournament in the summer of 2024, where he averaged 6.7 points per game in just over 16 minutes of play, shooting 41.9% from three-point range. His standout performance in the tournament came against Denmark in the group stage, where he scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out three assists, and recorded one steal and one block, finishing with a +10 rating in 17 minutes of action.
In 2023-2024, Carrere played in the Betclic Elite U21 league, considered the top-tier professional basketball league in France, averaging 8.6 points per game and shooting 38.8% from three-point range to help his team, Limoges CSP Elite U21, finish with a 21-13 record. When that season ended, Carrere helped lead the Next Generation Paris U18 Team to the championship at the Adidas Next Generation Paris Tournament, averaging 5.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in a little under 20 minutes per game and shooting 57.1% from beyond the arc.
When Ryan Odom was announced as the next head coach of the Virginia men’s basketball program, there was quite a bit of speculation that at least a few of his players from VCU would follow him to Charlottesville. VCU freshmen Brandon Jennings and Luke Bamgboye entered the transfer portal and were seen on Grounds at UVA a week after Odom was hired. At that point, it seemed likely those two Rams would be the first transfers Odom acquired at Virginia.
Instead, neither have committed to Virginia and Jennings announced on Tuesday (April 8) that he will be withdrawing from the portal and returning to VCU next season. Bamgboye has yet to announce his decision, and so Martin Carrere is the first, and so far only, VCU player to transfer to Virginia this offseason. With that said, Odom was also able to flip the commitment of four-star center and Hampton, Virginia native Silas Barksdale from VCU to UVA, giving the Cavaliers two four-star Virginia natives – Barksdale and Charlottesville’s own Chance Mallory – in their incoming freshmen class for next season.
Martin Carrere is the fourth transfer to commit to Virginia this offseason, joining Toledo guard Sam Lewis, North Dakota State guard Jacari White, and Oklahoma guard Duke Miles. With those four transfers and the two incoming freshmen set to join UVA’s lone returning scholarship player from last season, Elijah Gertrude, the Cavaliers now have seven scholarship players on their roster for next season. Expect Ryan Odom and his staff to continue to be aggressive in the portal over the next few weeks, particularly targeting experienced forwards and centers to man the Virginia front court next season.
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