It’s completely predictable. A coach of a struggling team is fired and before his replacement has even unpacked his boxes, several key players transfer. It makes sense. Things weren’t going well and the guys are obviously frustrated. They don’t know what to expect from the new guy, so they head out for greener pastures.
When Dave Leitao came to Virginia, he lost two key players, big man Donte Minter and wing guard Gary Forbes. Minter eventually popped up at Appalachian State while Forbes went to UMass. Each of those guys is now the second leading scorer on a tourney-worthy (or close) team.
Before Leitao was even hired, UVA lost talented wingman Derrick Byars, who transferred to Vanderbilt. Byars is now the leading scorer for the Commodores and helped lead their upset over #1 ranked Florida last weekend.
Given how much UVA relies on two players for their scoring, don’t you think Leitao would have liked to have kept those guys? And just how bad was Pete Gillen? Leitao has this team, with almost all Gillen players, in first place in the ACC even without those three. Gillen led that bunch to dead last in the ACC.