Two of the biggest names in NCAA basketball revealed their transfer portal decisions on Tuesday, as student-athletes continue to weigh their options ahead of the April 23rd deadline.
Prospective top 2025 WNBA Draft pick Olivia Miles will instead play out her final year of collegiate eligibility at TCU, making the leap to the team that knocked her Notre Dame squad out of this season’s national tournament.
"I just want to be a pro without being a pro," Miles told TNT. "Every day on campus I want to be the way a pro would be, so I'm prepared when I do actually go to the league."
Similarly, Division I's 2024/25 leading scorer Ta'Niyah Latson announced her departure from Florida State to join 2025 NCAA runners-up South Carolina on Tuesday.
Latson already has connections in the Gamecock locker room, having played high school ball with South Carolina guard Raven Johnson — a draft-eligible junior who recently hinted she’ll be sticking around for one more NCAA season.
Strong teams prevail as NCAA transfer portal continues
As strong teams like South Carolina and TCU grew stronger this week, talent drain affected other top squads, including 2025 Final Four contender UCLA.
The Bruins saw three highly touted freshmen enter the transfer portal this week, with Elina Aarnisalo, Kendall Dudley, and Avary Cain seeking fresh starts to their sophomore years.
The talented young trio are likely seeking increased playing time, as the Bruins will return most of their 2024/25 starters next season, all while adding top recruit Sienna Betts — the younger sister of Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts — to the mix.
All in all, college basketball’s new era can be dizzying but, while the portal's carousel is far from done spinning, the 2025/26 field is starting to take shape as players make their transfer announcements.
With just 16 teams remaining in this year's March Madness tournament, NCAA programs that have fallen from contention have athletes jumping into the transfer portal, which opened to all college basketball players on Monday.
Multiple players are now seeking to make an offseason move, including this season's Division I leading scorer, Florida State junior guard Ta'Niyah Latson.
After averaging 25.2 points per game throughout her 2024/25 campaign, the National Player of the Year semifinalist jumped into the portal on Thursday, three days after the No. 6-seed Seminoles fell 101-71 to No. 3-seed LSU in Monday's second round.
The All-ACC standout is exploring her transfer options — and the potential NIL windfall a move could bring her — though remaining at Florida State is reportedly still very much on the table.
Another top prospect eyeing an exit is Cotie McMahon, who joined the transfer race on Wednesday following her No. 4-seed Ohio State's 82-67 second-round March Madness loss to No. 5-seed Tennessee.
The 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and two-time All-Big Ten First Team selectee looks to carry her career-best 16.5 points per game average elsewhere for her final year of collegiate eligibility.
More top teams see players take to the transfer portal
Other freshly eliminated programs have also seen portal movement, with players from No. 4-seed Kentucky, No. 7-seed Louisville, and No. 8-seed Georgia Tech all testing the transfer waters.
Notably, the program with the most athletes fleeing is No. 9-seed Indiana, who has seen five of their nine non-graduating players enter the portal in the last three days — including every Hoosier who earned minutes off the bench in the team's two March Madness matchups.
With athletes weighing everything from playing time to NIL paydays to postseason potential, the current NCAA landscape boasts multiple factors motivating decisions to either jump ship or weather the storm.
As the 2025 March Madness tournament rolls on, expect even bigger college basketball names to throw their hats into the transfer ring, as players seek out top programs ahead of the 2025/26 NCAA season.
Fresh off announcing their 2024/25 Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) semifinalists on Tuesday, the Naismith Awards dropped this year’s National Player of the Year (POY) semifinalist lineup on Thursday, with four NCAA basketball stars earning spots on both elite lists.
Eight of the 10 athletes in the running for POY hail from Top 10 teams, with all players coming from programs who finished the 2024/25 NCAA regular season with an AP Poll ranking.
With three semifinalists each, the ACC and SEC lead the field. The Big Ten boasts two POY semifinalists, while the Big 12 and Big East each claim one.
Only one team — No. 8 Notre Dame — saw multiple players named as POY semifinalists, with two Irish standouts making the cut.
Snagging nods on both DPOY and POY shortlists are No. 4 USC sophomore JuJu Watkins, No. 8 Notre Dame sophomore Hannah Hidalgo, No. 10 LSU senior Aneesah Morrow, and No. 1 UCLA junior Lauren Betts — the only center to earn a POY semifinalist spot.
Five guards join the four defensive standouts, including No. 3 UConn senior Paige Bueckers, No. 6 TCU grad student Hailey Van Lith, No. 8 Notre Dame grad student Olivia Miles, No. 13 Kentucky grad student Georgia Amoore, and No. 23 Florida State junior Ta’Niya Latson.
Rounding out the 2024/25 POY contenders is No. 5 Texas sophomore Madison Booker, the only forward named to the list.
Star turns have Naismith semifinalists topping the NCAA
On the Division I scoring sheet, Latson and Watkins top all other NCAA players with 24.9 and 24.6 points per game, respectively. Hidalgo's 24.2 average also puts her as the nation's No. 4 scorer.
Capping her season as the No. 3 dime-dropper is Amoore, who averages just under seven assists per game.
As the nation's top overall and best offensive rebounder, Morrow's 27 double-doubles on the season — five more than any other Division I player — helped secure her DPOY and POY semifinalist spots.
Meanwhile, Miles also owns an elite multi-stat NCAA position, finishing 2024/25 regular-season play as the only DI athlete to post three triple-doubles.
Five of the 10 semifinalists have already claimed some POY hardware for their 2024/25 performances, with Hidalgo, Van Lith, Bueckers, Watkins, and Booker all earning the honor for their respective conferences.
Notably, lone Big East representative Bueckers already owns a Naismith POY Award. The Husky booked the honor in 2021, and still stands as the only freshman winner in the award's now 42-year history.
Ultimately, just four of the 10 Naismith POY semifinalists will move on to March 25th’s final round, with the 2024/25 winner to be crowned on April 2nd — two days before the NCAA tournament's Final Four tips off.