College basketball transfer portal closes tonight: What it means, top players left and what comes next

Outside of the transfer portal, the other looming deadline is the one for underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft. That deadline is April 24 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Even if a player enters the draft, they still can return to school. Alabama star Labaron Philon literally waited until the final hours of that deadline last year to announce he was returning to college.

Several players have already bypassed the pre-draft process entirely, including UConn's Braylon Mullins, Duke's Patrick Ngongba II and Florida's Alex Condon. The deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft to maintain college eligibility is May 27 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

With the transfer portal closed, let's look ahead to the biggest storylines of the offseason that will unfold over the next few days and weeks.

What top transfers are still available?

While several players have already committed to where they will play next season, there is still plenty of talent on the board. Here is a snapshot of who is still available in the transfer portal rankings.

• (No. 2) Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State: He was the best shooter in college basketball this season and will be coveted by many. Momcilovic shot 48.7% from the 3-point line this season. Despite being focused on the draft, returning to school is the most logical option.
• (No. 3) John Blackwell, Wisconsin: Blackwell already took a visit to UCLA earlier this month, but still hasn't made a decision. Duke and Louisville still appear to be in the mix for Blackwell, who averaged 19.1 points per game last season with the Badgers.
• **(No. 4) Allen Graves, Santa Clara:**Graves didn't post eye-popping numbers at Santa Clara this season, but his impact went beyond the box score. He is an analytical darling and will have his pick of schools if he stays in the draft. Two schools that make sense for Graves are LSU and Duke.
• (No. 5) Massamba Diop, Arizona State: Two schools in the mix for ASU's star big man are Gonzaga and St. John's. Diop averaged 13.6 points and 2.1 blocks last season for the Sun Devils.
• (No. 7) Juke Harris, Wake Forest: One of the best returning scorers in the sport started his portal journey by taking a visit to Michigan earlier this month. Tennessee and North Carolina are other schools that have shown interest in Harris.
• (No. 9) Paulius Murauskas, Saint Mary's: It seemed logical initially that Murauskas could follow his former coach, Randy Bennett, from Saint Mary's to Arizona State. He averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds for the Gaels last season under Bennett. If ASU can land him, it would be a massive win.

Other names available inside the top 50 of the 247Sports transfer rankings include Moustapha Thiam (Cincinnati), Paul McNeil (NC State), Terrence Brown (Utah) and Matt Able (NC State).

Why are so many players coming back to school?

Already a legend in Connecticut, Mullins is running it back for his sophomore season.  Getty Images

You may have noticed that some of the biggest names in college basketball are electing to eschew through the draft process and instead return to school for another season. While transfers and blue-chip recruits are the lifeblood of how teams build their program year-over-year, getting familiar faces back is just as important.

The most logical reason people assume so many players are returning to college basketball is because of NIL. That certainly doesn't hurt, but another reason is that some of the best returning prospects have their eyes on the 2027 NBA Draft, which is projected to be a much weaker class than this year.

Mullins is the perfect example of that. He would've likely been a late first-rounder this summer, but by returning to UConn for one more season, he has a chance to raise his stock and potentially become a lottery pick in 2027. Mullins got off to a slow start to the season due to a preseason injury, but showed flashes of his five-star billing throughout.

While Mullins left no doubt about returning to school, other players will have until Friday night to decide to stay or go. Some of those names who still need to make a decision include Thomas Haugh (Florida), Koa Peat (Arizona), Morez Johnson Jr. (Michigan), Aday Mara (Michigan), Motiejus Krivas (Arizona), Isaiah Evans (Duke), Henri Veesaar (North Carolina) and Tyler Tanner (Vanderbilt).

Players such as Meleek Thomas (Arkansas) and Amari Allen (Alabama) entered the draft but also left the door open to return to school for another season. They will have until May 27 to decide whether to stay or go. Notably, both players are projected either at the end of the first round or early in the second.

What is going on in Lexington?

Kentucky's offseason got off to a rough start when star guard Robert Wright III opted to return to BYU rather than transfer. After missing out on Wright, Kentucky pivoted to secure commitments from Washington guard Zoom Diallo and Furman guard Alex Wilkins.

