UConn has won the Transfer Portal.....Again

[chuck.r]

It looks to me like coaches are squeezed on both sides. And I think you have to distinguish between a team (a season long project) and a program (a decades long project).

For many coaches, the goal is to have a winning record, and as long as they don't commit the AD to drumming up millions for a team that usually goes 20-14, their job is probably secure. They'll never contend for a ring, but that may not be their goal. This they can accomplish by getting less highly sought after transfers and middling recruits. But if the AD and the President want to use the program to raise money from alumni donors for the endowment or some other purpose, then they need the coach to produce a contender, and probably to do it for several years. This forces them more decisively into the portal game and to spending NIL money.

But you can't build a program that way. Alumni donors may think you can just throw money at it. What Geno and Dawn and Tara and others have amply demonstrated is that programs are built by recruiting the right sort of kids and teaching them some hard lessons. Brenda Frese has hung on for many years, lurking at the edge of program-level competitiveness, and she did it mainly through recruiting and without a huge NIL budget. Eventually, she got burned by the portal starting with Angel going to LSU, and she's tried to fix it through the portal, but has not succeeded so far. Her last great recruit who stayed the course was Sheyanne Sellers, and I wonder if she can have a success like her again. And no transfer has been enough to bail the program out. Before the portal era, this was Kim as well. She seemed to play the game better than Brenda. But now she too is entangled in the portal trap and will only succeed if she makes the rumors of vast NIL offers actually come true.

I had some hope for Lindsay Gottleib. She launched what could be the beginning of a program-level contender with one superstar recruit and a bunch of transfers. Other than Rayah Marshall, I can't think of any longterm recruits who made her rotation two seasons ago. And on the strength of that season, she brought in one of the best recruiting classes in D1, probably the best one in USC history. But she accepted transfers over it with Iriafen and von Oelhofen and as a result seemed to have lost almost all her transfers. She's landed another good recruit in Jazzy, though not much else, and even that was before the end-of-season debacle emerged. We'll see if she can manage to recruit another good class. If not, I think USC will not achieve lasting success as a program.

In Mulkey's defense, her current transfer strategy has dovetailed with the recent switch in programs from Baylor to LSU. At Baylor I would argue she had built the kind of sustainable program culture off traditional recruiting you refer to, accomplishing 3 titles on a fairly regular 6-7 year cycle and being a consistent 1-2 seed in NCAA regionals. At LSU she had to jumpstart an underachieving program, with aggressive recruiting of transfers & HS grads. She did win a title ahead of schedule in year two, but, as you note, is still on the transfer treadmill to date. I suspect the pressure to tread water with SC and Texas (and now Tenn.) contributes to that.
(Edit: and now that I've mentioned Texas, it would appear Schaeffer is building through a sustainable program strategy)

 

[huskeynut]

There is a reason that Dawn and Geno have built quality teams over their tenures. They recruit well. Their expectations are consistent and high. Both teams are well schooled in basketball fundamentals and expected to execute these fundamentals consistantly.

Players are coached to improve beyond their expectations. To perform at a level they never imagined. Both coaches are successful at this.

Also included in the program dynamics are life skills and lessons. Both Dawn and Geno care deeply about each player as a athlete, a student and a person. Community service is a big one for UConn. We see it consistently. I'm sure our SC friends will chime in that Dawn does the same.

Both are very selective as to who they will recruit from the portal. Both know the specific needs of their respective programs. They not only recruit talent but young ladies of character.

So yea, UConn wins the transfer portal prize and so does South Carolina.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

There is a 1983 Sci-Fi film called WarGames where a HS kid unknowingly hacks into a Defense Department supercomputer named Joshua. He thinks he is playing video games, but has inadvertently set in motion a process that will lead to global thermonuclear war. In the end nuclear holocaust is averted when the computer learns the ironic truth that, “The only winning move is not to play.”

In similar fashion, I would argue that UConn won the transfer portal prior to last season and for this coming season by essentially not playing the game of creating a revolving door for outbound and inbound players. On the outbound side that starts with keeping all your core players. Prior to this past season, UConn was the only D1 school in the nation that did not lose a single outbound transfer. After winning a championship this year (Not a coincidence), UConn only lost Q, the last player off the bench. Keeping your existing core roster is absolutely critical to maintaining continuity for any WBB program.

On the inbound side, UConn is not looking for the shiniest new toy. Since the implementation of the Transfer Portal, the Huskies have now brought in 5 smart, talented, team-oriented players who complement the existing roster. Next season, Serah and Kayleigh will give UConn the deepest, most versatile roster in WBB. The 3 players that came before Serah & Kayleigh were Dorka, Lou & Kaitlyn. They were all stars at their former schools. They had all completed their undergraduate degree. All were willing to accept supporting roles at UConn to pursue their championship dream. Serah and Kayleigh are cut from the same cloth. They are not coming to UConn to become stars or get paid a bundle of money. They just want to get better and win championships.

So what is happening elsewhere in WBB? We are seeing wholesale roster changes as both starters and key reserves are heading for greener pastures. There are teams that have lost their entire rosters. Schools are scrambling to fill voids, sometimes engaging in bidding wars for top players. Coaches have become commodity traders, negotiating NIL payouts with parents and agents, while having little time for player development.

