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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.