SEC Basketball Transfer Portal Update: Pro and amateur lines blurred

Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images

By Chris Marler

The college basketball transfer portal closed several weeks ago, but with only a firm date to enter and not one to sign, many players are still out on the open market. Here’s the latest of everything going on in the SEC basketball transfer portal.

LSU’s silent but deadly approach

A lot has been made about Will Wade’s “slow” start to his first (but second time around) roster build in Baton Rouge. That may have been an incorrect assumption. There’s an old saying: don’t confuse activity with productivity, and that seems to apply to what Will Wade has done behind the scenes, and out of the headlines, with this class.

As of Thursday, May 7, Wade only has two players on the current roster for next season. According to Wade, they actually have closer to seven or eight players in the fold for next season. No matter what rankings on On3 or 247Sports say, or whatever other outside noise is being said, Wade has been hard at work building this thing. He continues to add more and more staff members, and it appears that several pieces of this puzzle from a player standpoint could be coming from overseas or the G-League ranks.

It’s far from a finished product, but it’s off to a much better start than anyone may have realized.

LSU head coach Will Wade says he’s contacting foreign talent to build a star roster for the Tigers men’s basketball team:

– Nolan Traoré (France, 19)
– Hugo Gonzalez (Spain, 20)
– Jean Montero (DR, 22)
– Momo Faye (Senegal, 21)
– Saliou Niang (Italy, 21)
– Shane Larkin (Turkey,… pic.twitter.com/Sd9Bqid5xb

— Shane Tuttle (@ShaneTuttleNCAA) May 6, 2026

Tennessee not taking any Volunteers

Rick Barnes gets a lot of criticism for his underachievements in March. That feels unfair considering those underachievements are strictly tethered to not making a Final Four. Regardless of the fairness of that assessment of Barnes’ tenure at Tennessee, he has heard the criticism and seems to be on a mission. No team in the conference won the transfer portal season more than Tennessee. Earlier this week one SEC source told On3 about the truth in spending from some programs around the country.

“It makes football look easy,” said an SEC source, who runs financials for a school’s football and basketball programs. “If you are spending $10 million and make the NCAA tournament, good for you. Four or five SEC teams are pushing $20 million.”

Tennessee appears to be one of those teams. On Tuesday they got a commitment from former Wake Forest star Juke Harris. Harris is the No. 4 prospect in this year’s cycle. Tennessee landed five players in the top 100 and is rumored to be passing the $20 million mark for their roster. It’s Final Four or bust for Rick Barnes, and it appears they will not be asking any players to volunteer to play. They are paying more than maybe anyone else in the league.

BREAKING: Wake Forest transfer guard Juke Harris has committed to Tennessee, @JoeTipton reports🍊

Harris is the No. 1 player in the On3 transfer portal rankings.https://t.co/9P5sJT7VCS pic.twitter.com/d3vyj4dZBe

— On3 (@On3) May 4, 2026

Pope stands in the paint

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope hasn’t done a lot of things right in the eyes of Kentucky fans over his first two years. The growing frustration with his inability to close in the transfer portal was very loud over the last month or so. To Pope’s credit, he did something that almost no other coach in any sport has done – he listened. He held what was essentially an open forum for fans to ask questions. Anyone that’s ever read a message board around the SEC knows how unhinged that can be. Most coaches would’ve filtered out the tough questions or overly aggressive ones that questioned him or his program. Pope didn’t do that. While we don’t know if he will ever win big on the court in Lexington, this was a win off the court for sure.