Fishing in the transfer portal can be like casting your net into murky waters. You truly never know what you will come up with.
Sometimes the biggest names and most celebrated signings don’t pan out. Sometimes they are exactly as advertised, such as Michigan’s 6-foot-9 senior forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who was ranked No. 1 in the portal by Hoops HQ last April.
Sometimes under-the-radar guys, such as Minnesota’s 6-foot-7 senior forward Cade Tyson, greatly exceed expectations.
Sometimes the most expensive rosters yield the most disappointing results. Sometimes largely restructured teams like the Miami Hurricanes or the St. Louis Billikens come together in ways that few people envisioned.
Well, with the 2025-26 regular season concluded and conference tournaments upon us, it’s time for us to rank the transfers for a final time.
So, where does your favorite portal star land? Head to Hoops HQ for the complete rankings!
1. Yaxel Lendeborg, 6-foot-9 senior forward, Michigan
A technical foul called on Jeremy Fears Jr. heightened tensions in a battle between bitter intrastate rivals Sunday afternoon. Lendeborg, who dominated in the first matchup against Michigan State with 26 points, buried both technical free throws, adding to his 19 first-half points. He finished with a game-high 27 points in the victory.
“These guys always talked about how much hatred they have for Michigan State and how big this rivalry is,” Lendeborg said. “Being able to win for those guys here, meant the world, and I know they all enjoyed this moment.”
The UAB transfer, who regained his spot atop HHQ’s portal rankings, helped fuel a season of wire-to-wire domination for the Wolverines. The senior led a Michigan team that won all but three of its conference games by double digits, with a margin of victory of 14.7 points per contest.
2. Nick Boyd, 6-foot-3 senior guard, Wisconsin
Once again, the Badgers stared down the barrel of one of the more hostile environments in the nation at Purdue — and left victorious. Boyd, who combined with guard John Blackwell for 51 points on 15-of-26 from the field, buried a crunchtime foul shot that silenced Mackey Arena, securing a 97-93 win for Wisconsin.
Boyd, who ranked as just the No. 72 transfer prospect, according to 247, proved one of the nation’s most consistent bucket getters while averaging 20.1 points per game. In top-15 wins over Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State and Purdue, the San Diego State transfer poured in 22, 25, 29 and 23 points, respectively.
3. Keyshawn Hall, 6-foot-7 senior forward, Auburn
When Steven Pearl took over for his father, who announced his retirement on Sep. 22, he inherited a roster depleted of talent. With Hall doing all he can, leading the Tigers with 20.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per contest, Auburn may have snuck into the Big Dance, as Lunardi’s latest has the Tigers as the last team in.
A three-time transfer who played a season apiece at UNLV, George Mason and most recently UCF, Hall culminated the regular season with career-high marks in scoring average and field-goal percentage. In an 88-74 win over LSU on March 3, he scored 17 points and snared 6 rebounds.
4. Bennett Stirtz, 6-foot-4 senior guard, Iowa
In a similar fashion to Hall, recent inconsistencies from Stirtz have led to struggles for his Hawkeyes, who dropped their third consecutive contest Sunday afternoon at Nebraska. Stirtz shot just 17 of 48 from the floor during that span, thus, a significant drop from his previous top ranking.
Iowa would almost certainly be nowhere near tournament contention without Stirtz, who paces the team with 20.2 points and 4.4 assists per contest. Coach Ben McCollum, who has mentored Stirtz through two seasons at D-II Northwest Missouri State before last season at Drake, praised his longest tenured star.
“I think he’s got a great self-esteem,” McCollum said. “That’s why he’s self-confident. But sometimes people hold themselves back and they don’t realize how good they actually are. So you have to convince people sometimes of how good they can be.”
5. Lamar Wilkerson, 6-foot-6 senior guard, Indiana
Losses in five of its last six dropped the Hoosiers to the first team out, according to Lunardi. Saturday at Ohio State, Indiana answered a walloping of Minnesota with a disheartening first-half performance, which resulted in a 91-78 defeat.
Wilkerson, however, continues to score at a high level for Darian DeVries in his first season at the helm. The Sam Houston State transfer has averaged 20.3 points per game throughout the aforementioned stretch, just below his 21-point season average. Indiana will likely need Wilkerson to catch fire in the Windy City to secure an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament.
6. Robert Wright III, 6-foot-1 sophomore guard, BYU
Back-to-back-to-back 20-point outings resulted in a donut in the win column for Wright and the Cougars, who dropped three consecutive games vs. unranked opponents.
Saturday night in Provo, Wright’s domination finally yielded a victory, as the Cougars upset No. 10 Texas Tech behind a game-high 27 points from Wright. The Delaware native poured in 23 second-half points, propelling a 44-30 advantage in the final 20 minutes for the home team. Suiting up alongside superstar freshman AJ Dybantsa all season, Wright proved an excellent wingman. He finished the regular season second on the team with 18.6 points per contest and first with 4.6 dimes per game.