I sometimes feel sorry for college coaches. None of them got into coaching to negotiate transactional contracts with players while losing a significant portion of their roster every year. The joy and satisfaction that coaches receive from developing a young person to reach their potential as a player and a human being over multiple seasons is being lost to NIL, immediate transfer eligibility, player agents and the pressure to win.

Top programs load up on talent from the transfer portal every year. The problem for many of these teams is that it takes years to build a roster into a cohesive unit, and if you are engaged in a major roster overhaul every season with a bunch of free agents, it becomes nearly impossible to execute like a team must execute to win a championship. UConn walloped everyone during the Big Dance with flawless execution at both ends of the court. Yes, UConn had several new faces this past season. But the collective basketball IQ of this Husky team was off the charts, and every single player bought into what Geno was trying to accomplish. After winning championship #12, Geno commented that his team, “fell in love with each other.” That is difficult to achieve if players are always asking, “What about me?”

Next season many teams will set their sights on a national championship. They will work hard to integrate their players into their respective systems in the hopes of creating a smooth and effective team. As for the Huskies, they will not need to hope. UConn has won the Transfer Portal…..again, by adding 2 excellent complimentary players to an experienced and talented roster that will be firing on all cylinders come March.

The transfer portal shocker for me this spring was the team that got to the Final 4 for the first time in the NCAA era, UCLA. 6 players hit the portal from Cori Close's team including her entire freshman class. For years and years her teams had pretty ragged seasonal records, but she as coach of the year this year mostly I suspect on the back of a certain big. If anyone has any insight here I'd love to hear it.

 

[visitingcock]

Yea, I think we kinda do want to stir them up. What's a little aggravation between 2 top teams, but fun. No knockouts or physical altercations but why not pull Dawns' tail feathers and see how many "F bombs" fly from her mouth. After all what can SC say, we would have won if you guys weren't so darn good. Lay it on us SC, maybe if you come up with a good jab you can have another banner. SC is a very good team with an outstanding coach however they lost their last game. A game that will burns SC for at least a year. We are in the penthouse; anything less puts you in the outhouse. Looking forward to next season where the Huskies will be known as defending National Champs, SC will be known as the team who got rolled over. Shot fired?
If you chose to comment, please keep your posts towards SC fun and clean.

Actually, it doesn’t really burn. I thought we fell to an Elite 8 level team when we lost Ashlyn in January. We ended up with our first runnerup ranking. I felt like we punched above our weight class. I’m good with Number two for last year because we weren’t worthy of number 1.

See you in 26

 

[The CDR-Ret]

The reigning “Coach of the Year” lost six of her players to the Portal. What is wrong with that picture? (Cough)

Now is the time to have a Boneyard sponsored award, "Coach of the Five Weeks that Matter!" for the time period that contains Conference Championship week and the NCAA tournament. Geno would have at least 16 of those, particularly in reaching the Final Four or NC game when outside the top 8 in anyone's ranking system.

Coach of the Year should be only considering the Coaches who won both their Conference regular season and Conference Tournaments.

There should be a separate "Coach of the Most Improved Team" that makes the NCAA tournament or wins the other two tournaments if they did not qualify for any tournament in the previous year.

Go Huskies!!!

 

[oldhusky]

I think on balance Dawn has done well in the portal, but she has also lost three big time talents that maybe didn't quite fit the program, in Fulwiley, Rivers to NCState, and Cooper to Tennessee. All three are ball dominant players used to being a the focal point of their team, perhaps too much for Dawn's program which like Geno's expects players to fit into the system.

 

[ABCDFE]

It looks to me like coaches are squeezed on both sides. And I think you have to distinguish between a team (a season long project) and a program (a decades long project).

For many coaches, the goal is to have a winning record, and as long as they don't commit the AD to drumming up millions for a team that usually goes 20-14, their job is probably secure. They'll never contend for a ring, but that may not be their goal. This they can accomplish by getting less highly sought after transfers and middling recruits. But if the AD and the President want to use the program to raise money from alumni donors for the endowment or some other purpose, then they need the coach to produce a contender, and probably to do it for several years. This forces them more decisively into the portal game and to spending NIL money.

But you can't build a program that way. Alumni donors may think you can just throw money at it. What Geno and Dawn and Tara and others have amply demonstrated is that programs are built by recruiting the right sort of kids and teaching them some hard lessons. Brenda Frese has hung on for many years, lurking at the edge of program-level competitiveness, and she did it mainly through recruiting and without a huge NIL budget. Eventually, she got burned by the portal starting with Angel going to LSU, and she's tried to fix it through the portal, but has not succeeded so far. Her last great recruit who stayed the course was Sheyanne Sellers, and I wonder if she can have a success like her again. And no transfer has been enough to bail the program out. Before the portal era, this was Kim as well. She seemed to play the game better than Brenda. But now she too is entangled in the portal trap and will only succeed if she makes the rumors of vast NIL offers actually come true.

