The transfer portal in women's college basketball has never been more important or a bigger offseason story than it is this year ahead of the 2022-23 season. More than 1,150 players from over 235 Power 5 schools have entered the portal, and it changes the sport's landscape, sometimes on a daily basis, as new players enter the portal and others commit to new schools.
The recent one-time transfer with no penalty rule means players don't have to sit out a year, making the decision to leave a school easier. The idea of transferring within the same conference, once an extreme rarity, is now commonplace. A third of the transfers on the top-30 list below involved intraconference moves.
The Maryland Terrapins, Louisville Cardinals, Tennessee Lady Volunteers, South Florida Bulls, Georgia Lady Bulldogs and LSU Tigers are among the most active teams in the portal both in acquiring players and losing them. The Terps lost two stars and another part-time starter, but also gained three potential starters. The Tigers and Bulldogs will have almost completely reworked rosters because of the portal.
How much of an impact will all these changes make when the 2022-23 season begins in November? We break that down with a list of the most impactful transfers who have found a landing spot, and rank another 15 players who have yet to decide where they're headed. Our rankings will change significantly -- and will be updated throughout the offseason -- when players such as Angel Reese and Ashley Owusu land at their new schools.
When Jackson decided to leave Mississippi State in January, she was leading the SEC in scoring at 20.3 PPG. Even in new surroundings, she should be considered an early SEC Player of the Year candidate. Jackson gives the Lady Vols the kind of versatile scorer they didn't have last season when they reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2016.
The knowledge that Briggs was already on her way to College Park slightly eased the pain of the decisions of Reese and Owusu to leave. Briggs was averaging 12.5 points before a shin injury ended her season Jan. 7, six days before she decided to transfer from Florida. In 2020-21, Briggs averaged 19.5 PPG, and she could form an explosive wing duo with Diamond Miller.
Like Briggs, Jones missed most of last season with a shoulder injury, and her absence was a significant loss for Oregon State, which missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013. She gets closer to her Forney, Texas, home by joining the Longhorns and has shown glimpses of being a dominant post presence in her first three seasons, with career averages of 12.1 points and 7.7 rebounds.
The reigning AAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year decided to forgo the WNBA for one more college season, and followed her coach, Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, to Athens. Battles, who averaged 13.9 points, 3.4 assists and 2.1 steals last season at UCF, will be a pivotal piece to major roster turnover at Georgia triggered when coach Joni Taylor left for Texas A&M.
Coach Jeff Walz has had a first-hand look at Jones' talent. In her last two games against Louisville, Jones scored 28 and 26 points. Now Walz hopes she does it for the Cardinals. With Kianna Smith, Emily Engstler and Chelsie Hall -- also all transfers -- each using up their eligibility, Louisville has some open spots that Jones' 13.8 PPG last season at Florida State should help fill.
This is an example of opportunity meeting need for a perfect pairing. The Gamecocks needed a veteran point guard presence to replace Destanni Henderson, and Fletcher had championship aspirations for her final season. A four-year starter at Georgia Tech before missing all of last season with a foot injury before leaving the team in February, Fletcher averaged 13.0 points and 3.7 assists in 2020-21.
While Jones looks to be more of a replacement for Engstler, Carr is the shooter to replace Smith, providing balance to the Cardinals' lineup. Technically, Louisville will be Carr's fourth school. She played two full seasons at Texas Tech and was the Big 12 Freshman of the Year before moving on to Baylor midway through the 2020-21 season. Carr never played a game with the Lady Bears, and played last season with Syracuse, where she averaged 14.2 points and was a 37.2% 3-point shooter.
This ranking would be even higher if Franklin wasn't coming off a significant knee injury. Before tearing her ACL in December, Franklin was the nation's second-leading rebounder at 12.1 boards per game and was on her way to an All-American-type season. As a junior at Missouri State, Franklin was the MVC's Defensive Player of the Year and has averaged 11.4 points per game in a career that began playing for Tennessee's Kellie Harper when the coach was in her sixth and final season with the Lady Bears.
Saying that she wanted to finish her career in her home state, Parrish leaves Oregon and Eugene for Bloomington, where she will add veteran presence to a program that lost a bunch of it. Parrish was the most highly regarded player in Oregon's heralded 2020 recruiting class of which four of the five players have now transferred. As a full-time starter as a sophomore, Parrish averaged 8.4 points and was a 34.7% 3-point shooter.
The transfer portal might give Kellie Harper the best team she has had at Tennessee. With Jackson as a scorer with size, Franklin as a rebounder and defender and Powell as a pure point guard, Harper has added much more than she lost this offseason. Before leaving Minnesota last season after 19 games, Powell was averaging 5.7 assists. She was also a double-figure scorer in each of her three seasons with the Gophers.
