The transfer portal has now officially closed, which means the rest of the college basketball world is on commitment watch. A lot of guys have already committed to power conference schools, so now comes the time when those schools get desperate and start to overpay for players who are not worth what they are going to get paid.
After that phase, the sport can move on to the next phase of the offseason, the discount phase of the transfer portal. This is the phase when the players get desperate to find a place to play and will play at a discount. Most of these guys will be backups at the Power Five level. This is often the phase when mid-majors use the transfer portal to fill their rosters.
Now that we know how the transfer process will work for the rest of the offseason, it’s time to discuss the teams that didn’t fare very well during the transfer portal period. Every fanbase should take some solace in knowing that if your team is on this list, there is time to build a decent roster from the transfer portal. It will take exceptional talent evaluation and some NIL money, but it is only April, so there is still time.
Northwestern Wildcats
Northwestern has one of the best coaches in the Big Ten, but one of the lowest NIL’s in all of the power conferences. As a result, it will always be hard for the Wildcats to retain talent. Add that to the fact that Northwestern struggled mightily last season. Those two things usually lead to a mass exodus of talent to the transfer portal. Usually, this means the next season will be an entirely new roster, especially when losing 53% of your scoring to the transfer portal and another 36% to graduation.
The Wildcats lost star Nick Martinelli to graduation, but it's the unexpected losses that secured the Wildcats place on this list. Freshman star Tre Singleton transferred to Iowa State; high-ceiling freshman Tyler Kropp committed to Washington State; and point guard Jordan Clayton committed to UMass. There was a big man, Arrinten Page, who committed to Providence and seldom used. KJ Windham transferred to James Madison. All of these transfers
Page and Windham fell out of favor during the season, and their transfers made sense. The exodus of players left coach Collins with just Jake West and Angelo Ciravino returning, at least from those who got minutes. Jack Karasinski is the prize of the portal. He can put the ball in the basket, but he doesn’t defend at all, and that is a problem in the Big 10. Collin Smith, Okku Federiko, and LA Pratt are the others who have signed out of the portal, but it is still going to be hard to make up for the talent that was lost in the portal, especially from Singleton and Kropp.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Micah Shrewsberry took the job at Notre Dame with one goal in mind: to turn the basketball program around, and to date, he has failed in that task. The Irish have not had a winning season under Shrewsberry, and now they have been gutted in the transfer portal. I don’t know what the NIL number is for Notre Dame, but they are undoubtedly giving it to football, and basketball is going to have to earn it.
As a result of the potentially lower NIL funding, the Fighting Irish roster lost the majority of its “fight” to the transfer portal. Star players Jalen Haralson and Markus Burton have entered the portal. Haralson is off to Tennessee, and Burton is headed to Indiana. Cole Certa transferred to Clemson. That leaves one starter returning for coach Shrewsberry, and the player returning is his son. Outside of that, the Irish need to replace 80% of the scoring and over 120 combined minutes per night. That is a tall order!
In addition to the starters, Notre Dame has also lost some key bench pieces. Garrett Sundra is off to James Madison. Sir Mohamed and Kebba Njie are in the transfer portal. To date, the Irish have yet to secure a notable commitment in the transfer portal, but high-ceiling big man Brady Koehler announced his return. Koehler will help, but Notre Dame still needs to fill out a roster. That likely happens in the next few weeks during the discount phase, but the talent lost will be hard to replace. Looks like another lean year for the Irish.
Penn State Nittany Lions
There is a debate going on that the Nittany Lions were one of the worst power-conference teams ever. Well, unfortunately for the fans in Happy Valley, the 2026-2027 season may be worse. It is extremely hard to win at Penn State; fans don’t go to games when the team is bad, and the athletic department has decided to pour money into a failing football program rather than build up the basketball program. The results of that decision were devastating to a young roster.
Kayden Mingo and Freddie Dilione were the stars. Mingo committed to Baylor, and Dilione committed to Georgia. Depth pieces Dominick Stewart transferred to Richmond. Melih Tunca decided it was easier to return to Turkey than to stay in college. Finally, Eli Rice committed to Middle Tennessee, and Sasa Ciani entered the transfer portal. That equates to 70% of the previous season's scoring.
