Winners, losers of women’s college basketball transfer portal so far

Mitchell Northam, USA TODAYMon, April 27, 2026 at 10:06 AM UTC

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The transfer portal for women’s college basketball closed on April 20. While players remaining in the portal can still commit to new schools, most of the top prospects have already found homes for next season.

Some schools saw many players leave, while others were able to bolster their rosters with new talent, that at least on paper, should fit right in. With the bulk of the portal traffic done, some teams became contenders while others were left with rebuilding projects.

With rosters taking shape and many of the major decisions settled, it’s time to evaluate which teams won and lost the transfer portal.

1 / 0NCAA women's basketball tournament champions since 2000

2026: UCLA Bruins

WinnersOklahoma State

No team made a bigger splash in the transfer portal this offseason than Oklahoma State. Jacie Hoyt has completely revamped her roster after a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. Nine former Cowgirls entered the transfer portal, but one could make the argument Hoyt and her staff have improved this roster and turned it into one of the best in the Big 12.

Oklahoma State signed two of USA TODAY Sports’ top three players in the transfer portal, landing the nation’s leading scorer in Audi Crooks for Iowa State and dynamic SEC guard Liv McGill from Florida. The Cowgirls also added Ellie Brueggemann, who was seventh nationally in 3-point shooting this past season, and versatile Rutgers forward Nènè Ndiaye.

The Cowgirls are also a portal winner because, despite having nine players leave, they retained one of their best in Stailee Heard. A starting lineup of McGill, Brueggemann, Heard, Ndiaye and Crooks is going to be a matchup nightmare.

Coach Mark Campbell is developing a knack for landing talented players out of the portal and getting the most out of them. After the Horned Frogs’ second consecutive trip to the Elite Eight, he had some big holes to fill, especially with Olivia Miles and Marta Suarez going to the WNBA.

TCU secured commitments from North Carolina’s Lanie Grant, Stanford’s Lara Somfai, Oklahoma State’s Jadyn Wooten and LSU’s Bella Hines. Grant, Wooten and Hines give the Horned Frogs a talented trio of guards to rotate through the backcourt, all capable of dishing out assists and splashing 3-pointers. Grant shot 42% from behind the arc and Hines 37% last season. Wooten ranked 10th nationally in assists per 40 minutes with 7.7.

And Somfai should slide into the power forward spot and pair nicely with Clara Silva in the frontcourt. The 12th-best recruit in the 2025 class, Somfai averaged 10.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game as a freshman this season for the Cardinal.

Ole Miss

After losing in the Sweet 16 of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin told reporters, “I’m about to do damage in the portal.”

In every offseason since, she’s lived up to that declaration and seems to be one of the several coaches in women’s college basketball who have adapted best to this new era. This portal cycle was no different for the Rebels as Coach Yo landed Tennessee leading scorer Talaysia Cooper, LSU starting guard Jada Richard, Tennessee guard Jada Civil, San Jose State forward Maya Anderson, UMBC guard Jade Tillman, and Illinois State forward Doneelah Washington — the Most Improved Player in the Missouri Valley Conference this season. Knisha Godfrey, Emily Howard and Rachael Okokoh round out a total of nine transfer portal additions for Ole Miss.

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Cooper and Richard are players who will likely be the bus drivers for the new-look Rebels. Trust that Coach Yo — who has now gone to five consecutive NCAA Tournaments — will be able to figure out how to make all the new pieces fit.

Arizona State

Coach Molly Miller and her staff didn’t rest after an impressive debut season with the Sun Devils. Before the portal even officially opened, they secured the commitment of former Tennessee standout Ruby Whitehorn, a former five-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American who averaged 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 46.3% from the floor in the 2024-25 season for the Lady Vols.

When the portal opened, the Sun Devils got several players that should help them win. All-Big Ten defender Rashunda Jones, the MAC’s leader in field goal percentage Ayanna-Sarai Darrington, MAC Player of the Year Madi Morson and freshman sharpshooter Ella Ryan from Quinnipiac will all join Arizona State.

The Sun Devils should have a roster capable of dancing in March again.

The Bruins went into this portal season needing to replace the production of six players who helped them win a national championship before going off to the WNBA. Cori Close and her staff got to work, landing Iowa State’s Addy Brown, North Carolina’s Elina Aarnisalo, TCU’s Donovyn Hunter and Arkansas’ Bonnie Deas.

Aarnisalo returns to UCLA, as she played for Close as a freshman in the 2024-25 season when the Bruins made the Final Four. She is back after having a stellar season at UNC where she helped the Tar Heels advance to the Sweet 16.

Brown was a big-time get for UCLA after being one of the top players in the portal, as she averaged 13.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 5.2 assists a game in her three-year career for the Cyclones. Deas nearly averaged a double-double as a freshman in the SEC, and Hunter is a veteran guard and sharp defender who has helped TCU play in back-to-back Elite Eights.

LosersIowa State

Nine players left the Cyclones through the transfer portal this offseason, including three that ranked inside USA TODAY Sports’ top 10 of players available: Audi Crooks, Jada Williams and Addy Brown. And quite frankly, Iowa State hasn’t done much work in the portal to replace the production of those three stars. Bill Fennelly’s team has gone to six consecutive NCAA Tournaments — and 17 of the last 19 — but much remains unclear about this roster and if they’ll have the talent necessary to continue that run.

Texas

All-American forward Madison Booker remains in Austin, Texas. But right now, this Longhorns’ roster looks nothing like the ones that have played in the last two Final Fours. In addition to graduating Rori Harmon and Kyla Oldacre, Texas lost Jordan Lee, Aaliyah Crump and Justice Carlton to the transfer portal. Lee landed at SEC rival South Carolina, Crump joined Duke and Carlton remained in-state, going to Houston. The good news for coach Vic Schaefer is he has five ESPN-ranked top 50 recruits coming in. Time will tell if they can replace the production of what the Longhorns have lost.

NC State

The Wolfpack entered the transfer portal season knowing they needed to make some upgrades after a somewhat bumpy season that ended with a second-round exit in the NCAA Tournament. And then NC State lost two starters to the portal, with guard Zam Jones joining ACC rival Louisville and Tilda Trygger going west to Washington. Coach Wes Moore added 6-foot-2 forward Khady Leye from Auburn, but currently, this roster doesn’t look better than the one Wolfpack fans watched this past season.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women’s basketball transfer portal winners, losers: Oklahoma State up, Texas down

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