Winners, losers and a sleeper: How the transfer portal shuffled the women’s basketball landscape

The women’s college basketball transfer portal officially closed this week, capping off a frenzied stretch of roster reshuffling, surprise commitments and program-altering moves. Now that the dust has settled, the impact is starting to come into focus — some teams emerged as clear winners, while others failed to capitalize.

To make sense of the shakeup, the 247Sports Women’s Basketball team assembled for a roundtable to break down the portal’s biggest success stories, most disappointing hauls and one under-the-radar program that could be primed for a dramatic turnaround.

Winner: Ole Miss Rebels

Unlike past years, the SEC appears to be wide open as we head into the offseason. Despite making it to the National Championship game, South Carolina hasn’t been the dominant force that fans are used to seeing. Teams like Texas and LSU have glaring flaws that leave the door open for burgeoning programs. 

It feels like coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin and the Ole Miss Rebels’ braintrust sensed an opportunity this offseason and grabbed it, nabbing a terrific transfer portal haul. 

The Rebels’ current transfer portal class is headlined by 247Sports’ No. 7-ranked portal prospect, Cotie McMahon. The former Buckeye was a steady post presence for Ohio State this season, averaging 16.5 points and 4.7 rebounds for a roster that was good enough to host the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels complemented McMahon’s production by landing fellow top-15 transfer, Latasha Lattimore from Virgina. McPhee-McCuin also dipped into the portal to supplement these stars with promising and serviceable role players like Wichita State transfer Jayla Murray and Tianna Thompson from Georgia Tech. — Xavier Handy-Hamilton, Editor

Winner: South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina’s lack of perimeter scoring ability was on full display in the National Championship game. Coach Dawn Staley’s staff took immediate action to fill that gaping void by adding the nation’s No. 1 transfer, Ta’Niya Latson from Florida State. Latson, who averaged a nation-leading 25.2 points per game this season, will be reunited with her former high school teammate, Raven Johnson, in South Carolina.

Latson’s addition alone would warrant consideration for the top transfer portal class. However, the Gamecocks also added Madina Okot from Mississippi State on Monday. The 6-foot-6 prospect from Kenya averaged 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds a game last year and will be a welcomed post presence.

South Carolina did lose the exciting Milaysia Fulwiley (No. 9 in my player rankings), but I won’t dock them too much for that considering Fulwiley’s exit came after the Gamecocks landed Latson, who is an offensive upgrade. Staley knows what she’s doing. — Brandon Clay, 247Sports Director of Women’s Basketball Scouting

Winner: TCU Horned Frogs

For the third consecutive year, head coach Mark Campbell and the Horned Frogs have landed a big fish from the transfer portal. Snagging the No. 2 overall transfer Olivia Miles from Notre Dame was a major win for a Horned Frogs program that lost three stars from this year’s Elite Eight team — Madison Conner, Sedona Prince and Hailey Van Lith. While Miles will undoubtedly help TCU stay afloat in the Big 12, she’s not the only promising addition. 

The Horned Frogs also added 6-foot-7 freshman center Clara Silva from Kentucky to pair with Cal transfer Marta Suarez in the frontcourt. Alongside Miles in the backcourt will be San Diego State transfer Veronica Sheffey. Additionally, Campbell skimmed through the transfer portal to grab role player, Texas A&M transfer Taliyah Parker, who adds overall depth to the roster.” — Dushawn London, 247Sports National Recruiting Analyst

Loser: Notre Dame Fighting Irish

This one’s a no-brainer. Notre Dame’s transfer portal struggles have been well-documented. Things started to fall apart when star guard Olivia Miles decided to forgo the WNBA Draft where she was projected to be the No. 2 overall pick. However, instead of returning to an Irish team that had championship aspirations, the No. 2-ranked transfer decided to hit the portal en route to landing at TCU.

This created an avalanche in South Bend that resulted in former five-star freshman Kate Koval leaving Notre Dame for LSU. Graduate senior center Kylee Watson and junior guard Emma Risch joined the mass exodus. 

Since then, Notre Dame and star Hannah Hidalgo have been left high-and-dry as they’ve been unable to replenish their once talented roster with a top-25 transfer.” — Handy-Hamilton

Loser: Florida State Seminoles

Florida State lost the services of the nation’s No. 1 ranked transfer in Ta’Niya Latson. The Seminoles were prepared to pony up to keep Latson, but she elected to transfer to South Carolina. The Seminoles have not been able to replace Latson with another top-25 ranked transfer and will now have to replace her production by committee.

The cupboard’s not completely bare, though. FSU did add Jasmine Shavers from Texas Tech. Shavers will have one season of eligibility remaining and averaged 14.9 points a game for the Red Raiders last season.” — Clay

Loser: UCLA Bruins

Heading into the offseason, UCLA was not set to lose any players to eligibility and probably expected another Final Four run thanks to a returning trove of promising young players. 

Oh, how things can change.

Once the transfer portal opened, the Bruins’ entire freshman class — Kendall Dudley, Elina Aarnisalo, Avary Cain and Zania Socka-Nguemen — decided to part ways with UCLA. They were followed by standout players Janiah Barker, now at Tennessee, and Londynn Jones, who signed with UCLA’s bitter rival, USC. 

This mass departure leaves UCLA in dire need of impact replacements. — London

Sleeper: Georgia Bulldogs

After a 13-19 mark, the “Lady Dawgs” desperately needed to strike gold in the transfer portal. They managed to do just that by landing Georgia Tech’s standout freshman Dani Carnagie and Rylie Theuerkauf from Wake Forest. 

Both Carnagie and Theuerkauf will provide experienced scoring threats who are used to the rigors of a high-major conference. Together they could anchor the Bulldogs backcourt and help make this program competitive next season.” — Clay