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Jeff BorzelloApr 15, 2026, 11:00 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a> Basketball recruiting insider. Multiple Authors<\/p>\n The NCAA tournament ended just eight days ago — and in that time, the entire college basketball landscape has changed. More than 2,000 players are in the transfer portal, and a flurry of commitments over the weekend has jump-started the roster-building process for plenty of teams.<\/p>\n Some are further ahead than others, and that also applies to the four teams that were playing in Indianapolis just more than a week ago.<\/p>\n Michigan, UConn, Arizona and Illinois have all lost players to the transfer portal since the season ended, and three of those programs have already added replacements.<\/p>\n How are each of the national semifinalists — and one team that came heartbreakingly close — faring in their quests to rebuild and get back to the Final Four?<\/p>\n All information as of April 14<\/p>\n Players leaving: Starters Yaxel Lendeborg<\/a> and Nimari Burnett<\/a> are both out of eligibility, as are Roddy Gayle Jr<\/a>. and Will Tschetter<\/a>. End-of-bench players Winters Grady<\/a> and Malick Kordel<\/a> entered the portal. L.J. Cason and incoming freshman Lincoln Cosby<\/a> are likely to redshirt as they recover from injuries.<\/p>\n Players staying or coming in: The reigning national champions began their reload during halftime of their Final Four win over Arizona, when five-star guard Brandon McCoy Jr. announced his commitment. Dusty May then made quick work in the portal, landing a commitment from Tennessee transfer J.P. Estrella<\/a> a couple of days after the title game. In addition to McCoy, Michigan is also bringing in ESPN 100 recruits Quinn Costello<\/a> and Joseph Hartman<\/a>. The Wolverines also agreed to deals to keep guards Elliot Cadeau<\/a> and Trey McKenney<\/a> in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n Players in limbo: Much of Michigan’s frontcourt work will depend on the NBA draft decisions of Morez Johnson Jr<\/a>. and Aday Mara<\/a>. A dominant late-season surge propelled Mara into the late lottery range of ESPN’s last big board update, while Johnson is projected as a late first-rounder.<\/p>\n Work to do: May also clearly wants some additional perimeter pop: The Wolverines hosted Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris<\/a>, one of the elite scorers in the portal, for a visit this past weekend. Harris left the visit without committing and then met with both North Carolina and Tennessee.<\/p>\n Dan Hurley has set a remarkable standard at UConn, going to three Final Fours in four years, including two national championships. How will he get the Huskies back there next season?<\/p>\n Players leaving: Program legend Alex Karaban<\/a> and NCAA tournament star Tarris Reed<\/a> are both gone, while Malachi Smith<\/a> is a senior. UConn was also hit by the transfer portal, with former McDonald’s All American Eric Reibe<\/a> opting to depart despite likely filling Reed’s shoes next season on a full-time basis.<\/p>\n Players staying or coming in: On the plus side, Silas Demary Jr<\/a>. announced on Tuesday that he’s coming back to UConn, and there is no reason to believe Solo Ball<\/a> won’t follow, so the two can again start alongside each other in the backcourt. Two-way sixth man Jayden Ross<\/a> is also back, and the Huskies bring in a pair of top-50 wings in Colben Landrew<\/a> and Junior County<\/a>.<\/p>\n Players in limbo: Braylon Mullins<\/a> is a projected first-round pick, but Hurley has spoken publicly about the program’s attempts to keep him in Storrs for another season. Veteran forward Jaylin Stewart<\/a> is also yet to announce his next move.<\/p>\n Work to do: The focus of UConn’s portal efforts is the frontcourt. There is a long list of targets for the Huskies, including Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman<\/a> and Seton Hall transfer Najai Hines<\/a>. Saint Mary’s transfer Paulius Murauskas<\/a> was one to watch, but Louisville and Arizona State have made the two-time All-WCC selection a priority and could have the edge. UConn has also been linked with Moustapha Thiam<\/a> (Cincinnati) and Andrew McKeever<\/a> (Saint Mary’s).<\/p>\n Arizona had a roller-coaster finish to the season, reaching the program’s first Final Four since 2001, fending off North Carolina to keep Tommy Lloyd in Tucson — and then losing big to Michigan in the national semifinals.<\/p>\n Players leaving: Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley<\/a>, Tobe Awaka<\/a> and Anthony Dell’Orso<\/a> are seniors, while Brayden Burries<\/a> has played himself into lottery projections. The only rotation player to hit the portal was freshman Dwayne Aristode<\/a>.