Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images
By Chris Marler
Day one of the transfer portal for the basketball season is in the books. It saw a ton of movement on both the men’s and women’s side of things. Here’s a recap of day one and the latest from around the country and the SEC.
By the Numbers
By noon Tuesday, more than 1,100 women’s players had already entered the portal. For context, only about 1,500 did so over the entire 30-day window last season.
There should be much more expected movement this season for both the men and the women. The men’s side saw over 800 players enter on day one, putting the combined total at nearly 2,000 players in just 24 hours.
The women’s side saw the most significant change from last year to this year in terms of trends. A season ago there weren’t as many stars leaving schools they committed to out of college. That’s not the case this year.
So far, 67 of the top 100 players in the 2022 cycle have now entered the portal at least once, and 27 percent of all collegiate women’s basketball players have now entered the portal at least once. It’s not just the smaller schools losing valuable players. As of Wednesday, a staggering 17 of the 68 Power Four teams have lost at least seven players or more in just a little over a day of the portal being opened.
P5 programs with 7 or more players in the portal:
Miami
Pitt
Syracuse
Butler
DePaul
Xavier
Arizona
Iowa State
Oklahoma State
UCF
Penn State
Purdue
Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Tennessee— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 7, 2026
Bella’s Bayou Shocker
Bella Hines wasn’t a premier player in college basketball this year, but you got the feeling that she was potentially heading that way with her increased production and minutes late in the season for LSU. The former four-star recruit shocked a lot of people around the LSU program when she announced that she’d be leaving the program after just one season.
Hines was the No. 31 overall recruit out of high school and held more than 40 Division I offers, making the decision a surprise. That was amplified by her father’s comments just a week earlier in Sacramento at the Sweet 16. It only drew more attention when he jumped on X Tuesday night to explain her decision in a recorded Space, noting LSU’s returning guard depth as a factor. That, of course, sparked speculation, considering LSU is set to return just two true guards next season outside of Hines.
Could LSU be on the brink of landing a big target at that position out of the portal? We shall see.
Bella Hines dad had time today https://t.co/zVRx0hfWUA pic.twitter.com/qekLhvIRf6
— daceycash (@daceycashhhh) April 7, 2026
Get a Brinks truck to BYU stat
The first major star of the portal at a highly sought after and paid position has emerged. BYU Guard Rob Wright III entered his name in the portal after just one season in Provo. It was a huge season, though.
Wright finished the year averaging 18.1 ppg, 3.5 rebounds per game, and 4.6 assists per game. More impressive is that he also started all 35 games for the Cougars after transferring from Baylor. Wright shot 46.7 percent from the field, but his 41 percent from three will almost certainly put him in the echelon of highest paid players in the portal.
Last season we saw the asking price for guards with those kinds of numbers range between $2 and 3 million. There’s no doubt he will garner the same level of compensation and interest from some of the biggest programs around the country.
BREAKING: BYU point guard Robert Wright III will enter the transfer portal, source told @TheFieldOf68.
Wright averaged 18.1 points and 4.6 assists per game and shot 41% from 3 this past season. Started his college career at Baylor. pic.twitter.com/7ZWpqljrb4
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) April 8, 2026
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