11. Sara Scalia, 5-10, G, Sr., Indiana
With all the success the Hoosiers have had the past two seasons -- one Elite Eight and another Sweet 16 -- 3-point shooting was the one area where they fell short. With Parrish and Scalia now in the fold, perimeter shooting should turn into a strength. Scalia's 17.8 points per game at Minnesota last season were good for eighth in the Big Ten, and she made 41.3% of her 3-pointers.
12. Abby Meyers, 6-0, G, Sr., Maryland
Pulling from the Ivy League worked once for Maryland coach Brenda Frese, so she is trying it again. Katie Benzan gave the Terps two very productive seasons after transferring from Harvard. Now, Meyers, last season's Ivy League Player of Year at Princeton, comes to College Park for her final season as part of the remade Terrapins roster. Meyers' 17.9 points per game included a 21-point game against Texas and 29 against Kentucky.
13. Mimi Collins, 6-3, F, Sr., NC State Wolfpack
Statistically, Collins' 2021-22 season at Maryland took a step backward, but her versatility -- nearly five rebounds per game last season and a 38.3% 3-point shooter in her career -- will be welcomed in Raleigh. With former Florida State post player River Baldwin joining Collins as a transfer, plus Jada Boyd and Camille Hobby returning, the Wolfpack will have a solid frontcourt despite losing Elissa Cunane. Collins, who began her career at Tennessee, has two more years of eligibility remaining.
14. Esmery Martinez, 6-2, F, Sr., LSU
In 2020-21, Martinez averaged a double-double (13.6 PPG, 11.6 RPG). The numbers fell off slightly last season at West Virginia, but with Martinez and LaDazhia Williams joining the Tigers to go along with 6-foot-5 Hannah Gusters, the Tigers will have the kind of size necessary to compete with South Carolina and Tennessee in the SEC.
15. Elisa Pinzan, 5-8, G, Sr., Maryland
With the departures of Benzan and Owusu, securing Pinzan to play the point was a big get for Frese. At just 30.3% from 3-point range for her career, Pinzan is not a shooter of Benzan's caliber, but she is a pure point guard who averaged 5.0 assists in her four seasons at South Florida.
16. Haley Cavinder, 5-6, G, Sr., Miami
Twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder are so identifiable as a pair both on the court and in their enormous social media presence that it almost makes sense to rank them together. They should give the Hurricanes a big boost in national notoriety and in helping coach Katie Meier replace her top two scorers. Haley was an All-Mountain West selection all three of her seasons at Fresno State and was the conference's player of the year as a sophomore. Hanna averaged 15.6 points and 3.7 assists in her 85 games with the Bulldogs.
17. Myah Taylor, 5-7, G, Sr., Ole Miss
With 10 players either finishing their eligibility or electing to transfer, coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin needed an injection of talent. Taylor, a three-year starter at point guard at Mississippi State, provides that. Last season, Taylor averaged 8.0 points and an SEC-leading 5.4 assists per game. She will join Madison Scott and Angel Baker to form the core McPhee-McCuin rebuilds upon.
18. Brynna Maxwell, 6-0, G, Sr., Gonzaga
The Zags were already the favorite to win the WCC next season before Maxwell's decision. Adding a shooter like Maxwell to replace Cierra Walker makes Gonzaga a prohibitive choice. As a freshman, Maxwell was a 47.3% 3-point shooter. She averaged 10.6 points and made 38% of her 3s last season. She graduated from Utah in three years and will have two years of eligibility remaining.
19. LaDazhia Williams, 6-4, F, Sr., LSU
Williams is part of a trio of transfers who should allow the Tigers to keep winning while Kim Mulkey continues to rebuild the program. Williams, who spent two years at South Carolina and then two more at Missouri, averaged 9.1 points and 4.1 rebounds last season. She is joined by West Virginia transfers Martinez and guard Jasmine Carson in Baton Rouge.
20. Lou Lopez-Senechal, 6-1, G, Sr., UConn
How the skills of a highly productive and dominant MAAC player translate to a program competing with the nation's elite will be an interesting subplot to the 2022-23 season. Lopez-Senechal was the conference player of the year after scoring 19.6 points last season, and she averaged 16.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in her four years at Fairfield. She brings better-than-40% shooting from 3-point range over the past three seasons to Storrs.
21. Cameron Swartz, 5-11, G, Sr., Georgia Tech
Swartz, a Marietta native who left Boston College, is yet another example of a player going home for her final season, and her shooting will be a welcome addition in Atlanta. Swartz's 60 3-pointers are more than any Yellow Jacket made this season. She will join fifth-year returner Sarah Bates and Florida State transfer Bianca Jackson in a remade Georgia Tech backcourt.
