There are 76 high-major teams in college basketball. Seventy-seven if you include Gonzaga, 78 if San Diego State counts and the final count settles at 79 if money-bag Memphis gets the nod. Only 19 of those 79 teams are currently slated to get multiple double-digit scorers back. Such is life in the free agency era of college basketball where retention is harder than ever while remaining a key variable more often than not for the best teams in the country.
Purdue has made a few ripples in the portal, but it landed a tidal wave by retaining reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Braden Smith, who will be the National Player of the Year frontrunner in 2025-26. Arizona had some painful portal entries, notably Henri Veesaar and KJ Lewis, but getting Jaden Bradley, Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell’Orso and Motiejus Krivas back eased the sting a bit.
Texas Tech has absolutely crushed it in the transfer portal with additions like Washington State bootyball machine LeJuan Watts, UNC-Greensboro sharpshooter Donovan Atwell and Santa Clara net-shredder Tyeree Bryan, but the Red Raiders will have championship aspirations because they retained star guard Christian Anderson and reigning All-American JT Toppin. If Texas Tech can get Darrion Williams to exit the portal and return, USA Arena is going to be jumping.
But retention rarely garners the headlines that the portal brings to the table. And boy, it’s humming with a week to go before the April 22 deadline to enter.
Let’s dive into the latest intel and buzz from inside the poppin’ portal.
