As rosters continue to take shape for the 2025-26 college basketball season, clear-cut winners and losers have emerged from this portal cycle.
In an offseason loaded with NIL-related controversy, recruiting the transfer portal has become tougher than ever. Hoops HQ has partnered with The Portal Report, which has built a data-based algorithm to rank every transfer class throughout the country. In the coming weeks, we will be ranking the men’s and women’s classes from each of the five major conferences.
We continue today with a look at the Big East men’s classes.
1. Creighton
Incoming transfers: Josh Dix, 6-foot-6 senior guard (Iowa); Owen Freeman, 6-foot-10 junior forward (Iowa); Nik Graves, 6-foot-3 senior guard (Charlotte); Blake Harper, 6-foot-8 sophomore wing (Howard); Liam McChesney, 6-foot-10 graduate senior forward (High Point); Austin Swartz, 6-foot-4 sophomore guard (Miami).
The skinny: After falling in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Creighton had to invest heavily in the transfer portal to offset the loss of its three leading contributors. The duo arriving from Iowa undoubtedly will help replace some of that lost production; both averaged in double figures this past season. Harper was one of the best freshmen in the country during the 2024-25 campaign, winning both MEAC Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honors at Howard. Graves and Swartz round out an impressive class. Graves brings needed veteran experience, and Swartz is a former top-100 prospect and looks to be an interesting developmental piece.
2. Xavier
Incoming Transfers: Filip Borovicanin, 6-foot-9 senior forward (New Mexico); Tre Carroll, 6-foot-8 senior forward (FAU); Malik Messina-Moore, 6-foot-4 senior guard (Montana); Jovan Milicevic, 6-foot-10 sophomore forward (New Mexico); Luke Naser, 6-foot-2 sophomore guard (UNLV); Pape N’Diaye, 7-foot sophomore forward (UNLV); Mier Panoam, 6-foot-2 junior guard (North Dakota); Gabriel Pozzato, 6-foot-7 sophomore wing (Evansville), Anthony Robinson, 6-foot-10 sophomore center (Virginia); Isaiah Walker, 6-foot-5 senior guard (Belmont); All Wright, 6-foot-3 sophomore guard (Valparaiso).
The skinny: With Richard Pitino’s arrival as coach, Xavier went to work in the portal and is bringing in 11 transfers. Carroll, Messina-Moore, Pozzato, Robinson, Walker and Wright are likely to feature as members of the starting lineup at some point throughout the season. Milicevic, N’Diaye, Panoam, and Borovicanin have multiple seasons of eligibility, and are pieces that Pitino can build with.
3. St. John’s
Incoming transfers: Dylan Darling, 6-foot-1 junior guard (Idaho State); Bryce Hopkins, 6-foot-7 redshirt senior wing (Providence); Ian Jackson, 6-foot-4 sophomore guard (North Carolina); Dillon Mitchell, 6-foot-8 senior forward (Cincinnati); Joson Sanon, 6-foot-5 sophomore guard (Arizona State); Oziyah Sellers, 6-foot-5 junior guard (Stanford).
The skinny: Though St. John’s is losing several key contributors, including Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis, Big East Most Improved Player Zuby Ejiofor remains. Pitino and his staff surrounded Ejiofor with a talented transfer class that will help to fill out the rotation. Hopkins, Mitchell and Sellers bring valuable high-major experience; each was a viable contributor at past stops in the Big East, Big 12 and ACC, respectively. Sanon and Jackson are coming off impactful freshman seasons for highly respected programs and are primed to see consistent minutes with the Red Storm. Darling is a bit of a wild card even though he was the 2024-25 Big Sky Player of the Year. But if his eccentric offensive game translates, St. John’s will have a prolific scorer and playmaker.
4. Villanova
Incoming transfers: Devin Askew, 6-foot-5 graduate senior guard (Long Beach State); Duke Brennan, 6-foot-10 senior forward (Grand Canyon); Malcolm Flaggs, 6-foot-6 redshirt sophomore wing (Grand Canyon); Tafara Gapare, 6-foot-9 senior forward (Maryland); Bryce Lindsay, 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore guard (James Madison); Malachi Palmer, 6-foot-6 sophomore wing (Maryland); Braden Pierce, 7-foot redshirt sophomore center (Maryland); Zion Stanford, 6-foot-5 junior guard (Temple).