22. Dru Gylten, 5-11, G, Sr., South Dakota State Jackrabbits
Although not a big scorer, Gylten might be the perfect addition to coach Aaron Johnston's ball-sharing system. Gylten started all 104 games of her Utah career and averaged over five assists per game in each of her four seasons there. Her 5.2 APG led the Pac-12 this season.
23. Sam Brunelle, 6-2, F, Sr., Virginia Cavaliers
In three seasons at Notre Dame, Brunelle went from a full-time starter who appeared to be someone to build the program around to a role player whose minutes and production (6.8 PPG last season) continued to decrease. So, Brunelle, who grew up near Charlottesville, heads home, where she will try to help new coach Amaka Agugua-Hamilton resurrect the Cavaliers program.
24. Taya Hanson, 5-10, G, Sr., Oregon
The arrival of Hanson from Arizona State should help offset the loss of Parrish as a wing shooter. Her 3-point accuracy dropped this season to 28.4%, but Hanson also didn't have Te-Hina Paopao or Endyia Rogers to get her the ball like she will in Eugene. With Taylor Bigby and Maddie Scherr also transferring, Graves needed to add some experienced guard depth. Hanson brings that as well as a hard-nosed approach the Ducks seemed to be missing this season.
25. Priscilla Williams, 6-2, G, So., South Florida
After deciding to stay at Syracuse last year despite a mass player exodus, and then not playing all season due to an undisclosed injury, Williams has now elected to head south. She averaged 8.7 points and 3.2 assists as a freshman after being tabbed as the No. 3-rated guard in the 2020 recruiting class. Williams was also a 37.0% 3-point shooter, an area in which the Bulls ranked 206th in the country this season.
26. Anaya Peoples, 5-10, G, Jr., DePaul
Like Brunelle, Peoples found her playing time diminishing at Notre Dame. She started 17 games this season but averaged a mere 3.7 points in 19.7 minutes per game. This came after averaging 12.6 points and 8.1 rebounds as a freshman. With Sonya Morris and Lexi Held no longer at DePaul, an opportunity for Peoples to get much more playing time awaits.
27. Saylor Poffenbarger, 6-2, F, Fr., Arkansas
Despite being rated No. 30 in the 2021 recruiting class and enrolling early at UConn, Poffenbarger never seemed to fit in Storrs. She left the Huskies back in November after playing in just 12 games. With four years of eligibility remaining, Poffenbarger is expected to be a big part of the Razorbacks' future. She is one of nine freshmen and sophomores on Arkansas' current roster.
28. Sarah Ashlee Barker, 6-0, G, Jr., Alabama
The top scorer among Georgia's four transfers, Barker was also the first to depart following the announcement of Taylor's move to Texas A&M. Barker averaged 7.7 points and 4.0 rebounds while starting every game of her sophomore year. The Birmingham native was also the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year.
29. Audrey Warren, 5-9, F, Sr., Georgia
Not only did the Lady Bulldogs lose four players to the portal soon after Taylor's departure, but three recruits rescinded their commitments to the program. So out of necessity new coach Abrahamson-Henderson is building her first Georgia team largely with transfers. Warren, who averaged 8.3 points and 4.2 rebounds and whose reputation is built on toughness, should fit right into Abrahamson-Henderson's defensive philosophy. She joins Battles and her former UCF 6-3 teammate Brittney Smith, along with West Virginia transfer and 1,000-point scorer Kari Niblack, as the cornerstones of next season's team.
30. Brylee Bartram, 5-8, G, Sr., Florida Gulf Coast
After two stops in the SEC (Florida and Vanderbilt) with minimal success, Bartram might have found the program where she can excel. Bartram holds the national high school record for the most made 3-pointers and she now joins an Eagles team that has led the country in that category for two straight years. As evidenced by winning 11 of the past 12 A-Sun regular-season titles, coach Karl Smesko knows how to reload. Bartram helps him do that again following the departures of shooters Kierstan Bell and Kendall Spray.
Top 15 undecided transfers
1. Angel Reese, 6-3, F, Jr., Maryland
Of the thousand-plus players to enter the portal, Reese's decision caused the most shock waves nationally. Her next move will also have the largest impact of any transfer on the fate of next season. The highest-rated recruit in Maryland history (No. 2 in the class of 2020), Reese averaged 17.8 points and 10.6 rebounds on her way to first-team All-Big Ten and third-team All-America honors.
2. Ashley Owusu, 6-0, G, Sr., Maryland
Reese's announcement came just after Owusu's. Within a half of a day, the Terrapins lost their top two scorers to the portal. Owusu struggled with injuries and inconsistency most of the season, but still averaged 14.2 points and 3.7 assists. By season's end she seemed to be rounding into form, scoring over 20 points in three of Maryland's last four games. Owusu remains a potential game-changer for any of the nation's top programs.
