In a couple of weeks, the calendar will read July, and most of us will be getting on with our summer and spending time outdoors. College Basketball coaches have their teams on campus and in the gym, perfecting their craft during early summer workouts. Summer Workouts are the unofficial start of the college basketball season, even if there are another 3 months before practice officially starts.
Coaches want their teams to be as complete as possible by summer workouts. The transfer portal commitments are finalized, and it's a great time for fans to get an early look at what the teams will be putting on the floor in 2026-2027. As with any competition, there will be winners and losers.
The losers in the transfer portal were highlighted at the end of April, and now, with most of the transfer portal commitments done, let’s look at the transfer portal winners. These teams are the ones who didn’t lose much in the portal, gained a ton of talent, or retained their current roster. 10 teams stood out above the rest in the transfer portal.
Charlotte 49ers’
Wes Miller didn’t work out in Cincinnati, and as a result, he was relieved of his duties. Not to worry for Miller, though, as he quickly landed on his feet as the new head coach of Charlotte and takes over a team that has been on a big upward trend over the last handful of seasons. Miller is tasked with getting them over the hump in a winnable American Athletic Conference.
The transfer portal needs to be a friend to every brand-new coach, and Miller has knocked it out of the park with his first class. The 49ers have the makings of a dangerous team this season. Four of the five players played at Cincinnati, and all of them had success. Jizzle James is a budding star in the American. He averaged just over 10 points per game last season as a Bearcat, but it is his 44% three-point shooting that shows noticeable improvement under Miller. If he can continue to shoot at a high level, he will be a star.
Dylan Grant from Rutgers is the other high-profile addition to the Charlotte roster. Grant is an extremely athletic forward who makes some eye-popping plays. He is going to be one of the most explosive players in the American and will form a nice duo with James as the players who will do the bulk of the scoring. The rest of the class are all younger players with high ceilings from Cincinnati. Top 50 recruit Keyshuan Tillery is going to be the starting point guard played 31 games last season, and if he reaches his potential, he is good enough to be a massive star for the 49ers. Tyler McKinley and Jordy Rodriguez are the other adds. Grant and James are already two of the more talented players in the American Conference, and their additions change the projection for Charlotte. I'm high on the 49ers’ potential, and I believe their transfers all hit.
Tennessee Volunteers
Coach Barnes has secured the No. 1 portal class in the country, so Tennessee fans hope it doesn’t go to waste and will lead them to that elusive Final Four. The talent acquired in the transfer portal likely makes Tennessee a preseason top-5 team and a favorite to cut down the nets in April. The 8-player class is loaded and led by Juke Harris. Harris has SEC player of the year potential and was one of the best pure scorers in the game while at Wake Forest. Dai Dai Ames heads from California to Tennessee. Ames and fellow transfer portal mate Terance Hill from VCU are fantastic facilitators and are not afraid to score from the Point Guard spot. Hill had his breakout game in the NCAA Tournament and was the star in the double overtime victory over North Carolina. The final giant piece was Jalen Haralson from Notre Dame, who is going to dominate in the post and around the rim.
While Harris, Ames, Haralson, and Hill will be the stars, Coach Barnes was fantastic at finding role players to fill the holes on this roster. Tyler Lundblade is one of the elite shooters in the portal and will be given the green light when he is on the floor. Miles Rubin and Braedon Lue are the role players in the frontcourt. Rubin was the best player on a bad Loyola-Chicago team, and Lue is one of the interior defenders in the country. The Volunteers are likely to win a lot and have a team with star power and a ton of depth.
Kentucky Wildcats
It is no secret that Kentucky didn’t have a good enough backcourt to run coach Mark Pope’s run-and-gun style, which is predicated on shooting the three. Pope, like any other coach in his position, sought out athletic guards who could shoot in the transfer portal, and he gets an A+ for executing that goal.
The portal class didn’t wow many until recently, when Iowa State sharpshooter and the best player left in the portal, Milan Momcilovic, joined Kentucky. That gives Pope the elite wing he so desperately needs to run the offense. A wing who can score and shoot at a high percentage from deep is going to thrive in this offense. Momcilovic is one of the few Elite players in the country, and now he plays for Big Blue Nation.
The star is joined by a bevy of ballhandlers, most notably Zoom Diallo from Washington, who makes up for his lack of shooting with his elite ability to get to the rim and finish. Diallo has one of the best mid-range jump shooters in the game and can make something out of nothing most of the time. Diallo is a very hard guard. Alex Wilkins from Furman is a high-ceiling guy who showed a penchant for scoring and passing, but had too many turnovers and doesn't shoot it particularly well. Wilkins, being only a freshman, is an extreme upside for an otherwise fairly average player. Justin McBride is the scoring post. A stretch 4 will put pressure on the defense with his ability to shoot 40% from deep and finish at the rim. The former James Madison star has a chance to be a great rebounder. Franck Kepnang from Washington has been playing college basketball for a long time, and it's amazing he still has eligibility left. The minutes he plays will be filled with blocked shots and rebounds, not many points. Coach Pope has redeemed himself from a poor season with a good offseason.