That is a lot of turnover for a 12-win team, which isn’t always a bad thing. Still, when the Nittany Lions have not added anyone of note outside of keeping big man Ivan Juric, it doesn’t exactly show a team headed in a positive direction. Jay Rodgers from Central Connecticut, Roberts Blums from Davidson, Tim Oboh from Buffalo, and Brant Byers from Miami, Ohio, round out the Penn State transfer portal class. Byers is the best of the bunch, and his ability to play power five basketball is questionable. The rest of those guys are all rough around the edges and don’t excite the fan base. The Nittany Lions are currently starless for the upcoming season.
Oklahoma State Cowboys
Steve Lutz is doing an incredible job as the head coach at Oklahoma State. Any time a team can win 20 games while allowing as many points as you score, it should be celebrated. Oklahoma State was loaded with athleticism; as a result, they put a ton of pressure on opponents' defenses. So how did they end up on this list? Well, the majority of the roster were seniors, and the rest of the contributors have decided to put their names in the transfer portal.
Not including the seniors, coach Lutz needs to replace 33% of his scoring lost through the portal; the Cowboys will be without 89% of their scoring overall heading into the season. The Cowboys lost Vyctorious Miller, Isaiah Coleman, and Jaylen Curry to the transfer portal.
Oklahoma State may not be on this list for long because they have been able to get some very intriguing commitments, including Luka Bogavac from North Carolina, Andrija Grbovic from Arizona State, Kashie Natt, and Jacob Walker from Sam Houston State. Coach Lutz is trying to get younger and much better defensively, as Natt is a defensive specialist. Those additions are nice, but they don’t come close to making up for what was lost. It is still early, and I think Oklahoma State finds its way off this list soon.
LSU Tigers
There will be a time when we all look back on this article and laugh, as the season goes on, about the LSU roster ever thinking they would be considered a portal loser. Will Wade is going to turn LSU into a perennial NCAA Tournament team, at least that was the hope when he was hired to lead LSU for the second time.
The facts are that every player on the Tigers' roster entered the transfer portal. Some of those were likely because coach Wade forced some into the portal, and others were just looking for other opportunities. Coach Wade has a tall task ahead of him, trying to find a roster in the portal, and not just a roster, but one that is expected to compete at a high level in the SEC. Given that, and knowing that LSU only had one player committed in the second-to-last week of April, it is a tad concerning.
The player committed is Mo Dioubate, formerly of Alabama, who will be great for Will Wade. Unfortunately for Dioubate, no one has won a game with just one player. Coach Wade better start getting serious in the portal before he has to start overpaying just to get anyone to play for him. The talent is dwindling, and it looks very likely that it could be another long year in Baton Rouge.
Santa Clara Broncs
The Broncs finally got back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1996. It was a testament to head coach Herb Sendek’s patience as he has consistently been one of the top teams in the West Coast Conference. Coach Sendek has even produced a star in the NBA in Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even with Santa Clara being a desirable place to play, the transfer portal was unkind.
The Broncs have another player, Allen Graves, who is testing the NBA draft process, but has also put his name in the transfer portal. Graves is going to go to a blue blood if he doesn’t end up in the NBA. Star guard Christian Hammond committed to NC State; big man Bukky Oboye committed to Auburn; and other big man Elijah Mahi has graduated. Mahi isn’t a transfer portal loss, but it is still a body to replace.
Santa Clara hasn’t received any commitments in the transfer portal to date, which makes sense given the potential NIL discrepancies between the Broncs and power-conference schools. Even though there have not been any commitments, coach Sendek was able to lure his point guard, Sash Gavalyugov, out of the transfer portal and back to Santa Clara. Sometimes the best gets are your own players.
San Diego State Aztecs
The Aztecs are one of the premier mid-major teams in college basketball. They win a lot, and they are known for their defense. Head coach Brian Dutcher is also known for finding talent, coaching defense, and player development. That, unfortunately, makes the players from San Diego State appealing to most power-conference teams.
