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Charlie Creme
With the transfer portal closed and so many players already decided on their next destinations, which teams emerged from the most chaotic part of the offseason in the best shape?
Some coaches completely remade their programs with transfers. Others supplemented and targeted needs. Both approaches found their way onto this list of the top 10 winners of the transfer portal.
The biggest names who entered the portal and have picked their next schools — Ta’Niya Latson, Olivia Miles, Cotie McMahon, MiLaysia Fulwiley — had considerable influence on the rankings and where those teams landed.
Winning the transfer portal doesn’t necessarily translate into winning championships, but more than half of this year’s Sweet 16 consisted of teams that relied heavily on the play of transfers.
Which teams might find that success in 2026?
Janiah Barker, UCLA, F
Nya Robertson, SMU, G
Jersey Wolfenbarger, LSU, F
The Lady Vols added three high-end rotational players to a roster that was already set to have most of its core back. The depth and versatility Kim Caldwell has at her disposal will be even greater in 2026. Barker began her career in the SEC with two years at Texas A&M before moving on to the Bruins this season. She brings an element of power to Tennessee’s frontcourt and can be part of Caldwell’s 3-point shooting barrage. Robertson is an all-court scorer who should fit right into the Tennessee pressing system, and Wolfenbarger adds more rim protection and rebounding in a 6-foot-5 player who can run the floor.
Denim DeShields, Mississippi State, G
Desrae Kyles, Central Michigan, C
Latasha Lattimore, Virginia, F
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State, F
Jayla Murray, Wichita State, F
Kaitlin Peterson, UCF, G
Debreasha Powe, Mississippi State, G
Tianna Thompson, Georgia Tech, G
Just one month after the Rebels’ season ended in the Sweet 16 and five key players used up their eligibility, Ole Miss has been remade. Yolett McPhee-McCuin added seven players from the portal, a diversified group that should give Ole Miss another chance at a competitive SEC season and a deep NCAA tournament run. McMahon is the headliner and could pair with rising sophomore Sira Thienou to form a duo that excels on both ends of the floor. Lattimore improved dramatically in her one year at Virginia and could provide some inside scoring, while Murray and Peterson give the Rebels some perimeter offense.
Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State, G
Madina Okot, Mississippi State, C
As good as the Gamecocks were this season in winning the SEC and reaching the NCAA championship game, they lacked in two areas: a reliable go-to scorer and an intimidating rim protector. Both of those needs were addressed in the portal. Losing MiLaysia Fulwiley stings, but Latson is not just an offensive upgrade; she is the most productive guard Dawn Staley has ever had in Columbia and led the nation in scoring in 2024-25. The 6-6 Okot showed great growth in her one year at Mississippi State and could be the kind of defensive disruptor that all of Staley’s best teams have had.
MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina, G
Amiya Joyner, East Carolina, F
Kate Koval, Notre Dame, C
This ranking would have been even higher had the Tigers not also lost six players to the portal. LSU still comes out ahead, though. Fulwiley (2023) and Koval (2024) were top-15 recruits in their respective classes. With post players Sa’Myah Smith, Jersey Wolfenbarger and Aalyah Del Rosario departing, Koval will have plenty of space and minutes to live up to the billing she wasn’t able to in one year with the Irish. Fulwiley’s arrival has two benefits: She gives coach Kim Mulkey more dynamic guard play, and her departure from South Carolina weakens the depth of LSU’s chief rival. Joyner will have to adjust to SEC play but has been a proven scorer for three years in the AAC.
Kennedy Basham, Arizona State, C
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame, G
Taliyah Parker, Texas A&M, G
Veronica Sheffey, San Diego State, G
Clara Silva, Kentucky, C
Marta Suarez, California, F
The formula worked for Mark Campbell this season and he’s going for it again with another transfer portal haul. Miles gives this group a chance to match the 34-win, Elite Eight season the Horned Frogs just had. Her ball handling, passing, excellence in transition and improved shooting make her an ideal fit for Campbell’s system. At 6-3, Suarez is a big wing who is a willing shooter, and Sheffey should benefit greatly from playing with Miles. How much the 6-7 Silva improves from her backup role in one year at Kentucky will be key to TCU’s short- and long-term success.
