The spring transfer portal period in college basketball has come to a close. In this age of the sport, a large number of players entered the portal and found themselves with new homes, greatly changing the outlook for every team as they look ahead to next season.
Which teams and players benefited the most from the start of the portal to the end? We’ll start with a team that claimed a 2-seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament but restocked their roster and looks to be even better ahead of 2026.
College Basketball’s Biggest Spring Transfer Portal Winners
St. John’s Red Storm
After losing eight of their top nine scorers from a season ago to either the transfer portal, NBA Draft, or graduation, it may have seemed bleak for the Red Storm. But coach Rick Pitino went to work, bringing in the country’s top 2025 transfer portal class, per 247 Sports.
The headliners were former Cincinnati forward Dillon Mitchell (9.9 points, 6.9 rebounds) and former North Carolina guard Ian Jackson (11.9 points)—both former five-star prospects and contributors a season ago.
But Pitino didn’t end there, as he also secured commitments from Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, Stanford guard Oziyah Sellers, and Arizona State freshman guard Joson Sanon. Idaho State guard Dylan Darling dominated in the Big Sky Conference a season ago and could contribute off the bench after averaging 19.8 points and 5.7 assists.
In all, it was a significant coup for Pitino and St. John’s to remake the roster with several highly-regarded transfers to play beside First Team All-Big East forward Zuby Ejiofor, who should contend for the Big East Player of the Year award in 2026.
Yaxel Lendeborg
The top-ranked player in the portal per 247 Sports, Lendeborg entered the portal after averaging 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 3.5 steals and blocks combined for UAB last season. Shortly thereafter, he announced his commitment to join the Michigan Wolverines, with a caveat.
Along with his commitment, Lendeborg declared for the 2025 NBA Draft and will go through the draft process before deciding whether to go pro or join the Michigan program next season.
It’s a win-win for the former UAB forward, who seems to be rising up draft boards and is now projected as a fringe first-rounder. While that could be enticing, his NIL valuation if he were to follow through on his commitment with the Wolverines would be $2.3 million—in comparison, likely more than he’d make in the first year of his NBA rookie contract.
It’s hard to criticize a player who has to make a decision. Does he follow through with a dream of making it to the NBA while still making good money, or secure even more money and chase a national title at the college level?
While it’s a big decision, there is no wrong choice, making it a favorable spot for Lendeborg.
Louisville Cardinals
Head coach Pat Kelsey and Louisville found themselves in a similar position as St. John’s, with a senior-laden squad that needed retooling ahead of next season.
Kelsey and his staff aggressively acquired three of the best players in the portal in Xavier guard Ryan Conwell, Virginia guard Isaac McKneely and Kennesaw State guard Adrian Wooley.
Both Conwell and McKneely are proven contributors at the major D-1 level, with the former scoring 16.5 points on 45.0% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range and the latter scoring 14.4 points on 42.1% from three. Conwell will fill in as a dynamic, go-to scoring option while McKneely is as good a shooter as there is in college basketball.
Wooley, on the other hand, is a bit of a wild-card. Just a three-star prospect out of high school, he joined the Owls prior to the 2024-25 season and was immediately their top player, averaging 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists while shooting 51.2% from the field and 42.2% from deep.
At 6’5″, he was able to get wherever he wanted on the floor and the hope is his game will translate to something similar at Louisville. If it comes anywhere close, he’ll be one of the Cardinals’ top contributors right away.
Add in the coaching acumen of Kelsey, who’s heading into his second season at the helm after engineering a 19-win turnaround, and the Cardinals look poised to compete for an ACC title in 2026.
Robert Wright III
As a freshman, Wright started 21 of 35 games for the Baylor Bears and produced a solid stat line of 11.5 points and 4.2 assists. The No. 1 point guard in the 2024 class, the future looked bright for the Bears guard as he looked to be headed for a featured role in the seasons ahead.
No longer, as he’s now a member of the BYU Cougars who wooed him away from Baylor after putting an offer on the table that Wright couldn’t resist: a reported $3.5 million.
He happily accepted and will now play alongside the top-ranked forward in the 2025 class, A.J. Dybantsa, whose NIL valuation is $3.8 million.
Wright’s decision was a no-brainer. He secured the bag and will be part of a highly talented Cougars squad that hopes to improve upon its Sweet Sixteen appearance last season.
Iowa Hawkeyes
Not only did the Hawkeyes get their head coach for the foreseeable future in Ben McCollum, but they also brought in five of his players, who helped Drake rise from an 11-seed to the second round in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Lead guard Bennett Stirtz will immediately step in as one of the top players in the Big Ten after averaging 19.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. NBA buzz was high for the former Bulldogs guard after he scored 21 points in both tournament games, but he’s set on playing out his senior season at Iowa.
They also brought in a proven contributor in guard Brendan Hausen who started every game and scored 10.9 points for Kansas State last season.
Transfer forward Alvaro Folgueiras scored 14.1 points and grabbed 9.1 rebounds for Robert Morris as a sophomore. He could be a starter at the major D-1 level, as he had 15 points and 10 rebounds against Alabama in the NCAA Tournament.
After barely finishing above .500 at 17-16 a year ago, McCollum has the Hawkeyes program looking up.
Indiana Hoosiers
When the transfer portal opened, the thought of the Hoosiers coming out as winners was hard to imagine. Nearly every player from the 2024-25 edition of Indiana departed, either via the portal or graduation. New head coach Darian DeVries had his work cut out for him to build an entirely new roster.
The roster-building began close to home, as DeVries welcomed his son, West Virginia guard Tucker DeVries, to his new program. The younger DeVries averaged 14.9 points last season. The commitments kept coming, many of them as the best players on lower D-1 programs.
That list included Sam Houston guard Lamar Wilkerson (20.5 points), Troy guard Tayton Conerway (14.2 points), Elon guard/forward Nick Dorn (15.2 points), Davidson forward Reed Bailey (18.8 points) and a pair of North Florida players in guard Jasai Miles and forward Josh Harris.
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Though Indiana may not qualify as a top-tier championship contender in the Big Ten, it was a major step in the right direction for DeVries to show off his recruiting acuity as he aims to redirect the Hoosiers into national relevance.
Cedric Coward
Coward’s college basketball career has been full of significant victories and continued during the spring transfer portal period.
After beginning his career at D-3 Willamette University in Oregon, Coward transferred after his freshman season and joined the Eastern Washington Eagles for two seasons. In his junior season, he was named Big Sky first-team All-Conference and used that to propel himself to an offer from Washington State, where he spent the 2024-25 season.
However, due to a shoulder injury, he only appeared in six games. But he dominated in those games, scoring 17.7 points and 7.0 rebounds, including an increasing comfort level from beyond the arc for the 6’6″, 205-pound guard.
Now, he’s headed to join the Duke Blue Devils for his senior season—if he gets there, as Coward is drawing a lot of NBA Draft buzz and remains open to the idea of jumping to the pros.
Just three seasons removed from hooping at the D-3 level, Coward may either hear his name called during the 2025 NBA Draft or play for the Blue Devils in 2026. Either way, it’s a can’t lose proposition for the former Willamette guard.
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