Still, with seven outgoing transfers and star guard Otega Oweh running out of eligibility, there is plenty of work for coach Mark Pope to complete the roster. The Wildcats are not alone in that sentiment.

Outside of the transfer portal, the biggest storyline is the recruitment of Tyran Stokes, the No. 1-ranked player in the 2026 recruiting class by 247Sports. Kansas and Kentucky remain in the mix to land Stokes. Stokes' commitment could have a seismic impact on the sport, with the winner of his recruitment having a projected top-five pick on their roster, and the loser of the sweepstakes having to pivot fast.

Kentucky has just one high school commitment. That would be Mason Williams, the son of Kentucky assistant coach and former NBA star Mo Williams. The Wildcats spent big on last year's roster (at least $20 million, it has been said) and the ROI didn't quite add up. The Wildcats lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and were one of the most inconsistent teams in the sport.

It's safe to say the pressure is on Pope heading into Year 3 of his tenure at his alma mater.

Kansas and Duke have big offseasons ahead

At Kansas, the good news is that coach Bill Self is back for at least one more season after putting off retirement. Kansas' notable newcomers include five-star guard Taylen Kinney and Keanu Dawes (Utah) and Leroy Blyden Jr. (Toledo) from the transfer portal.

Landing Stokes could rejuvenate the program for however long Self has left as the Jayhawks' coach. Regardless, Kansas' roster will look significantly different. Darryn Peterson is off to the NBA, and eight players from the 2025-26 roster have hit the transfer portal.

For Duke, roster retention and talent acquisition have never been a problem since Jon Scheyer took over the program. But a new kind of pressure faces the program heading into next season after losing to UConn and Houston, respectively, in back-to-back postseasons. The Blue Devils had double-digit leads in the second half of both of those games and still lost.

The Blue Devils are on track to land another top-ranked high school class under Scheyer, but the caveat is that all high school classes are not created equal. Five-star Cameron Williams could be a top-five pick in 2027, but the Blue Devils don't have a talent coming in who could rival the likes of Cameron Boozer and Cooper Flagg.

Frankly, that's the case for the entire 2026 high school recruiting class. It's part of the reason so many players are rolling the dice to return to college basketball instead of putting their name in a deep draft class.

The Blue Devils have just one transfer portal commitment thus far (Drew Scharnowski) and have seen Nikolas Khamenia and Darren Harris both exit the program. There will be more continuity in the starting lineup this upcoming season than last, with Boozer and Ngongba set to return.

Landing a proven veteran scorer like Blackwell would be the biggest transfer portal commitment of Scheyer's tenure. Last offseason, Duke landed Cedric Coward from the transfer portal before he decided to stay in the NBA Draft. It was the right decision for Coward, but that veteran presence was missed at times for a Duke team that has heavily relied on freshmen since Scheyer took over.

First-year coaches still trying to build their rosters

At North Carolina, first-year coach Michael Malone is building a roster from the ground up. Six players from last year's roster have hit the transfer portal. Caleb Wilson is off to the NBA and star guard Seth Trimble is out of eligibility. All eyes are on Veesaar, who has one of the most important stay-or-go decisions in the sport to make.

Getting Veesaar to return would be a massive win for Malone heading into his first season. North Carolina has one commitment thus far from Virginia Tech star Neoklis Avdalas, the No. 21-ranked player in the 247Sports rankings. The pressure is on even more to get this roster right after UNC parted ways with five-star guard Dylan Mingo earlier this month.

[Grading new coaches: Will Wade's LSU roster doesn't have any players on it as transfer portal deadline nears

David Cobb

LSU coach Will Wade picked up his first transfer portal commitment on Monday in former Kentucky forward Mouhamed Dioubate. Meanwhile, Bryan Hodgson has gone to work at Providence to build a roster capable of going to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. Providence has already landed commitments from Miles Byrd (San Diego State), Dink Pate (G League) and Devin Vanterpool (Florida Atlantic).