College basketball’s 30-day transfer portal window has closed. While a handful of high-profile players remain available (most of whom are also navigating the NBA draft process), most of the work has been done in rapidly revamping rosters ahead of the 2025–26 season. Which teams are off to the best starts in roster building? Here’s a look at some of the top portal hauls this cycle, plus a few teams that have done elite work identifying strong fits to complement their returning cores.
Top Hauls
1. St. John’s Red Storm
Armed with one of the top budgets for player acquisition in the country, St. John’s added a ton of talent as it hunts a March breakthrough after its disappointing loss to Arkansas in the 2025 Round of 32.
The fatal flaw of the 2024–25 St. John’s team was its horrible three-point shooting. That shouldn’t be as big of a problem moving forward after adding one of the top sharpshooters in the portal in Oziyah Sellers (Stanford) as well as a pair of dynamic shot creators in Ian Jackson (North Carolina) and Joson Sanon (Arizona State). They did that without sacrificing too much size and physicality, bolstering a frontcourt that returns Zuby Ejiofor with Bryce Hopkins (Providence) and Dillon Mitchell (Cincinnati). The only real question mark with this group is its point guard play, with Rick Pitino tweeting that he expects Jackson (a scoring guard by nature) to play the point. The Red Storm added Idaho State transfer Dylan Darling, a more natural point, as a likely reserve, but don’t be surprised if he ends up seeing the floor more than expected.
2. Louisville Cardinals
After a strong first season, Pat Kelsey has assembled a portal class that has Louisville fans rightfully dreaming about Final Fours and national championships again. After a pair of splash additions in the form of freshmen Mikel Brown Jr. and Sananda Fru, Kelsey went out and assembled an elite backcourt with three of the best guards in the portal to pair with Brown.
The top addition is Xavier transfer Ryan Conwell, who averaged 16.5 points per game on an NCAA tournament team and made 99 threes while shooting over 40% from deep. He should be one of the top guards in the ACC next season. Another elite shooter joining the fray is Isaac McKneely from Virginia, who should fill a similar movement shooting role to the one Reyne Smith played this season for the Cards. And rounding out the Louisville portal class (save for a late addition) is a high-upside guard in Adrian Wooley, who starred as a freshman at Kennesaw State and possesses a rare combination of size, speed and ballhandling skill for a player his age. Kelsey convincing all three of these high-level guards to come to Louisville and potentially buy into smaller roles says a lot about his recruiting acumen. This group should be a ton of fun to watch.
3. Michigan Wolverines
From an overall talent standpoint, Michigan may be the biggest winner of the portal. Dusty May & Co. added three former elite recruits and a potential NBA draft pick this year if he turns pro with their four transfer additions this spring.
The big swing piece is Yaxel Lendeborg, a transfer from UAB who has committed to the Wolverines while going through the NBA draft process. Lendeborg is a do-it-all forward drawing serious interest from NBA teams in the late first and second rounds but can use the leverage of an excellent college situation (and significant NIL deal) to try to secure a draft day promise and stay in the draft. If he matriculates at Michigan, he has a chance to be a star in May’s system.
The other three adds also profile as solid fits with May. Elliot Cadeau had an up-and-down sophomore year at North Carolina, but is one of the top passers in the country. Morez Johnson Jr. stays in the Big Ten after a strong freshman year at Illinois and could blossom into a double double machine, especially if Lendeborg turns pro. And UCLA big Aday Mara has elite physical tools and is a load to handle around the basket. Look for him to finally turn a corner in Ann Arbor.
4. Kentucky Wildcats
Armed with what is believed to have been the biggest budget of any team this cycle, Mark Pope delivered a high-level portal class to upgrade his group’s talent level from a year ago. Talent-wise, the most important addition was Jayden Quaintance, a potential top-10 pick in 2026 who was one of the top rim protectors in the country while at Arizona State this season. That said, he’s coming off a torn ACL and while he hopes to be ready for the start of the season, it’s reasonable to assume Quaintance will be cautious given his long-term pro prospects. He could be among the most impactful players in the country at full health.
Elsewhere, Kentucky revamped its backcourt with Pitt transfer Jaland Lowe and Florida transfer Denzel Aberdeen. It also added some much-needed physicality in the frontcourt with Mouhamed Dioubate, one of the top glue guys in the country.
