The NCAA is in transfer-portal chaos.
There are 2,033 men’s NCAA Division I basketball players who have entered the transfer portal as of April 10, according to Verbal Commits. That’s about 35% of the 5,607 players at the beginning of the 2024–2025 season, including players who will graduate this year. Not all of those players are on scholarships, meaning the players in the transfer portal make up an even greater share of minutes and benefits.
While the number of transfer aspirants has yet to surpass last year’s total (2,088), players can still enter the portal, as it will remain open until April 22. The 30-day transfer-portal window opened March 24.
However, not all of the players will transfer schools. Players are allowed to return to their original schools so long as the school is open to them returning, such as San Diego State center Magoon Gwath, who entered the portal on the first day it opened but withdrew April 2. He is still included in the count of Verbal Commits.
Not Just the Men
The transfer-portal chaos does not stop on the men’s side, though. On3’s Talia Goodman reported Wednesday that more than 1,300 women’s D-I players have entered the transfer portal, which is about 25% of the 5,048 who were on rosters at the beginning of last season.
Among the transfers are Ta’Niya Latson, who led the NCAA in scoring last year and committed to South Carolina, and Olivia Miles, the projected No. 2 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, who chose to return to college and transfer from Notre Dame to TCU.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma, who led the Huskies to a record 12th national championship Sunday, spoke out about his qualms with the transfer portal during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday.
“What makes it hard is that in the NBA, they have a free-agency period of time. … Our free agency is the whole year,” Auriemma said. “The portal is open during the NCAA tournament. Can you imagine the NBA playoffs and free agency is going on during the playoffs? I mean, it’s insanity.”