3. Aijha Blackwell, 6-0, G, Sr., Missouri
After two suspensions and inconsistent usage toward the end of the season, Blackwell's leaving Missouri seemed inevitable. She entered the portal less than a week after Missouri's opening-round WNIT loss to Drake. Despite the troubles, Blackwell still led the team in scoring (15.4 PPG) and was second in the country in grabbing 13 rebounds per game.
4. Lauren Fields, 5-9, G, Jr., Oklahoma State
After emerging as the Cowgirls' best player, Fields elected to leave Oklahoma State following the coaching change from Jim Little to Jacie Hoyt. A solid two-way guard, Fields averaged 15.4 points and 2.4 steals per game. She shot just 32.9% from the field, but her efficiency is likely to improve with a more talented supporting cast.
5. Saniya Rivers, 6-1, G, So., South Carolina
Injuries, sporadic playing time and a feeling like she just didn't fit with the Gamecocks led to the 2021 national Gatorade Player of the Year leaving Columbia. Rivers played one of her best games of the season in the Final Four against Louisville, seeing 20 minutes of action. That was nearly twice as much as she played in the rest of the NCAA tournament combined.
6. Dre'una Edwards, 6-2, G, Jr., Kentucky
The hero of the Wildcats' SEC tournament championship run, Edwards is one of four Kentucky veterans to enter the portal. Jazmine Massengill, Treasure Hunt and Olivia Owens joined Edwards, who finished second on the team to Rhyne Howard with 16.9 points per game and led the team in rebounding (8.2 RPG). She began her career in Utah and was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2019.
7. Sonya Morris 5-10, G, Sr., DePaul
Averaging 15.6, 19.3 and 17.6 points per game in the past three seasons, Morris is perhaps the most proven, consistent scorer still available. She can play with or off the ball. An adequate yet not outstanding deep shooter, Morris gets 71.9% of her points inside the 3-point line.
8. Greta Kampschroeder, 6-0, G, So., Oregon State
After showing the promise that made her a McDonald's All-American, Kampschroeder struggled once the Beavers hit Pac-12 play. She hit double figures only once after Jan. 13 and scored just 5.2 points per game on the season. She also considered Stanford and Iowa during her recruiting process, but she has yet to pick a destination.
9. Dyaisha Fair, 5-5, G, Sr., Buffalo
Her size and volume shooting might cause Power 5 coaches to pause about adding Fair, but she is a skilled scorer who can be dynamic in spurts. Fair's 23.4 points per game were fourth highest in the country, and she improved her field goal percentage from 36.5% as a sophomore to 40.4% this season.
10. Lauren Ebo, 6-4, C, Sr., Texas
Ebo will use the extra year granted by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she won't do it in Austin. Ebo, who played her first two seasons at Penn State, averaged career highs of 8.0 points and 6.7 rebounds this season, and was a big part of two Longhorns Elite Eight appearances.
11. KK Deans, 5-8, G, Sr., West Virginia
Upon the retirement of coach Mike Carey, six Mountaineers entered the portal. Deans was the top scorer among them. Her season was limited to 18 games because of a knee injury, but she averaged 14.5 PPG this season and 13.7 in 2020-21. That she can play either guard spot adds to her value.
12. Stephanie Visscher, 6-0, G, Sr., Stephen F. Austin
With Visscher as their leading scorer, the Ladyjacks made the NCAA tournament each of the past two seasons, once out of the Southland and once from the WAC. This was the first season of her career in which she failed to shoot over 50% from the field. Visscher's size and skill set should allow her to make the jump to the Power 5 level.
13. Alyza Winston, 5-7, G, Jr., Michigan State/Mississippi State
Originally headed to Mississippi State after leaving the Spartans last December, Winston is back in the portal without ever playing a game in Starkville. She elected to leave Michigan State despite starting the first 10 games of the season and averaging 12.2 points.
14. Koi Love, 6-0, F, Sr., Arizona
After making the SEC All-Freshman team in 2020 at Vanderbilt and then averaging 20.3 points in a shortened, eight-game season for the Commodores in 2020-21, Love moved to Tucson. There she started just two games and scored a mere 4.7 PPG. As a two-time transfer who hasn't graduated, Love will have to petition the NCAA to play right away in 2022-23.
15. Jazmine Massengill, 6-0, G, Sr., Kentucky
As a graduate transfer who began her career at Tennessee, Massengill will be allowed to play immediately and should be able to help any team looking for length and experience at either guard spot. Her 7.0 PPG, 4.7 APG and 33.6 minutes per game were each career highs.