Yarden Garzon, Indiana, G
Gracie Merkle, Penn State, C
Oluchi Okananwa, Duke, G
Since the advent of the transfer portal, no coach has consistently used it to remake her teams as quickly as Brenda Frese. She loses program mainstay Shyanne Sellers to the draft and immediately gets Garzon. Merkle enters the program just as Allie Kubek elects to leave. Sarah Te-Biasu has one successful season with the Terps from VCU and then in comes Okananwa to fill that spot. Garzon’s size at 6-3, plus her point guard and shooting skills, will make her the centerpiece of a Maryland offense that might be even better than the one that was just the second-highest scoring team in the Big Ten.
Faith Acker, Tarleton State, C
Achol Akot, UCF, F
Tyla Heard, Oral Roberts, G
Haleigh Timmer, South Dakota State, G
Amari Whiting, BYU, G
The Cowgirls were one of the season’s surprise teams in 2024-25, but Jacie Hoyt was left with some holes to fill. She did just that in the portal. Whiting and Timmer should fit well with Micah Gray and Stailee Heard in what is now a deep and talented backcourt, and Heard now also gets to play with her younger sister Tyla. Akot provides some missing size as well as a familiarity with the Big 12. All but Timmer in this group have multiple years of eligibility remaining.
Ella Brow, SMU, G
Yuting Deng, Auburn, G
Kiersten Johnson, Oklahoma, F
Kiera Pemberton, North Dakota, F
Taliah Scott, Auburn, G
Scott made the jump from Auburn to Baylor early in the transfer portal window and the Bears will be her third team in three years. If healthy, Scott is the firepower that Baylor needs after four of the Bears’ top five scorers graduated. Nicki Collen added another Auburn guard in Deng who might be the wild card to Baylor’s entire offseason. Deng showed flashes of brilliance as the Tigers’ point guard, but she played only 12 games after joining the team at midseason. Pemberton, one of the Summit League’s best players as a sophomore, is an unheralded but important portal acquisition and rounds out a complete rebuild of Baylor’s backcourt.
Skylar Jones, Arizona, G
Reyna Scott, Oklahoma, G
Laura Ziegler, Saint Joseph’s, F
Landing Ziegler elevated the Cardinals into this top 10. She is the inside scorer that Jeff Walz hasn’t had the past few seasons. The ACC will provide new challenges, but her production should eventually get near the level that produced 20 double-doubles with the Hawks this season. Jones should help offset the loss of leading scorer Jayda Curry. Scott will get more opportunity than was likely to come at Oklahoma and adds backcourt depth behind Imari Berry at the point and Tajianna Roberts on the wing.
Anaya Brown, Tennessee-Martin, F
Grace Hall, Penn State, F
Jzaniya Harriel, Stanford, G
Elise Hill, Tulsa, G
Sahnya Jah, Arizona, G
Zahra King, California, G
Paulina Paris, Arizona, G
Mailien Rolf, Arizona, G
Tyi Skinner, Arizona State, G
Ayanna Thompson, Ole Miss, F
SMU decided it needed to make some changes to better compete in the ACC and brought in Adia Barnes from Arizona to take over the program. And then she made changes of her own. No program gained more (10 players) and lost more (nine players) in the portal than the Mustangs. The result is a completely new team. Barnes will have former Wildcats in Jah, Paris and Rolf to lean on early next season. Harriel and King have spent a year in the ACC and can help teammates such as Brown, who led UT Martin in scoring and rebounding, and Hill adjust to the new surroundings.
Honorable mention: Illinois Fighting Illini, Virginia Cavaliers, Miami Hurricanes
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