Virginia women’s basketball landed another transfer commitment, as Florida State guard Raiane Dias Dos Santos announced her commitment to UVA in an Instagram post on Saturday (April 19). A 5’9″ guard originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Dias Dos Santos is the fifth transfer to join Coach Mox and the Cavaliers this offseason.
Before coming to the United States to begin her college basketball career, Raiane Dias Dos Santos played for Brazil in the U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Hungary in 2021, a tournament in which she scored 19 points in a Round of 16 matchup against the Czech Republic. She began her college career at the NJCAA Division I level at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, Florida, where she played 33 games and made 12 starts, averaging 11.8 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 12.5 minutes per game.
Dias Dos Santos had 21 games in double-figures in her freshman year at Gulf Coast and ended the season with a stretch of eight-consecutive games with at least 10 points, after which she transferred to the Division I level and the ACC, joining Florida State. In her lone season as a Seminole, Dias Dos Santos played in 31 of FSU’s 33 games with one start and averaged 2.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game in just under 12 minutes per contest. She shot 38.2% from the floor and 30.6% from beyond the arc.
Dias Dos Santos saw eight minutes of action late in Florida State’s 101-68 victory at Virginia on February 6th. In that game at John Paul Jones Arena, Dias Dos Santos attempted three three-pointers and knocked one of them down, finishing with three points and two rebounds. Less than three months later, Dias Dos Santos returns to Charlottesville to join the UVA women’s basketball program.
With the NCAA’s recent ruling regarding the eligibility of players who started their careers at the JUCO and community college levels, it’s possible that Raiane Dias Dos Santos comes to Virginia with as many as three years of eligibility remaining. But she will have, at the very least, two years of eligibility remaining as she joins the Cavaliers for the 2025-2026 season.
Virginia has picked up five transfer commitments this offseason, with Raiane Dias Dos Santos joining Central Florida forward Adeang Ring, NC State forward Caitlin Weimar, LSU forward Sa’Myah Smith, and South Florida guard Romi Levy. The Cavaliers have lost six players to the transfer portal this offseason: forwards Latasha Lattimore and Edessa Noyan, guards Payton Dunbar, Kamryn Kitchen, and Casey Valenti-Paea, and center Hawa Doumbouya. All but Valenti-Paea and Doumbouya have announced their new destinations, with Lattimore heading to Ole Miss, Noyan committing to Indiana, Dunbar transferring to Providence, and Kitchen going to Arizona.
With the five transfers Virginia has added to its roster so far this offseason, the Cavaliers currently have 13 players projected to be on their roster for the 2025-2026 season, though that assumes that all players with additional eligibility remaining are indeed returning to UVA next season. Here’s a breakdown:
Returners (7): Kymora Johnson, Paris Clark, Breona Hurd, Olivia McGhee, Yonta Vaughn, RyLee Grays, Jillian Brown
Departures (7): Latasha Lattimore, Edessa Noyan, Payton Dunbar, Taylor Lauterbach, Casey Valenti-Paea, Kamryn Kitchen, Hawa Doumbouya
Additions (6): Adeang Ring, Caitlin Weimar, Sa’Myah Smith, Romi Levy, Raiane Dias Dos Santos, Gabby White
We’re keeping track of all of Virginia’s transfer portal activity this offseason, including Cavaliers entering the portal and UVA’s pursuit of transfer targets. See our transfer portal tracker here: Virginia Women’s Basketball Transfer Portal: Latest News and Updates
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