Vermont gets their first portal commitment

The portal is flying fast and furious and Vermont landed their first commitment for next season from 6'0" point guard Darrel Yepdo. Fans may remember that Yepdo began his career at St. Michaels for three years before transferring to UMass Lowell last season. He played two seasons for the Purple Knights before sitting out the 24-25 season due to injury. Yepdo had a strong sophomore season where he averaged 14.9 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.8 rebounds while making the NE-10 all-conference second team and all defensive team. Last year at UMass Lowell he averaged 10.3 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.1 rebounds and passed 1,000 points for his career. Yepdo has shot 137/361 (38%) from three over his three seasons, bringing strong shooting at a high volume. For a team that needs lots of players, finding a veteran point guard who can bring shooting as well is an important piece. Yepdo has been a good playmaker throughout his career and is a strong rebounder despite his size. At times Yepdo has struggled with turnovers but will likely benefit from the Vermont system. The big question will be recapturing his defensive prowess. Lowell was not a good defensive team last season and Yepdo struggled on that side of the ball. He was a strong defender while at St. Michaels so the Vermont staff will work their magic to get him up to speed on that end of the court. Experience at the point guard position is very hard to find in the portal at the mid major level and not having true depth at point guard last season proved to be hard for the Cats. Vermont fills a big need with player who can start or come off the bench and give valuable veteran minutes. I would imagine there will be more commitments in the next few weeks as the portal picture starts to become clearer.