The Aztecs have lost players to the transfer portal before, but may not have ever lost as much talent as they did this year. Star big man Magoon Gwath entered the transfer portal last year before being convinced to stay. There was no convincing this year, and he is headed to DePaul. Taj DeGourville is on his way to Nebraska, Bj Davis is headed to Creighton, Pharoah Compton is committed to Oregon, and finally, Miles Bird is committed to Providence.
Every single transfer is going to a power five school. I know it hurts for the Aztecs to have to build a new roster, but all five guys going to a power conference school speaks volumes about the level of that program. Chance Gladden, a young, promising star from Boston University, has committed to play for the Aztecs. Even with a new starting five, San Diego State is too well-coached to be down for long.
Wisconsin Badgers
Wisconsin has been one of the premier programs in the country, a perennial NCAA Tournament team, Big Ten Champions, and, most recently, one of the best offensive teams. Head coach Greg Gard has the Badgers expected to be good every season and to have a lot of talent. However, given what has transpired during the offseason, this may be the year that the Badgers struggle.
Wisconsin allegedly has an NIL problem and didn’t have enough money to keep superstar all-conference guard John Blackwell. Blackwell was a high-dollar player, but was last offseason as well. Blackwell is taking his talents to Duke, a great place for a star like him. Aleksas Bielauskas was a freshman with a very high ceiling and another player the Badgers had to let go elsewhere. Bielauskas ended up at South Carolina, where he will likely become a star in the SEC.
Wisconsin didn’t receive all bad news as star big man Nolan Winter announced his return, but the rest of the roster leaves a lot to be desired, which is not something the Badgers are used to. Trey Autry, Victory Onuetu, and Eian Elmer make up the transfer class. Elmer comes from Miami, Ohio, Autry from George Washington, and Onuetu from Hofstra make up the class. It's still early, but this roster may struggle in the Big Ten, given that, outside of Elmer, the portal additions may struggle in a power conference.
Seton Hall Pirates
Seton Hall is an interesting job. It’s easily the most popular school in New Jersey, and the Pirate fans love and support the university. In the pre-NIL era, that would have been enough for head coach Shaheen Holloway to secure an excellent recruiting class and make a run at the NCAA Tournament. However, in the post-NIL era, the reality is that Seton Hall may not have the money the other Big East schools have, and that puts them behind the 8-ball.
21-win teams don’t usually lose their entire roster like the Pirates did, but point guard Budd Clark committed to Ole Miss, TJ Simpkins has committed to Mississippi State, and Najai Hines went to UConn. In all, the Pirates lost every starter and had 8 players enter the transfer portal. When those 8 players were added to the players out of eligibility, only Trey Parker remained as the lone contributor back from the 2025 season.
Coach Hollowell has added some nice pieces in Simeon Wilcher from Texas and Roddie Anderson from Xavier, but it is going to take a lot more in the portal for Seton Hall to feel comfortable about their roster. There are a few power conference teams that struggled more to retain players than the Seton Hall Pirates.
Georgetown Hoyas
Georgetown hired Ed Cooley with the hopes of bringing the program back to prominence. That has happened, at least not over the first three years he has been on the hilltop. It isn’t because of a lack of talent, but because the talent doesn’t mesh well. Outside of the College Basketball Crown appearance in the 2025 season, the Hoyas have been a bottom-tier power conference team.
Losing most of the roster from the 2026 season isn't going to bring about much confidence that 2027 will be any different than 2026. KJ Lewis committed to USC, Malik Mack committed to Providence, Deshawn Harris-Smith, Jayden Fort, Isaiah Abraham, Hasham Asadallah, Langson Love, Vince Iwuchukwu, and Julius Halaifonua have all entered the transfer portal looking for their next destination.
That left no significant contributors on the roster, and Cooley would have to build this from scratch. Any time a big-name team loses that much in the transfer portal, they are always going to be talked about. The good news for the Hoyas is that things are starting to look up. Jaland Lowe and Elmarko Jackson were signed from the transfer portal. There are more coming down the pipeline, but if Cooley can get a healthy Lowe and Jackson can turn into the player Kansas recruited, then build around those two this year, and good things will happen. Otherwise, it will be quiet on the Hilltop.
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