<\/p>\n Players staying or coming in: The only rotation player that seems guaranteed to return is Ivan Kharchenkov<\/a>, who emerged as one of the best two-way freshmen in the Big 12. Top-five recruit Caleb Holt<\/a> will slot into the starting lineup immediately, and they also have top-50 recruit Cameron Holmes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Players in limbo: Lloyd now awaits the stay-or-go decisions from Koa Peat<\/a> and Motiejus Krivas<\/a>. Both were projected in the 20s of ESPN’s most recent big board but could potentially boost their stock with another year at Arizona.<\/p>\n Work to do: Arizona’s portal priority was a point guard. Oregon transfer Jackson Shelstad<\/a> was atop the Wildcats’ board, but he committed to Louisville. The Wildcats quickly pivoted and landed a pair of freshman transfers on Monday evening: Derek Dixon<\/a> (North Carolina) and JJ Mandaquit<\/a> (Washington). They’re also pursuing Kansas transfer Bryson Tiller<\/a>, who is expected to visit Tucson this week; the Wildcats will need to conduct some frontcourt business regardless of Peat’s and Krivas’ decisions.<\/p>\n Brad Underwood has found a formula that works, and it centers around size defensively and skill offensively — in an incredibly efficient offensive system.<\/p>\n Players leaving: Keaton Wagler<\/a> has announced he’s heading to the NBA draft, while starting guard Kylan Boswell<\/a> and reserve forward Ben Humrichous<\/a> are out of eligibility. Seldom-used Mihailo Petrovic<\/a> and Toni Bilic, who enrolled at the semester break and didn’t play in a game, are the only players to enter the transfer portal so far.<\/p>\n Players staying or coming in: The frontcourt is in good shape with starters Tomislav Ivisic<\/a> and David Mirkovic<\/a> both likely to return, along with backup Zvonimir Ivisic<\/a>. Shooter Jake Davis<\/a> is also back, while incoming freshman Lucas Morillo<\/a> is a top-60 recruit and can play a depth role on the perimeter.<\/p>\n Players in limbo: The Illini await Andrej Stojakovic<\/a>‘s decision about his future. Stojakovic could turn pro or enter the transfer portal; he was the team’s second-leading scorer this past season but came off the bench for the final 11 games.<\/p>\n Work to do: Underwood began his backcourt reload during Final Four week by landing former Wake Forest signee and top-30 recruit Quentin Coleman<\/a> and continued it with Sunday’s addition of Providence transfer Stefan Vaaks<\/a>, an Estonia native who emerged as one of the surprise freshmen in the country this past season. Next on the list is Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell<\/a>, an All-Big Ten selection who had 31 points against the Illini in the Big Ten tournament. The Illini are battling Duke, UCLA and Louisville for the high-scoring guard.<\/p>\n Duke was not a Final Four team, but the Blue Devils came within a 35-foot Braylon Mullins 3-pointer of getting there. They’re also facing a fascinating reload, so let’s take a quick look at them too.<\/p>\n Players leaving: Cameron Boozer<\/a> will be a top-five pick in the NBA draft, so he’s gone. Maliq Brown<\/a> is out of eligibility. And Nikolas Khamenia<\/a> and Darren Harris<\/a> entered the transfer portal. Outside of that, nothing appears set in stone.<\/p>\n Players staying or coming in: Caleb Foster<\/a> and Cayden Boozer<\/a> are both trending toward a return, and Jon Scheyer is bringing in the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, led by three top-25 recruits: high-ceiling forward Cameron Williams<\/a>, point guard Deron Rippey Jr<\/a>. and shooter Bryson Howard<\/a>.<\/p>\n Players in limbo: Isaiah Evans<\/a> has moved up draft boards and is well inside the first round, while Dame Sarr<\/a> and Patrick Ngongba<\/a> were in the second round of ESPN’s most recent big board. There’s some optimism that both Sarr and Ngbonga will return to Durham.<\/p>\n Work to do: So what does Duke need? The top priority is a high-scoring perimeter player and the top target is Wisconsin’s John Blackwell, the best guard in the portal. The Blue Devils are also expected to be a main contender for Santa Clara transfer Allen Graves<\/a> if he withdraws from the NBA draft. Even if Ngongba comes back, Duke needs another big man, and the Blue Devils are hoping Indiana didn’t close a deal with Alabama transfer Aiden Sherrell<\/a>. They’ve also been linked to Cincinnati transfer Thiam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeff BorzelloApr 15, 2026, 11:00 PM Close Basketball recruiting insider. Joined ESPN in 2014. Graduate of University of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-608898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Joined ESPN in 2014.
\n Graduate of University of Delaware.<\/p>\n