I had some hope for Lindsay Gottleib. She launched what could be the beginning of a program-level contender with one superstar recruit and a bunch of transfers. Other than Rayah Marshall, I can't think of any longterm recruits who made her rotation two seasons ago. And on the strength of that season, she brought in one of the best recruiting classes in D1, probably the best one in USC history. But she accepted transfers over it with Iriafen and von Oelhofen and as a result seemed to have lost almost all her transfers. She's landed another good recruit in Jazzy, though not much else, and even that was before the end-of-season debacle emerged. We'll see if she can manage to recruit another good class. If not, I think USC will not achieve lasting success as a program.

Actually, it doesn’t really burn. I thought we fell to an Elite 8 level team when we lost Ashlyn in January. We ended up with our first runnerup ranking. I felt like we punched above our weight class. I’m good with Number two for last year because we weren’t worthy of number 1.

See you in 26

I respectfully disagree, and gracious as you are, a little sandbagging going on here. SC was certainly a top 4 team even after losing Watkins; and quite honestly a top 2 team by end of league tournaments. Go back and look at Vegas odds. Its just that SC did not match up well against UCONN. Kind of like no one can match up against Curry, Klay, and Green in the prime (dont' get me started with KD).

SC has been masterful at building a team based on strong defense, rebounding and athletic players up and down the roster. Last couple of years they got a strong boost in 3 pt efficiency with the addition of Tehina. For UCONN we've not been able to match this kind of SC team in years past, by and large because of injuries and depth and also to a certain extent had no real answer for Boston/Cardosa. It will be exciting to see how this goes back in forth in the years that Geno has left, but the chess match is great for wcbb and I am excited to see how Dawn and SC do next year (in addition to UCLA).

 

[MooseJaw]

Actually, it doesn’t really burn. I thought we fell to an Elite 8 level team when we lost Ashlyn in January. We ended up with our first runnerup ranking. I felt like we punched above our weight class. I’m good with Number two for last year because we weren’t worthy of number 1.

See you in 26

Much respect, you don't punch down in class you punch up. I take it as a sign of respect when we are the butt of vocal jabs. If your team was mediocre there are no jabs, when and if either side makes fun it's because either team has earned the jab.
It's obvious that UCONN Nation has much respect for SC, as I think you do for the Huskies. There is a name for what we have been writing about, we have a healthy RIVALRY. In my opinion a rivalry that has surpassed the Rivalry with the Golden Domers. Over the last 8 years or so SC has been atop WCBB, expect shots fired, you have earned them, no respect no shots. My shots are for fun, and I enjoy receiving them as well. It's what help fuel a good rivalry. Live long and prosper, and may SC suffer at the hands of our Huskies.

 

[oldude]

I had not anticipated that this thread would drift into a discussion of the UConn - SC rivalry. But since it has, let me make my opinion perfectly clear. SC is the clear and indisputable #1 team in WBB……

 

[DefenseBB]

Ok, first, let me offer my assessment of the 2024 Portal Competition by incorporating the 2024 Season results to give a better perspective to the masses.
Rank/Team/Additions/2024 Seeding/result; 2025 Seeding/result

1. UCLA- Barker, Gardiner, Leger-Walker 2/S16-1/FF
2. USC-Iriafen, Von Oelhoffen 1/EE-1/EE
3. TCU-Van Lith DNQ-2/EE
4. Tennessee-Spencer, Spearman, Latham 6/2nd-5/S16
5. Kentucky-Amoore, Key, Strack DNQ-4/2nd
6. Maryland-Dolce, McLean, Poffenbarger, Smikle 10/1st-4/S16
7. Oklahoma-Beers 5/2nd-3/S16
8. Ole Miss-Jacobs, Iwuala 7/2nd-5/S16
9. Iowa-Olsen 1/Final-6/2nd
10. UConn 3/FF-2/Champion
11. SC-Dauda 1/Champion-1/Final

UCLA was eliminated in round 2 in the 2024 Tournament as a #2 Seed. This year they earned the overall #1 seed and reached the final four. While Charlisse Leger-Walker did not play this year due to injury both Barker and Gardiner contributed significant minutes.
USC, on the paper was a push between 2024 and 2025 except they lost Juju early in the tournament and still made it to the Elite Eight
TCU could be argued to be #1, 2 or 3 based on the fact they didn't even make the field in 2024 and garnered a #2 and 6 overall seed losing to Texas.

Tennessee did extremely well in the portal last year along with the addition of their new coach.

I would put UConn at #10 as this was still going to be a good team regardless of who they added. Yes, Kaitlyn Chen was a key component and added to the team but we still had a robust team so I am not convinced we "won the portal" in 2024.