The skinny: In comes new coach Kevin Willard – and a group of transfers that’ll look to help return this program to national prominence. Lindsay, Stanford and Askew will spearhead a guard rotation that will be able to beat teams with playmaking and scoring. Palmer, Gapare and Pierce will have opportunities to secure more consistent playing time; all three followed Willard from Maryland. Brennan looks to be an instant-impact addition after averaging 10.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in 2024-25. Flaggs is a one-time high-major recruit (he started his career with Arizona State) and brings significant potential. His health has been an issue.
5. UConn
Incoming transfers: Silas Demary Jr., 6-foot-5 junior guard (Georgia); Dwayne Koroma, 6-foot-8 redshirt senior forward (Le Moyne); Alec Millender, 6-foot-1 redshirt senior guard (IU Indy); Malachi Smith, 6-foot redshirt senior guard (Dayton).
The skinny: After something of a down season for UConn – finishing third in the Big East and losing in the second round of the NCAA Tournament – some might think this is a bland transfer class for Dan Hurley. But they would be mistaken. Demary is a former top-100 prospect who averaged 13.5 points per game as Georgia made the NCAA Tournament. Pair him with a returning Solo Ball and a premier point guard in Smith, and you have one of the Big East’s top backcourts. Millender adds another veteran to the rotation as a playmaking and scoring threat; he shot 43.5 percent from three-point range in 2024-25. Additionally, Koroma emerged this past season after transferring from UT Arlington and adds depth to a frontcourt that is returning Alex Karaban, Tarris Reed Jr. and Jaylin Stewart.
6. Butler
Incoming transfers: Michael Ajayi, 6-foot-7 graduate senior forward (Gonzaga); Yame Butler, 6-foot-5 graduate senior guard (Drexel); Jalen Jackson, 6-foot-2 graduate senior guard (Purdue Fort Wayne); Drayton Jones, 6-foot-11 junior center (South Carolina State); Yohan Traore, 6-foot-11 senior center (SMU).
The skinny: Butler was battered and bruised during the 2024-25 season, but Thad Matta added some talented scorers from the portal. Jackson was a two-time All-Horizon League selection at Purdue Fort Wayne and finished as a top-35 scorer in the nation this past season (19.2 points per game). Ajayi dominated in the frontcourt at Pepperdine in 2023-24, when he averaged 17.2 points and 9.9 rebounds, but those numbers dropped to 6.5 and 5.4, respectively, at Gonzaga. Butler was the second-leading scorer on a Drexel team filled with skilled offensive guards, shooting 37 percent from deep. Jones was a first-team All-MEAC pick as he proved a two-way star, averaging 13.0 points and a league-high 1.7 blocks. Traore, who struggled to find his footing in stints at Auburn and SMU, was a force in the paint during the 2023-24 season at UC Santa Barbara, when he averaged 14.5 points per night.
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7. DePaul
Incoming transfers: Kaleb Banks, 6-foot-7 senior forward (Tulane); Amsal Delalić, 6-foot-7 sophomore wing (Pitt); Jeremy Lorenz, 6-foot-8 junior forward (Wofford); Brandon Maclin, 6-foot-5 senior guard (Radford); Khaman Maker, 7-foot-1 redshirt freshman center (St. John’s); RJ Smith, 6-foot-4 sophomore guard (Colorado).
The skinny: DePaul’s consistent Big East struggles continued under new coach Chris Holtmann in 2024-25. But with three of the program’s top four contributors set to return, Holtmann and his staff now have a solid core. They added to that group with a decent crop of portal recruits, starting with Banks and Maclin. Banks, a former top-100 prospect who began his career at Indiana, was a second-team All-AAC selection this past season, while Maclin was Radford’s second-leading scorer. Lorenz brings size and versatility, and Smith was able to showcase some improved scoring ability late into the Big 12 campaign with Colorado. If Delalić and/or Maker can become impactful contributors, DePaul is looking at a solid eight- or nine-man rotation next season.