Duke Blue Devils
It is strange to see Duke and their program associated with a transfer portal winner. Head coach Jon Scheyer has typically not used the portal, mostly because he doesn’t need to. It’s not hard to avoid getting talent in the transfer portal when your team consistently gets the top Freshman in the country every year.
This year is different, though. Duke has the top Freshman but also went out and got two of the better players in the transfer portal to help boost them to the Final Four and beyond. It is not acceptable at Duke to get knocked out of the NCAA Tournament in the Elite Eight, especially when you couple that with being one of the betting favorites to win the NCAA Tournament, and it doesn’t sit well with the Crazies.
The Duke name even carries weight in the transfer portal. John Blackwell from Wisconsin, who was the best pure scorer in the game, is now at Coach Scheyer's disposal. Blackwell is a volume shooter, but much of it was out of necessity for the Badgers. Blackwell is a player that an offense can be built around, and he can create his own shot. He fills a big need for Duke as a player who can get a bucket when you need one, which Duke didn’t always have last year.
The Blue Devils went and added an experienced post player who is extremely efficient and athletic enough to thrive in the Duke offense. Drew Scharnowski from Belmont shot over 68% from the floor, plays elite post defense, can rebound, and will be able to run the floor. He isn’t quite Cameron Boozer, but he will fill in admirably. It's going to be another year that the Blue Devils run away with the ACC.
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona is the most controversial team on the list of portal winners because they didn’t do anything flashy, and the Wildcats didn’t secure a top transfer portal star. Coach Tommy Lloyd has proven he doesn’t need to get a star to be successful. Perhaps most importantly, every player who signed to play at Arizona is one who fits exactly what coach Lloyd is trying to do. At this point, that is what we should all expect from this program, along with a massive amount of wins.
JJ Mandaquit from Washington was off to a promising start last year with the Huskies before a season-ending injury derailed his promising season. Mandaquit isn’t a shooter but a pass-first point guard who can get to the rim and finish, much like Jaden Bradley did at Arizona. Mandaquit, being a sophomore, gives coach Lloyd the chance to mold him into his full potential.
Derek Dixon played at North Carolina last season and was a great three-point shooter. The Wildcats don’t shoot a ton of threes, but they have capable shooters who will be three-point role players. The Arizona class isn’t flashy, but it is the perfect fit for Coach Lloyd, and these players will become fantastic college basketball players who will win a lot.
Texas Longhorns
Texas went and got an entire starting five in the portal. The prize of the portal class is Mikey Lewis from Saint Mary’s. The guard is a good three-point shooter, but wasn’t very efficient in Moraga. He won’t have to be a volume shooter in Austin, and the hope is that he will become far more efficient and turn into a star.
Isaiah Johnson and Amari Evans round out the backcourt commitments. Johnson is the player with the highest ceiling, and he had a fantastic season as a Freshman at Colorado. He is an efficient scorer from all three levels and stuffs a stat sheet. Johnson may only be at Texas for a year. Evans didn’t play much as a freshman at Tennessee and needs some development, but he has a high ceiling.
The frontcourt is led by David Punch, who had a breakout season with TCU. Punch is a fantastic two-way forward who can score inside the paint and will block a ton of shots. Punch is going to have quite the follow-up to his breakout season. Elyjah Freeman from Auburn is the post player who can score from the outside, draw the defense out of the paint, and let Punch get single coverage in the post. Freeman is a 15-point-per-game guy if given enough opportunity in the offense. Texas is back.
DePaul Blue Demons
The Blue Demons finally showed some signs of life in the non-conference and in the Big East. Head coach Chris Holtmann was not going to let the momentum go to waste and brought in a huge transfer class that makes the DePaul roster very intriguing.
Magoon Gwath from San Diego State was one of the best big men in the transfer portal. The big man can score in the post, step out and shoot threes at a high clip, and his biggest asset is his ability to play defense and protect the rim. There were a few players in the portal who could impact a game like Gwath, and he ended up at DePaul. He changes the trajectory of DePaul to a middle of the pack Big East team all by himself.
Gwath was already a huge win and would have landed DePaul on this list but when Holtmann was able to add Ade Popoola from Tulsa and Noah Meeusen gives the Blue Demons a top portal class and one of the best in the Big East. Popoola and Meeusen are both great three point shooters who will stretch the floor for Holtmann’s bunch. Meeusen has a higher ceiling but players will make an impact. DePaul is going to be much better and have enough talent to get to the NCAA Tournament, which for the current state of that program is a giant step forward.