 

[oldude]

Ok, first, let me offer my assessment of the 2024 Portal Competition by incorporating the 2024 Season results to give a better perspective to the masses.
Rank/Team/Additions/2024 Seeding/result; 2025 Seeding/result

1. UCLA- Barker, Gardiner, Leger-Walker 2/S16-1/FF
2. USC-Iriafen, Von Oelhoffen 1/EE-1/EE
3. TCU-Van Lith DNQ-2/EE
4. Tennessee-Spencer, Spearman, Latham 6/2nd-5/S16
5. Kentucky-Amoore, Key, Strack DNQ-4/2nd
6. Maryland-Dolce, McLean, Poffenbarger, Smikle 10/1st-4/S16
7. Oklahoma-Beers 5/2nd-3/S16
8. Ole Miss-Jacobs, Iwuala 7/2nd-5/S16
9. Iowa-Olsen 1/Final-6/2nd
10. UConn 3/FF-2/Champion
11. SC-Dauda 1/Champion-1/Final

UCLA was eliminated in round 2 in the 2024 Tournament as a #2 Seed. This year they earned the overall #1 seed and reached the final four. While Charlisse Leger-Walker did not play this year due to injury both Barker and Gardiner contributed significant minutes.
USC, on the paper was a push between 2024 and 2025 except they lost Juju early in the tournament and still made it to the Elite Eight
TCU could be argued to be #1, 2 or 3 based on the fact they didn't even make the field in 2024 and garnered a #2 and 6 overall seed losing to Texas.

Tennessee did extremely well in the portal last year along with the addition of their new coach.

I would put UConn at #10 as this was still going to be a good team regardless of who they added. Yes, Kaitlyn Chen was a key component and added to the team but we still had a robust team so I am not convinced we "won the portal" in 2024.

You’ve done a lot of work dealing with portal additions for this past year. But as the OP and other posts in this thread point out, the assessment of a team’s success or lack thereof relative to the portal must also include subtractions or, more specifically, how effective each team was in retaining their returning core roster.

Not only did UConn return all of their underclassmen from 2024, but the Huskies also got commitments from all 3 eligible grad students to return: Paige, Aubrey & Azzi. The Huskies probably could have won the championship without Aubrey. But take away Paige or Azzi and #12 never happens.

 

[boontonbomber]

There is a 1983 Sci-Fi film called WarGames where a HS kid unknowingly hacks into a Defense Department supercomputer named Joshua. He thinks he is playing video games, but has inadvertently set in motion a process that will lead to global thermonuclear war. In the end nuclear holocaust is averted when the computer learns the ironic truth that, “The only winning move is not to play.”

In similar fashion, I would argue that UConn won the transfer portal prior to last season and for this coming season by essentially not playing the game of creating a revolving door for outbound and inbound players. On the outbound side that starts with keeping all your core players. Prior to this past season, UConn was the only D1 school in the nation that did not lose a single outbound transfer. After winning a championship this year (Not a coincidence), UConn only lost Q, the last player off the bench. Keeping your existing core roster is absolutely critical to maintaining continuity for any WBB program.

On the inbound side, UConn is not looking for the shiniest new toy. Since the implementation of the Transfer Portal, the Huskies have now brought in 5 smart, talented, team-oriented players who complement the existing roster. Next season, Serah and Kayleigh will give UConn the deepest, most versatile roster in WBB. The 3 players that came before Serah & Kayleigh were Dorka, Lou & Kaitlyn. They were all stars at their former schools. They had all completed their undergraduate degree. All were willing to accept supporting roles at UConn to pursue their championship dream. Serah and Kayleigh are cut from the same cloth. They are not coming to UConn to become stars or get paid a bundle of money. They just want to get better and win championships.

So what is happening elsewhere in WBB? We are seeing wholesale roster changes as both starters and key reserves are heading for greener pastures. There are teams that have lost their entire rosters. Schools are scrambling to fill voids, sometimes engaging in bidding wars for top players. Coaches have become commodity traders, negotiating NIL payouts with parents and agents, while having little time for player development.

I sometimes feel sorry for college coaches. None of them got into coaching to negotiate transactional contracts with players while losing a significant portion of their roster every year. The joy and satisfaction that coaches receive from developing a young person to reach their potential as a player and a human being over multiple seasons is being lost to NIL, immediate transfer eligibility, player agents and the pressure to win.

Top programs load up on talent from the transfer portal every year. The problem for many of these teams is that it takes years to build a roster into a cohesive unit, and if you are engaged in a major roster overhaul every season with a bunch of free agents, it becomes nearly impossible to execute like a team must execute to win a championship. UConn walloped everyone during the Big Dance with flawless execution at both ends of the court. Yes, UConn had several new faces this past season. But the collective basketball IQ of this Husky team was off the charts, and every single player bought into what Geno was trying to accomplish. After winning championship #12, Geno commented that his team, “fell in love with each other.” That is difficult to achieve if players are always asking, “What about me?”

Next season many teams will set their sights on a national championship. They will work hard to integrate their players into their respective systems in the hopes of creating a smooth and effective team. As for the Huskies, they will not need to hope. UConn has won the Transfer Portal…..again, by adding 2 excellent complimentary players to an experienced and talented roster that will be firing on all cylinders come March.

I feel very sorry for college coaches having to deal with this "thing", this transfer portal. Along with NIL, tremendous damage has been done to college athletics, and will only get worse. To me, there is no joy in seeing players using this "thing" to come to UConn.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Dawn is a superb recruiter, but her coaching skills are rather pedestrian. Give her the head and shoulders big and make room for another Natie in the Trophy Case, otherwise its white knuckles time. Her teams read the lie to the old canard about defense wins championships. You have to defend the lead, but first you have to get it. Year after year after year her emphasis is defense because she lacks skills in the coaching of the modern offensive game. In this regard she reminds me of Pat Summit in her waning years. She even had a certain Villanova coach try to help her figure it out. He got a tie out of the deal, but she didn't absorb the lesson. I don't think Dawn has had a lesson.