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7. Malik Reneau, 6-foot-9 senior forward, Miami
Miami’s resurgence has been driven by portal stars like Reneau, who leads the Hurricanes with 19 points per contest. Miami, which flipped its regular season record of 7-24 a season ago to 24-7 in 2025-26, earned a No. 3 seed in the upcoming ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
Reneau, a South Beach native who committed to head coach Jai Lucas as one of the nation’s most highly touted portal prospects, surpassed career highs in scoring and rebounding, tallying 19.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per contest. His Canes sit firmly in the Big Dance as a No. 7 seed.
8. Morez Johnson Jr., 6-foot-9 sophomore forward, Michigan
At first glance, the consistent domination displayed by Michigan seems almost impossible to attain. Then, you take a glance at the numbers put up by its frontcourt, both offensively and defensively, and it becomes much more of a possibility.
Johnson sits just below Lendeborg with 13.7 per contest, while slightly outrebounding his teammate at 7.4 boards per game. His 1.1 blocks per game, which ranks second on the team behind UCLA transfer Aday Mara’s 2.6, contributes to a conference leading 5.9 blocks per game for the top defense in the Big Ten.
9. Donovan Dent, 6-foot-2 senior guard, UCLA
Following a pair of matchups with Dent, crosstown rival USC fans have likely seen enough of the hometown kid. Dent, who grew up in nearby Riverside, torched the Trojans for a season-high 30 points in the teams’ first meeting.
With a chance to close the regular season strong following a 20-point victory over then-No. 9 Nebraska in which he struggled from the floor, Dent dropped 25 on USC. He added 7 assists while committing zero turnovers, as the Bruins thumped USC once more, this time 89-68.
10. Ja’Kobi Gillespie, 6-foot-1 senior guard, Tennessee
There can be no questioning the value of Gillespie, who turned down more money elsewhere to suit up for the team he grew up rooting for. Just ask coach Rick Barnes.
“I can tell you, I think that he’s probably been the best value in all of college basketball this year by far,” Barnes said. “By far.”
The Tennessee native began his career with two seasons at Belmont, then spent last season at Maryland before pouring in a career-best 18 points per contest this season while leading the Vols in percentage of minutes played at 84.2 percent. On top of that, his 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game led the team.
Risers
Cade Tyson, 6-foot-7 senior forward, Minnesota
After a season as essentially a non-factor at North Carolina, Tyson put the world on notice as a senior in Minneapolis.
His 19.5 points per contest rank top-50 in the nation, and after midseason struggles, the N.C. native caught fire down the stretch. In wins over Rutgers, UCLA and Northwestern, Tyson dropped 27, 21 and 15 points, respectively.
Boogie Fland, 6-foot-3 sophomore guard, Florida
Heading into Gainesville with sky-high expectations, Fland struggled to find his footing early in the season. However, as Fland and his teammates gelled, a rhythm was established.
Now, the Gators own an 11-game win streak, currently the second-longest in D-I. Fland has scored in double figures in each of the last five. On Feb. 25 at Texas, the Arkansas transfer fell just shy of a season-high mark, finishing with 22 points in an 84-71 victory.
PJ Haggerty, 6-foot-4 junior guard, Kansas State
His Wildcats rank No. 101 in the country, according to KenPom. Yet, it becomes tough to blame Haggerty, a redshirt junior with prior stops at TCU, Tulsa and Memphis, when his consistent scoring output led him to a top-5 national finish.
At 23.3 points per contest, Haggerty sits behind just Dybantsa (24.7) and ECU’s Jordan Riley (23.6). However, the Wildcats finished just 3-15 in conference play, which prevented Haggerty from climbing the list further.
Fallers
LeJuan Watts, 6-foot-6 junior forward, Texas Tech
When JT Toppin went down for the season with a torn ACL on Feb. 18, an apparent need in the post arose for Tech. Watts, a Washington State transfer, seemed fit for the challenge early on, scoring 19 and 13 points respectively in wins over Kansas State and Cincinnati.
However, as the competition heightened, Watts’ performance suffered. The junior scored five points at then-No. 4 Iowa State before combining for 11 points in losses to unranked TCU and BYU.
Silas Demary Jr., 6-foot-4 junior guard, UConn
Demary Jr. entered Saturday’s contest shooting 5 of his last 19 from the field. The Georgia transfer bounced back with 17 points at Marquette, but nine of those came at the foul line, and UConn dropped a shocker.
With the Huskies chances at a top seed in the NCAA Tournament likely in peril, a dominant run through the Big East tournament would certainly boost their hopes. Demary will need to be at his best in the Big Apple.
Adrian Wooley, 6-foot-4 sophomore guard, Louisville
Wooley finds himself among the fallers for the second time this season. The emergence of freshman Mikel Brown Jr. as a star limited the opportunities for Wooley, but the sophomore from Tuscaloosa finished just sixth on the team’s scoring chart.
A postseason run awaits Louisville, which ranked No. 24 in the latest AP Poll, and with it, a chance for Wooley to make his mark as a Cardinal.
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