Providence Friars
Bryan Hodgson turns programs around and wins. He has done it at Arkansas State, South Florida, and now the hope is he can turn the Friars around quickly and get Providence back to an annual participant in the NCAA Tournament. The transfer class that Hodgson has brought in suggests that it won’t be long before the Friars make it back to the March Madness.
Miles Byrd leads the transfer class. You can’t coach athleticism and Byrd has a ton of it. His per game numbers are not great, but most of that is due to the pace that San Diego State played with. Hodgson plays much faster and more wide open. His offensive style is going to allow Byrd to dominate in the Big East. Look for a breakout season from the wing.
Devin Vanterpool and Ryan Sabol are both elite scorers who can light it up from outside the arc. Hodgson-coached teams love to shoot threes and have two guys who make a lot of them, but can still score at a high level when they don't make them. Malik Mack is an experienced point guard who is a great passer and is great at getting to the rim. He has played a lot of basketball, which is a huge plus, but at times his shot selection is poor, which can hurt an offense. Samson Aletan is another experienced big man and defensive stalwart. He isn’t going to score a whole lot, but he will make sure the other team doesn’t.
Finally, there is Arrinten Page. Page has a ton of talent and, when he plays, can impact a game in many ways. Hopefully, coach Hodgson can get the best out of Page because no other coach has seemed to. He was benched by Chris Collins and Northwestern last year because he didn’t try very hard and had a poor attitude. If that gets fixed, he is a tremendous asset in the post because of his ability to shoot the ball and finish at the rim.
Louisville Cardinals
Say what you want about Pat Kelsey and his ability to coach his teams, but do not say anything about his ability to get talent into Louisville. It also appeared the Cardinals had a blank check for NIL when it came to finding transfer portal targets. I know that Louisville is rated as the No. 11 class according to On3, but this class should be the second-best class in the game.
Two huge portal additions have both played a ton of basketball and have both had a ton of success in the power conferences.
Flory Bidunga and Jackson Shelstad are those two players. Those players shouldn’t need much of an introduction, but let’s review. Shelstad played only 12 games last year at Oregon because of a hand injury, but that is behind him, and Louisville is getting an efficient scorer and a reliable three-point shooter. Shelstad is so much more than that; he is the head of the snake on both offense and defense, and he does it at an NBA level. He instantly makes Louisville better. Bidunga, the former Kansas star, is a monster in the paint. He isn’t going to shoot threes, but he will park himself in the paint, make most of the shots he takes, rebound like crazy, and block a ton of shots. Bidunga is arguably the best big man in the country.
Louisville has two big stars, but the rest of the class brings a ton of talent that makes the Cardinals a likely National Championship contender. Gabe Dynes and his 7’3” are an elite shot blocker. De’Shayne Montgomery has been great at mid-majors, but was a great role player at Georgia two seasons ago. He will likely fill that role again, even though he was fantastic last year at Dayton. Karter Knox is a high-ceiling athlete who doesn’t do anything flashy, but he won’t hurt you on offense or defense.
Alvaro Folgueiras has a ton of talent but is searching for consistency. He was fantastic with Iowa during their run to the Elite Eight. Louisville will need to try to harness the good because when he is good, the wing is one of the best players in the country. The bad is bad, and he disappears. Consistency is the key for Alvaro. If all these players hit, Louisville will be a Final Four team!
Vanderbilt Commodores
Tyler Tanner is gone, but head coach Mark Byington admirably filled the roster through the transfer portal to make up for the loss of the Commodores' star. Vanderbilt is out to prove that last season and the top of the SEC finish was not a fluke, but more of the norm under Byington.
Teams have to be athletic to be good in the SEC, and Bangot Dak from Colorado and Ace Glass fit that bill. Dak can do anything on the basketball court. He can bring the ball up, get to the rim, rebound, and score. His three-point shooting needs some work, but it can be great with a few tweaks. Dak is the best fit for rim running off the pick-and-roll. Ace Glass had a fantastic freshman season at Washington State, and he is the closest player with the Tanner skill set in the portal. That had to be the selling point for Coach Byington.
Sebastian Williams-Adams and Berke Buyuktuncel are the front-court pieces, and both of them will bring different things. Williams-Adams was only a freshman last year and showed he could be an offensive star and stat-sheet stuffer. Williams-Adams played significant minutes at Auburn last year and did a little bit of everything. Berke is a huge energy guy and a great defensive presence in the post. He can guard all 5 positions, and even though his offense was a work in progress at Nebraska, he never lacked confidence, and Commodore fans will love him and his work ethic.
TO Barrett from Missouri is the last portal commitment for Vanderbilt, and he isn’t flashy but is an experienced SEC player who averaged over 8 points per game last year. Barrett is a point guard who will get into the paint and do almost all of his scoring off the dribble. He doesn’t shoot very well at all. Barrett can get after it on defense, and with his ability to force turnovers, he significantly increases transition points when he comes in. Vanderbilt looks like they are here to stay and will be a factor in the SEC for years to come.
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