 

[Zinethar]

With NIL evolving and changing and big money rumors being tossed around I would have thought contracts would have been written by this time. Perhaps they have been and I'm unaware of it. It would seem to me that commitments should be made to insure value for the buck. Maybe the hold up is because the schools do not want the athletes listed as employees. Do it like the coaches - a base salary (scholarship) with a NIL figure guaranteed on top. The athlete signs for a given period of time. A buyout clause included just like the coach. Not saying I would like this but saying I see it coming. There has to be a way to recoup the investment when it goes south.

 

[Bone Dog]

Ok, first, let me offer my assessment of the 2024 Portal Competition by incorporating the 2024 Season results to give a better perspective to the masses.
Rank/Team/Additions/2024 Seeding/result; 2025 Seeding/result

1. UCLA- Barker, Gardiner, Leger-Walker 2/S16-1/FF
2. USC-Iriafen, Von Oelhoffen 1/EE-1/EE
3. TCU-Van Lith DNQ-2/EE
4. Tennessee-Spencer, Spearman, Latham 6/2nd-5/S16
5. Kentucky-Amoore, Key, Strack DNQ-4/2nd
6. Maryland-Dolce, McLean, Poffenbarger, Smikle 10/1st-4/S16
7. Oklahoma-Beers 5/2nd-3/S16
8. Ole Miss-Jacobs, Iwuala 7/2nd-5/S16
9. Iowa-Olsen 1/Final-6/2nd
10. UConn 3/FF-2/Champion
11. SC-Dauda 1/Champion-1/Final

UCLA was eliminated in round 2 in the 2024 Tournament as a #2 Seed. This year they earned the overall #1 seed and reached the final four. While Charlisse Leger-Walker did not play this year due to injury both Barker and Gardiner contributed significant minutes.
USC, on the paper was a push between 2024 and 2025 except they lost Juju early in the tournament and still made it to the Elite Eight
TCU could be argued to be #1, 2 or 3 based on the fact they didn't even make the field in 2024 and garnered a #2 and 6 overall seed losing to Texas.

Tennessee did extremely well in the portal last year along with the addition of their new coach.

I would put UConn at #10 as this was still going to be a good team regardless of who they added. Yes, Kaitlyn Chen was a key component and added to the team but we still had a robust team so I am not convinced we "won the portal" in 2024.

It's difficult to read this post, but I'll give it a shot. Are you trying to show that the team who wins the NC in a given year must have "won the portal", and that merely counting the number of transfers misses the point? If so, then "the masses" must be all those people who make this fundamental error, namely to think that the portal is a separate competition. SC "won" the portal in 2024 by taking only one. UConn won it in 2025 by taking only one. And Iowa did pretty well by only taking one in 2024.

Also, just a question, but didn't USC take a few transfers in 2024?

 

[BBallF]

I'm not sure what this thread is about anymore. It should be about our team and the way Geno has used and has been able to use the transfer portal because of the unique brand, achievements, and culture here. It also should be about the future. We have talked about "The February Metamorphosis" for years now. It's that fine tuning, that ratcheting down, that transformative illumination that seems to happen annually right around the end of the regular season and the beginning of the post season. This year it was just plain incandescent. The FF was a victory lap.

The point of the OP was that if you look at our two Portal Pick Ups and who we have coming back, you see perfect fits both into the culture and the team's needs. It was brilliant and I for one can't even imagine what the 'butterfly" that emerges from the regular season "cocoon" is going to look like this coming season.

We are talking power reminiscent of 2002 but taller, 2 bona fide Naismith contenders, speed, two strong defensive PGs, crazy deep players off the bench like Ash/Blanca (who knows who will start and don't let anything surprise you past Serah, Sarah and Azzi) Caroiine/Morgan/Allie/ Kelis/Ice/Jana/Gandy/ a healthy Ayanna, the ability to play any defense and any offense, full or half court press relentlessly in hockey lines, and a new addition underneath who is that power player we haven't seen in a long time and who may very well be the second best post player in the country. Don't get upset or suicidal if we don't play well or lose. It takes time to figure it all out, to get it just right. Remember, we may not have won the whole thing last year without that loss to Tennessee.

Geno has picked up a thing or two over the years and seems to bring them along pretty well before they start to fly in March and man, did they ever last year. These two new transfers are UCONN players through and through and just make sure you get to see them in person and up close as much as you can, especially after they have emerged and have begun to soar. They have a chance to be one of the truly great teams.

