September 7th, 2026
The transfer portal and the confusion surrounding it was arguably the biggest storyline during the 2026 offseason. Uncertainty surrounds this side of college athletics and there appears to be no immediate solution in sight. Coaches had to manage recruiting high school kids as well as current college players. Also, coaches had to recruit athletes who had graduated high school in 2022 and may receive additional eligibility, as well as former college players who had gone through previous NBA draft processes.
College basketball recruiting, especially the Transfer Portal, is the Wild West. Many coaches around the country are not sure where to prioritize resources. On an appearance on the Stephen A. Smith Show in March 2026, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said “You can’t run a program when you’re re-recruiting your own roster every six months while simultaneously tampering for someone else’s.” In his post-season press conference, fellow Big 10 coach Brad Underwood estimated that 70% of his staff’s energy is spent re-selling their culture to the current team in hopes that they won’t leave for a better opportunity.
Schools at all levels are impacted by the current situation. Power conference schools are in an arms race for the best players in the Portal. Mid-major schools try to find former top players in their respective recruiting classes who haven’t gotten major minutes at power conference schools. They also are focused on retaining their high performers. Small schools, which do not have the NIL resources larger institutions do, try to cling to their stars to continue positive momentum they have built behind their performances.
Conference Analysis
Let’s take a closer look at which conferences are experiencing the most transfer volume.
The above visual shows the volume of transfers in and out of each conference as of September 3rd, 2026. Unsurprisingly, power conferences see the bulk of the transfer volume. There are a few reasons for this. One is that many players on these rosters have more interest in the portal. They may be a strong performer looking to jump to a blue blood. They may be a role player hoping for an opportunity to be The Guy somewhere else. The player could also be a former highly touted recruit who has not cracked the rotation at their current school.
The American Athletic Conference and A-10 stand out as conferences with high transfer volume, but not the pedigree that the other conferences have near the top of the list. These two conferences sit at a crossroads. Players who perform well (Josiah Parker, Devin Vanterpool, and Terrence Hill Jr.) will earn opportunities at Power conference schools – all three of these players were 1st Team All-Conference and will be playing at the Power conference level next season. There are also a lot of players that may start their careers at these schools but seek more minutes with teams in smaller conferences.
Another reason Power conferences are near the top of this list is because they typically have more teams than smaller conferences. The ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC have an average of 15.8 teams in their leagues. All other conferences in the country have an average of 10.6 teams per league. If we look at the average transfer volume per team in each conference, the Big East leads the way with 13.2 transfers per team. This figure includes transfers both in and out of the school.
| Conference | Transfer Movement (In & Out) per Team |
| Big East | 13.2 |
| American | 12.8 |
| ACC | 12.4 |
| Big 12 | 12.4 |
| Pac-12 | 11.8 |
| Mountain West | 11.6 |
| A-10 | 10.9 |
| Sun Belt | 10.8 |
| SEC | 10.8 |
| WCC | 10.8 |
When we look at the transfer volume by conference, the ACC and Big 12 stay near the top, but other leagues like the Big East, Pac-12, and Mountain West move up. These conferences will face a significant amount of roster turnover heading into the 2026-27 season.
Team Analysis
Slicing the data a different way highlights the individual teams most affected by the Transfer Portal. The following image shows the 25 teams that have undergone the greatest transfer volume this offseason.
It is reasonable to assume that whenever there is a coaching change, players will look to enter the portal. They may want to play for the coach who recruited them or take it as an opportunity to re-evaluate what is important to them in their next stop. However, only 14 of the above 25 schools will have a new head coach heading into the 2026-27 season. 11 of these schools will bring their same head coach back but with almost a completely different team.
Seton Hall lost nine players to the Transfer Portal this offseason but was able to get commitments from 10 new players. They lost contributors like Mike Williams (7.0 ppg) and Najai Hines (6.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg) but gained commitments from Kareem Thomas (15.9 ppg at Dartmouth), Roddie Anderson III (10.8 ppg at Xavier), and Mayar Wol (10.3 ppg at Bowling Green). All but Anderson will face a massive step up in competition, but Shaheen Holloway believes they can contribute in the Big East.
Florida Atlantic lost 11 players to the portal headlined by the aforementioned American Conference Freshman of the Year, Josiah Parker (Georgetown) and 3rd Team All-Conference player Devin Vanterpool (Providence). Will Braeden Speed (15.8 ppg, 3.7 apg at Loyola (MD)) and Josh Harris (13.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg at Indiana) be enough to fill those gaps? Head coach John Jakus will need to lean heavily on them this year.
The Pittsburgh Panthers were a team that many people thought would have a new coach heading into this season. However, Jeff Capel survived another year despite a 13-20 record last season and just a 127-127 record in his eight years at the helm. Roster turnover was inevitable for this squad and they lost eight players to the Portal but gained 10 commitments. The Panthers are looking to replace a total of 42.7 ppg they lost to the Portal. Commitments from Timofei Rudovskii (13.0 ppg at Bryant) and Baye Ndongo (11.8 ppg at Georgia Tech) pack a scoring punch, but the Panthers will need Jonathan Powell (4.8 ppg at North Carolina) and Jalil Bethea (3.9 ppg at Alabama) to step up and shoulder the load as well.
Other teams with large roster turnover despite no head coaching changes include Le Moyne, Northwestern, Ole Miss, Oregon, George Washington, Grand Canyon, Loyola Chicago, and Loyola Marymount.
The Transfer Portal is affecting every single team in college basketball one way or another. Teams are constantly recruiting new faces while trying to maintain some semblance of roster continuity in the hopes that a mix of both of these will lead to success from November to April. Michigan proved last year that you can win big with transfers. All five of their starters in the National Championship game started their college careers somewhere else. Other schools may look to replicate that success while others may pivot toward more traditional recruiting. A blend of both will likely give teams the best chance of success moving forward.