Although there are still many uncommitted prospects available, several teams have already completed successful roster overhauls this offseason. The college basketball transfer portal closed on May 1. While some teams on this list—Kansas, North Carolina, Alabama, and South Carolina—made the preseason top 25, other teams—Kentucky and Arkansas—entered the discussion with significant portal hauls.
Out of the top 100 rankings, seventeen transfer prospects are still looking for a team. Before everything settles, a few more teams may be added to this list because there will be a lot of movement over the next few weeks.
It is unlikely that the record number of transfer portal entries set in 2024 will be surpassed because more than 1,900 players, including the final round of super COVID seniors, entered the portal for the 2024 cycle. Earlier this week, we unveiled our final portal rankings, a top 150 chock-full of impact starters and future college basketball stars.
Darian DeVries took over a 9–23 team, so he had his work cut out for him. Six transfers have committed to play for him since he arrived at work early; among them are four-star players Javon Small and his son Tucker DeVries. At Oklahoma State last season, Small, the No. 9 prospect and No. 2 point guard, averaged 15.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while shooting 37.4% and 44.1% from the field.
Entering the transfer portal as a top-10 contender, Baylor emerged as a legitimate top-five team for the upcoming season. With the addition of former Duke standout Jeremy Roach at the point, the Bears have one of the best backcourts in the country after signing the top-ranked shooting guard in the class of 2024. With Miami transfer Norchad Omier, the top-ranked power forward in the portal, Scott Drew also addressed the dearth of players in the front court.
After an outstanding season at Seton Hall, where he averaged 15.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game, Kadary Richmond, the top overall player in the portal, was recruited by St. John’s. He’ll get along well with No. 13 overall prospect Devon Smith, a fellow transfer guard. At 6 feet 5 inches, Richmond is a tall and lean player, and at 5 feet 11 inches, Smith is one of the class’s most explosive guards. This appears to be Rick Pitino’s best backcourt in ten years on paper. The team gains much-needed three-point shooting from the wing in Aaron Scott, a four-star recruit, while seven-foot center Vincent Iwuchukwu has a ton of unrealized potential.