 

[YKCornelius]

Ok, first, let me offer my assessment of the 2024 Portal Competition by incorporating the 2024 Season results to give a better perspective to the masses.
Rank/Team/Additions/2024 Seeding/result; 2025 Seeding/result

1. UCLA- Barker, Gardiner, Leger-Walker 2/S16-1/FF
2. USC-Iriafen, Von Oelhoffen 1/EE-1/EE
3. TCU-Van Lith DNQ-2/EE
4. Tennessee-Spencer, Spearman, Latham 6/2nd-5/S16
5. Kentucky-Amoore, Key, Strack DNQ-4/2nd
6. Maryland-Dolce, McLean, Poffenbarger, Smikle 10/1st-4/S16
7. Oklahoma-Beers 5/2nd-3/S16
8. Ole Miss-Jacobs, Iwuala 7/2nd-5/S16
9. Iowa-Olsen 1/Final-6/2nd
10. UConn 3/FF-2/Champion
11. SC-Dauda 1/Champion-1/Final

UCLA was eliminated in round 2 in the 2024 Tournament as a #2 Seed. This year they earned the overall #1 seed and reached the final four. While Charlisse Leger-Walker did not play this year due to injury both Barker and Gardiner contributed significant minutes.
USC, on the paper was a push between 2024 and 2025 except they lost Juju early in the tournament and still made it to the Elite Eight
TCU could be argued to be #1, 2 or 3 based on the fact they didn't even make the field in 2024 and garnered a #2 and 6 overall seed losing to Texas.

Tennessee did extremely well in the portal last year along with the addition of their new coach.

I would put UConn at #10 as this was still going to be a good team regardless of who they added. Yes, Kaitlyn Chen was a key component and added to the team but we still had a robust team so I am not convinced we "won the portal" in 2024.

Well, if you are going to use previous year's results as the metric, then it simple stands to reason that UConn did indeed "win the portal"in 2024 since they won the NC in 25. Stated differently, what UConn got out of the portal took them farther than any other team.

If you are simply trying to assess progress from one year to the next, and then make a leap of logic to conclude it is due to their portal activity - which is what you are implying by putting UConn at #10 - then it makes no sense to place USC in front of TCU. TCU's progress between years was far greater to the same outcome (Elite Eight). Plus, from one season to the next, TCU added almost 35 points per game from the portal, USC added 24.

Regarding USC's "still made it to the Elite Eight" caveat, let's take a look at that a little closer: (1) they were on their way to a blowout against #9 seed, leading 13-2 when JuJu went down. It didn't take much to close out that second round game at home as evidenced by the Trojan bench almost scoring as much (32 points) as the Bulldog starters; (2) In the SS, they narrowly defeated the #5 seed by just 6 points in a game where the two portal transfers (Iriafen and Von Oelhoffen) scored a combined 9 points on 4-19 shooting. Then, to underscore their ineffectiveness in the SS wasn't a fluke, in the EE the two portal transfers scored just 20 points on a combined 6-23 shooting. TCU's portal transfers, by comparison, scored 30 points in the SS and 29 points in the EE.

The masses would tell you that the cherries you are picking aren't ripe yet.

 

[Bills Fan]

The reigning “Coach of the Year” lost six of her players to the Portal. What is wrong with that picture? (Cough)

Because she is a terrible coach. Just watch our semi-final game against UCLA and you will see a completely out of control coach. Not much of an example for her players. UCLA will be ok in 25-26 due to Betts and her sister, but once the older Betts leaves her team will crash.

 

[Swish It 88]

There is a 1983 Sci-Fi film called WarGames where a HS kid unknowingly hacks into a Defense Department supercomputer named Joshua. He thinks he is playing video games, but has inadvertently set in motion a process that will lead to global thermonuclear war. In the end nuclear holocaust is averted when the computer learns the ironic truth that, “The only winning move is not to play.”

In similar fashion, I would argue that UConn won the transfer portal prior to last season and for this coming season by essentially not playing the game of creating a revolving door for outbound and inbound players. On the outbound side that starts with keeping all your core players. Prior to this past season, UConn was the only D1 school in the nation that did not lose a single outbound transfer. After winning a championship this year (Not a coincidence), UConn only lost Q, the last player off the bench. Keeping your existing core roster is absolutely critical to maintaining continuity for any WBB program.

On the inbound side, UConn is not looking for the shiniest new toy. Since the implementation of the Transfer Portal, the Huskies have now brought in 5 smart, talented, team-oriented players who complement the existing roster. Next season, Serah and Kayleigh will give UConn the deepest, most versatile roster in WBB. The 3 players that came before Serah & Kayleigh were Dorka, Lou & Kaitlyn. They were all stars at their former schools. They had all completed their undergraduate degree. All were willing to accept supporting roles at UConn to pursue their championship dream. Serah and Kayleigh are cut from the same cloth. They are not coming to UConn to become stars or get paid a bundle of money. They just want to get better and win championships.

So what is happening elsewhere in WBB? We are seeing wholesale roster changes as both starters and key reserves are heading for greener pastures. There are teams that have lost their entire rosters. Schools are scrambling to fill voids, sometimes engaging in bidding wars for top players. Coaches have become commodity traders, negotiating NIL payouts with parents and agents, while having little time for player development.

I sometimes feel sorry for college coaches. None of them got into coaching to negotiate transactional contracts with players while losing a significant portion of their roster every year. The joy and satisfaction that coaches receive from developing a young person to reach their potential as a player and a human being over multiple seasons is being lost to NIL, immediate transfer eligibility, player agents and the pressure to win.