5. Auburn Tigers
Auburn had plenty of work to do this spring with several key pieces, including first-team All-American Johni Broome, departing, but the Tigers have stocked up again on talent to compete near the top of the SEC again. Keyshawn Hall is well-traveled with stops at UNLV, George Mason and UCF, but is fresh off a season leading the Big 12 in scoring at almost 19 points per game and has a chance to be one of the top scorers in the SEC. Joining him on the wing: Division II transfer Elyjah Freeman, whose athleticism and shooting flashes have drawn attention from NBA scouts, and Texas Tech transfer Kevin Overton. And up front, KeShawn Murphy was a huge addition, returning to his home state after starring at Mississippi State. He’s not the post scoring threat Broome was, but should solidify a frontcourt that lost a ton of production this spring.
Best Fits
1. Texas Tech Red Raiders
The big moves this offseason for Texas Tech were retaining JT Toppin and Christian Anderson, one proven elite player and one who profiles as one of the biggest potential breakout players in the sport in 2025–26. But Grant McCasland has done a masterful job of finding elite role players in the portal to put around them.
The first priority was shooting, and the Red Raiders added two elite ones on the wing in Tyeree Bryan (43% from deep at Santa Clara) and Donovan Atwell (40% at UNC Greensboro). The Red Raiders also needed a replacement for bully-ball wing Darrion Williams and got one in LeJuan Watts, who starred this season at Eastern Washington. And defensively, the Red Raiders added a stud to play with Toppin up front in Luke Bamgboye, who was second in the country in block rate as a freshman. This is a national title-caliber roster.
2. Iowa Hawkeyes
Much of this portal haul is pieces new head coach Ben McCollum is bringing with him from his 31-win Drake team in 2024–25. Headlining that is a potential All-American in point guard Bennett Stirtz, who’s arguably the best player to hit the portal this offseason and a potential NBA player in time. Stirtz is a major floor-raiser in Year 1 given his ability to create for himself and others as well as his intimate knowledge of McCollum’s offensive system, and he should immediately be among the top players in the Big Ten.
That said, the few additions McCollum has made from outside his former players are ideal fits around Stirtz in the Iowa offense. Kansas State transfer Brendan Hausen is a sharpshooter in every sense, capable of making difficult shots off movement. Look for him to be deployed in a role similar to the one McCollum used Mitch Mascari in this season at Drake. But the biggest non-Stirtz addition was Horizon League Player of the Year Alvaro Folgueiras, one of the most skilled bigs in the portal. Folgueiras has a diverse offensive skill set with the ability to stretch the floor, pass and score around the rim, all while possessing the toughness to battle on the boards. He could be a star in Iowa City.
3. UConn Huskies
With an elite high school class incoming, UConn hasn’t had to do a ton in the portal. The two moves Dan Hurley has made so far make tons of sense though to help get the Huskies back to the top of the sport.
The big add was Silas Demary Jr., a transfer from Georgia who was phenomenal down the stretch in the best conference in college basketball. Demary isn’t the most efficient rim finisher, nor is he a true point guard, but he’s the type of bigger playmaking guard with shooting ability that Hurley has done well with over the years. He should benefit from entering a UConn system where he’ll have more space to operate and better guards around him than he had in Athens. The comparisons to 2024 Bob Cousy Award winner Tristen Newton will be plentiful, and while it’s not fair to expect that level of production from Demary, he could bring some similar traits with his positional size and shotmaking ability. UConn will also have the ability to slide Demary off the ball at times with the addition of Malachi Smith, a steady floor general from Dayton. UConn could potentially add one more frontcourt piece, but for the most part, looks well-built to contend again in 2025–26.
4. Purdue Boilermakers
No coach is better at scheming actions for post players than Matt Painter, and that made the marriage between the Boilermakers and South Dakota State transfer Oscar Cluff such a slam dunk. Cluff was a double double machine in the Summit League and gives Purdue the size and physicality they lacked down low a year ago. It should lighten the load on Trey Kaufman-Renn and allow him to play mostly at his natural power forward spot, and also allow Purdue to bring redshirt freshman rim protector Daniel Jacobsen along slowly as he recovers from a broken leg. Purdue also added a sharpshooter in North Florida’s Liam Murphy as a floor-spacer off the bench.
5. Tennessee Volunteers
You couldn’t have scripted a much better replacement for Zakai Zeigler at point guard than Maryland transfer Ja’Kobi Gillespie. While much of the attention went to star freshman Derik Queen, Gillespie may have been Maryland’s most impactful player last season. He should thrive throwing lobs to returning center Felix Okpara. Expect him to have an all-SEC season in his final season of college hoops returning to his home state. And more under-the-radar, Vanderbilt transfer Jaylen Carey gives Tennessee some post scoring it lacked a season ago and also added veteran Amaree Abram to pair with Gillespie in the backcourt.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Men’s Basketball Transfer Portal Rankings: Top Class Hauls and Best Team Fits.