After officially opening the day after the national championship game, Monday, April 6, the transfer portal doors shut two weeks later, closing Monday, April 20 at midnight.
While players will no longer be permitted to enter the portal, those who already are in can still take time to make their decision. Per On3’s Talia Goodman latest accounting, over 1,500 players have entered the portal, with less than 400 having announced their commitment.
However, among those commitments are some of the stars most
likely to shape the 2026-27 women’s college basketball season. These five transfer portal superlatives capture some of of the most significant moves so far.
1. Jordan Lee’s jump to South Carolina could swing the SEC
For South Carolina, laiming the commitment of Jordan Lee, a rising junior guard who is one of the nation’s most well-rounded players, is transfer portal coup in and of itself.
Signing Lee away from your biggest in-conference rival? That’s a consequential coup! Texas head coach Vic Schaefer’s loss is a huge win for South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley.
When assessing the 2026-27 outlook for Texas and South Carolina after their losses in the Final Four and national championship game, respectively, I posited that Texas had more promising national title prospects, while a lack of shooting could prove to sink South Carolina.
The Longhorns, reeling not only from the departure of Lee but also the exits of Justice Carlton and Aaliyah Crump, now look less formidable, while Lee pairs with Tessa Johnson to form one of the best shooting duos in the nation.
Critically, Lee, like Johnson, isn’t just a shooter, even if she is elite from long range. Lee has become increasingly adept at finding shots for herself off the dribble, in addition to refining her savvy cutting skills. And, she’ll have no problem fullfilling Staley’s defensive prerequisites.
A starting-caliber primary ball handler still stands as a potential weak point for South Carolina. Yet, the arrival of Lee, on top of the returns of Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins, plus another heralded recruiting class, inspires confidence in the Gamecocks’ chances of, yet again, being great a title bet.
2. Coach Yo and the Rebels have reloaded
There is no one way to build a winning program in women’s college basketball, especially in a landscape that is still shifting and settling in the NIL era.
At Ole Miss, head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has established her niche: She has the portal paved to Oxford.
Often not in contention for top recruits that tend to flock to SEC foes, Coach Yo is there when they decided to find a second (or third) home.
Last season, Cotie McMahon moved from Ohio State to Ole Miss. This year, Coach Yo’s biggest gets came from within the SEC, as she secured the commitments of Talaysia Cooper and Jaida Civil from Tennessee and Jada Richard from LSU. That trio headlines a transfer class that currently includes eight players.
Cooper, who will be a fifth-year senior, is the headliner, suited to fill the star-level role vacated by McMahon. More empowered outside of Tennessee’s egalitarian system, Cooper should have the opportunity to show off the full extent of her self-created scoring package. Richard, a rising junior, is ready to assume starting point guard duties, having run The Show for head coach Kim Mulkey and LSU. Civil, however, might really thrive for the Rebels. As a freshman at Tennessee, her elite athleticism popped, as she eagerly applied her physical advantages to play with the kind of defensive intensity demanded by Coach Yo.
Could this be the group that helps Ole Miss finally break through and truly contend with the SEC’s titans?
3. Audi Crooks and Liv McGill are going to put Oklahoma State on the map
On Sunday, April 19, the women’s college basketball world received the most significant news of this portal cycle, as Audi Crooks announced that she is taking her talents to Stillwater and Oklahoma State for her final season
The Cowgirls and head coach Jaci Hoyt already had scored a major portal win, earning the commitment Liv McGill, who departed Florida after two seasons in the wake of the program’s turnover. The two top a transfer class that currently includes five players, and a reportedly hefty price tag.
Already an high-octane offense, Oklahoma State is poised to really lean into that end of the floor next season.
Crooks and McGill could be the highest-scoring duo in the sport. Crooks’ offensive exploits are well known, as she cranks out games of 30 or more, and even 40 or more, points with high efficiency, helping her average almost 26 points per game, the second-most in Division I during the 2025-26 season.
McGill also is prolific on the offensive end, posting 22.5 points per game, which ranked 11th nationally. Her style, however, has trended toward volume over efficiency.
How the offensive balance shakes out between these two will be fun to watch. It certainly will help that both will be operating in a favorable offensive environment, as, under Hoyt, the Cowgirls have prioritized 3-point shooting and offensive spacing.
Things could be as simple as throwing the ball to Crooks and letting her go to work. McGill, however, can inject another dynamic element into the OSU attack.
No longer expected to serve the lone offensive creator, as she often was at Florida, McGill should be able to clean up her shot selection and hone her scoring efficiency, taking advantage of the all the attention on Crooks. She likewise can polish her playmaking; while she averaged over six assists per game last season, she also gave the ball away more than five times per game.
And then there’s the other end of the floor.
Can Oklahoma State cook up a scheme that protects Crooks? McGill gets after it on the defensive end, with her 2.6 steals per game as a sophomore serving as evidence of her eagerness on the perimeter. Yet, unsuccessful gambles could have severe ramifications due to Crooks’ paint protection deficiencies.
Giddy up! Stillwater is now on the women’s college basketball map.