Top programs load up on talent from the transfer portal every year. The problem for many of these teams is that it takes years to build a roster into a cohesive unit, and if you are engaged in a major roster overhaul every season with a bunch of free agents, it becomes nearly impossible to execute like a team must execute to win a championship. UConn walloped everyone during the Big Dance with flawless execution at both ends of the court. Yes, UConn had several new faces this past season. But the collective basketball IQ of this Husky team was off the charts, and every single player bought into what Geno was trying to accomplish. After winning championship #12, Geno commented that his team, “fell in love with each other.” That is difficult to achieve if players are always asking, “What about me?”

Next season many teams will set their sights on a national championship. They will work hard to integrate their players into their respective systems in the hopes of creating a smooth and effective team. As for the Huskies, they will not need to hope. UConn has won the Transfer Portal…..again, by adding 2 excellent complimentary players to an experienced and talented roster that will be firing on all cylinders come March.

@oldude said: "Prior to this past season, UConn was the only D1 school in the nation that did not lose a single outbound transfer".

Nice post but I don't understand this line. Uconn has lost about ten girls to the portal since its inception including Ines and Amari last year.
Are you just talking about "core" players? If so, who determines who the core players are on the other 350 D1 teams?

 

[oldude]

@oldude said: "Prior to this past season, UConn was the only D1 school in the nation that did not lose a single outbound transfer".

Nice post but I don't understand this line. Uconn has lost about ten girls to the portal since its inception including Ines and Amari last year.
Are you just talking about "core" players? If so, who determines who the core players are on the other 350 D1 teams?

I should have stated “core players.” In the case of Ines & Amari, both played in a limited # of games averaging around 5 mpg. As for the other 350 teams, I’ll leave that to others to decide, as my OP is not meant to be a detailed statistical analysis.

 

[MooseJaw]

I had not anticipated that this thread would drift into a discussion of the UConn - SC rivalry. But since it has, let me make my opinion perfectly clear. SC is the clear and indisputable #1 team in WBB……

Yes, and in the same breath I am proud to announce that I intercepted a post from SC saying Geno and Mrs. Geno are expecting. I see your wink and raise you one. Waiting and expecting bigger team dinners at the house of Geno. Yeah, the post from SC mentioned nothing about the dinners, who can you trust? SC fans, SC team, Dawn? Come on you know the answer In Geno We Trust.

 

[DefenseBB]

Winning the Transfer Portal is by nature, a subjective assessment. You can't claim that UConn won the Portal in 2024 by stating that "players returning also qualified" which is not true, that is akin to "moving the goalposts". Maybe if they entered the portal and then rescinded, you could then claim that on a technicality. UConn picked up 1 player last year and whatever the reason, lost out on another (Beers) that would have been better fit based on need. Yes, it all worked out solely due to the development and skill of Sarah Strong but UConn was far from winning the portal last year. My post was to rank the teams that actually utilized the portal itself in 2024 and how those additions aided their success in 2025. So similarly, below is my assessment of the 2025 player movement in the portal to project improvement for the 2026 NCAAT. In some cases, additions may keep the team from sinking lower than their previous year. I agree with the additions of Williams (#3 Portal player based on Efficiency and WinShares) and Heckel greatly add to the depth and help offset the loss of Paige.
Rank/Team/Early season Rank/Additions/Subtractions lost, if any/2025 result. Players emboldened is my top ten Portal player rank.

1. UConn-#3 Williams-3, Heckel Champion These additions should make UConn the favorite to repeat
2. Texas-#4 Cunningham, Judd, Sidberry subtraction Phelia, Mwenentanda FF These additions should help Texas return to the FF
3. UCLA-#1 Kneepkens-4 subtraction Barker, Jones, Aarnisola, Dudley, Cain FF This addition along with Leger-Walker should maintain UCLA but they lost significant depth and thus are below Texas.
4. SC-#2 Latson-2, Okot subtraction Fulwiley-5 Final Adding Okot is the plus, Latson/Fulwiley is a neutral swap. FSU led the country in shot attempts so can Latson really fit into the SC scheme? The continued development of Edwards and 6'6" presence of Okot will help SC back to the FF
5. LSU-#6 Fulwiley-5, Koval, Joyner subtraction Poa, Smith, Del Rosario, Wolfenbarger, Sheppard EE Losing Morrow and Smith hurts LSU more than adding Koval/Joyner. With Johnson and Williams, it will be interesting to see how Fulwiley fits in.
6. Tenn-#7 Barker-7, Robinson, Wolfenbarger S16 Despite the exuberance by VolNation fans, this group will help TN but not to the level everyone is thinking. They add size which they needed but all 3 are atrocious shooters. Volume does not make up for that.
7. Ole Miss-#11 McMahon-9, Powe, Lattimore, Peterson, Deshields S16 Coach Yo is clearly focused on roster building via the portal as her HS recruiting is abysmal. Powe and Lattimore are under-rated additions and Ole Miss could return to the Sweet 16 again.
8. Maryland-#10 Garzon-8, Okananwa-6 subtraction Kubek S16 Coach Yo gets more press on her "Portalnista" claim but few have effectively used the transfers as well as Brenda has-either by necessity or desire. This group will also help.
9. Virginia-NR Weimer, Smith, Amanze subtraction Lattimore-10 DNQ Virginia is spending a lot of resources to help Coach Mox become relevant again and I think this group helps but not sure how much success in the NCAAT they will have after they qualify
10. TCU-#12 Miles-1, Suarez, Basham, Silva EE Miles was the #1 player in the portal as a 2 time All American and also a point guard who can make other players better (unlike volume shooter Latson). Adding a shooter in Suarez and size in Silva as well as another guard in Basham will help TCU get back to the Sweet 16.
11. Baylor-#9 Deng, Scott 2nd. This is another school that is spending quite a bit of resources to improve. They are trying to prove that Nicki Collen can replicate what Kim did (she can't) and these two players will improve Baylor but I think the S16 is their ceiling.