8. Seton Hall
Incoming transfers: Budd Clark, 5-foot-10 junior guard (Merrimack); Jacob Dar, 6-foot-7 senior forward (Rice); Elijah Fisher, 6-foot-6 senior wing (Pacific); Trey Parker, 6-foot-1 sophomore guard (NC State); Stephon Payne III, 6-foot-9 senior forward (Jacksonville); Josh Rivera, 6-foot-7 senior forward (Fordham); TJ Simpkins, 6-foot-4 junior guard (Elon); A.J. Staton-McCray, 6-foot-5 graduate senior guard (Miami); Pat Suemnick, 6-foot-8 graduate senior forward (Oklahoma State); Mike Williams III, 6-foot-3 junior guard (LSU).
The skinny: Last season’s Seton Hall team finished with the second-lowest winning percentage in program history (7-25), so the Pirates seemingly can only improve. And with 10 additions from the portal this offseason, the 2025-26 Seton Hall roster looks better than the one this past season. Clark was one of the most impressive undersized guards in the country and was a first-team All-MAAC pick after averaging 19.8 points and 6.0 assists. Fisher is a former top-100 prospect and has high-major experience; he led Pacific in scoring this past season. Staton-McCray, Dar, Rivera, Payne and Suemnick provide much-needed veteran experience to a roster that returns just 6.5 percent of its minutes from last season. The swift and athletic Simpkins and the high-flying Parker can be spark plugs in the rotation with their exciting offensive potential.
9. Providence
Incoming transfers: Daquan Davis, 6-foot-1 sophomore guard (Florida State); Jason Edwards, 6-foot-1 redshirt senior guard (Vanderbilt); Cole Hargrove, 6-foot-8 senior forward (Drexel); Duncan Powell, 6-foot-8 redshirt senior forward (Georgia Tech); Jaylin Sellers, 6-foot-5 redshirt senior guard (UCF).
The skinny: While there are some exciting pieces in this transfer class, is it enough to get the Friars back above .500 in the Big East? Edwards seems Providence’s most impactful signing, as he was a third-team All-SEC selection after averaging 17.0 points per game for Vanderbilt. He’ll be joined in the backcourt by Sellers, who made just three appearances for UCF this past season because of an injury; if healthy, he is a proven commodity at the high-major level. Powell brings additional high-major experience, as he averaged 12.2 points and 5.4 rebounds for Georgia Tech. Hargrove is a bit of a question mark: Does his game translate to the Big East? He isn’t a prolific scorer and is a bit one-dimensional offensively, but he’s a great rebounder and can be a competitive two-way player. If Hargrove’s transition is quick and Davis can prove valuable with more playing time, this class will be impactful in the Big East.
10. Georgetown
Incoming transfers: Isaiah Abraham, 6-foot-7 redshirt freshman forward (UConn); DeShawn Harris-Smith, 6-foot-5 junior guard (Maryland); Vincent Iwuchukwu, 7-foot-1 senior center (St. John’s); KJ Lewis, 6-foot-4 junior guard (Arizona); Langston Love, 6-foot-5 senior guard (Baylor); Jeremiah Williams, 6-foot-5 graduate senior guard (Rutgers).
The skinny: Ed Cooley has been overseeing a slow rebuild, from nine wins in 2023-24 to 18 in 2024-25. But the Hoyas lost four of their five starters, all but Malik Mack, which left Cooley and his staff to start from scratch again. Lewis gives Mack an explosive backcourt partner known for his two-way tenacity, and Love and Williams should fill out the rotation. Iwuchukwu brings tons of size, and he also showed steady growth this past season at St. John’s. Abraham and Harris-Smith are former top-100 prospects and should see an appreciable increase in minutes.
11. Marquette
Incoming transfers: None.
The skinny: Despite losing three key contributors in Kam Jones, David Joplin and Stevie Mitchell, the Golden Eagles were silent in the transfer portal. Coach Shaka Smart returns several veterans, like Ben Gold and Chase Ross, and former top-100 prospects Royce Parham and Damarius Owens will be expected to step up. In addition, Marquette adds four four-star prospects and has the nation’s 21st-ranked recruiting class, per 247Sports.
