The transfer portal has caused a lot of changes in college basketball and seems to be the new method that teams use to build a championship contender. It also gives an opportunity for players who were overlooked in high school or their first couple years of college to climb the ladder and get their name out there.
For example, the 2026 National Champions were the Michigan Wolverines who featured many talented players who didn’t commit to their team out of high school. The leading scorer, Yaxel Lendeborg actually played junior college basketball at Arizona Western before even touching the division one level. He would then play his first two years of division one basketball at UAB where he would put his name on the map.
Along with Yaxel, Michigan also featured another transfer who led the team in assists, Elliot Cadeau. Elliot also did not commit to Michigan right from high school despite being a five-star anticipated recruit. Elliot would commit to North Carolina and would play his first two years of college basketball where he would struggle to fit into the system. After his sophomore season, he would enter the transfer portal and eventually choose Michigan where he would win the National Championship. The next decision is yet to be announced for Elliot and the Wolverines.
The biggest name in the transfer portal is Kansas’s former center, Flory Bidunga. Flory had an impressive sophomore year and even won the defensive player of the year award in his conference. Many teams showed interest and money to Flory, but he would end up committing to Louisville along with many other recruits in this class.
It is yet to be determined what the second-best player in the transfer portal, Milan Momcilovic will do. Milan had an impressive run with Iowa State last year and showed impressive shooting despite him standing at 6’8. He would help the cyclones reach a second seed in their region of the tournament where they would fall, but not without a fight to put up.
Another highly anticipated player in the transfer portal was John Blackwell, a 6’4 shooting guard from the Wisconsin Badgers. John would decide to commit to an already talented Duke Blue Devils team which feature many returning players from last year’s final four team who lost by just one. It will be interesting to see where he will fit in an already stacked and experienced Duke team.
Many wonder what team truly won the transfer portal lottery, but the answer is simple for many, the Louisville Cardinals. They ended up with the best player in the transfer portal but did not stop at Flory Bidunga. The Cardinals went and picked up another very talented player in Jackson Shelstad from Oregon who had an impressive season with a not so impressive Oregon Ducks team and would be a good player for anyone to add to their roster.
Many moves have happened that leave many shocked and many players have yet to announce what they will be doing with their career next season, only time will tell what these additions will add and where the rest of the players will go.