 

[huskyd]

There is a 1983 Sci-Fi film called WarGames where a HS kid unknowingly hacks into a Defense Department supercomputer named Joshua. He thinks he is playing video games, but has inadvertently set in motion a process that will lead to global thermonuclear war. In the end nuclear holocaust is averted when the computer learns the ironic truth that, “The only winning move is not to play.”

In similar fashion, I would argue that UConn won the transfer portal prior to last season and for this coming season by essentially not playing the game of creating a revolving door for outbound and inbound players. On the outbound side that starts with keeping all your core players. Prior to this past season, UConn was the only D1 school in the nation that did not lose a single outbound transfer. After winning a championship this year (Not a coincidence), UConn only lost Q, the last player off the bench. Keeping your existing core roster is absolutely critical to maintaining continuity for any WBB program.

On the inbound side, UConn is not looking for the shiniest new toy. Since the implementation of the Transfer Portal, the Huskies have now brought in 5 smart, talented, team-oriented players who complement the existing roster. Next season, Serah and Kayleigh will give UConn the deepest, most versatile roster in WBB. The 3 players that came before Serah & Kayleigh were Dorka, Lou & Kaitlyn. They were all stars at their former schools. They had all completed their undergraduate degree. All were willing to accept supporting roles at UConn to pursue their championship dream. Serah and Kayleigh are cut from the same cloth. They are not coming to UConn to become stars or get paid a bundle of money. They just want to get better and win championships.

So what is happening elsewhere in WBB? We are seeing wholesale roster changes as both starters and key reserves are heading for greener pastures. There are teams that have lost their entire rosters. Schools are scrambling to fill voids, sometimes engaging in bidding wars for top players. Coaches have become commodity traders, negotiating NIL payouts with parents and agents, while having little time for player development.

I sometimes feel sorry for college coaches. None of them got into coaching to negotiate transactional contracts with players while losing a significant portion of their roster every year. The joy and satisfaction that coaches receive from developing a young person to reach their potential as a player and a human being over multiple seasons is being lost to NIL, immediate transfer eligibility, player agents and the pressure to win.

Top programs load up on talent from the transfer portal every year. The problem for many of these teams is that it takes years to build a roster into a cohesive unit, and if you are engaged in a major roster overhaul every season with a bunch of free agents, it becomes nearly impossible to execute like a team must execute to win a championship. UConn walloped everyone during the Big Dance with flawless execution at both ends of the court. Yes, UConn had several new faces this past season. But the collective basketball IQ of this Husky team was off the charts, and every single player bought into what Geno was trying to accomplish. After winning championship #12, Geno commented that his team, “fell in love with each other.” That is difficult to achieve if players are always asking, “What about me?”

Next season many teams will set their sights on a national championship. They will work hard to integrate their players into their respective systems in the hopes of creating a smooth and effective team. As for the Huskies, they will not need to hope. UConn has won the Transfer Portal…..again, by adding 2 excellent complimentary players to an experienced and talented roster that will be firing on all cylinders come March.

Be interesting to track the outcomes of players who have left UConn for "greener" fields. Presumably, they left to enhance their positions as players. Did they?
Consider this: we have a full roster this year. Frankly, we have more players than we can reasonably use. We can't talk about who might move on, but wouldn't it be justified if they thought they could do better elsewhere? Would such move(s) reflect badly on anyone?

 

[oldude]

Be interesting to track the outcomes of players who have left UConn for "greener" fields. Presumably, they left to enhance their positions as players. Did they?
Consider this: we have a full roster this year. Frankly, we have more players than we can reasonably use. We can't talk about who might move on, but wouldn't it be justified if they thought they could do better elsewhere? Would such move(s) reflect badly on anyone?

First off, we are not supposed to talk about players potentially transferring, so let’s leave that be. As for those players that did leave UConn, setting aside EDD who never actually played a game, no former UConn player achieved major success elsewhere. A few cracked the starting lineup at other schools and many were solid reserves. But other than EDD, I really don’t think Geno ever lost an impact player that transferred.

 

[cabbie191]

I think on balance Dawn has done well in the portal, but she has also lost three big time talents that maybe didn't quite fit the program, in Fulwiley, Rivers to NCState, and Cooper to Tennessee. All three are ball dominant players used to being a the focal point of their team, perhaps too much for Dawn's program which like Geno's expects players to fit into the system.

IMO, this is a good example of gaining by losing.

How many times in the years prior to Tennessee hiring Caldwell did we witness Lady Vol teams seriously underperform their talent level because of a lack of cohesion between the players, and possibly the coaching staff as well when Holly held the reins?