Ranking the Top 20 Remaining Men’s Hoops Transfer Portal Targets

As roster certainty takes priority, a handful of elite holdouts will define the next phase of the college basketball offseason.

Iowa State forward Milan Momcilovic is the best player remaining in the transfer portal. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The transfer portal officially closed Tuesday, bringing to an end a chaotic 15-day window that saw well north of 2,000 Division I players change teams. While there could still be some stragglers (players’ names can technically be entered after the deadline if they indicated their intent to enter prior to the end of Tuesday), the pool of players available for teams to pursue has essentially been finalized.

The flurry of recent activity came with the majority of the top players off the board as teams hunt for earlier roster certainty. But with many of the nation’s best teams still in need of key pieces, the few top portal prospects still available figure to be in high demand. 

Here’s a look at Sports Illustrated’s top 20 remaining prospects, with the latest intel on which schools are well positioned to land their services. 

1. Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State

Momcilovic just completed one of the best shooting seasons in recent college hoops history, hitting a ridiculous 136 threes at an even more ridiculous 49%. He seems intent on trying to land a guaranteed NBA contract and should benefit from other fringe first-rounders returning to school, but he’d have a chance to be one of the nation’s highest-paid players should he return to school. 

2. Allen Graves, Santa Clara 

Graves is an analytics darling, emerging onto NBA draft radars after a monster redshirt freshman season at Santa Clara. His name is in the draft, but he could opt for a bigger payday next year in college with the chance to boost his stock into a potential lottery pick. There’s been plenty of speculation that Will Wade and LSU have been prepping a monster offer to coax him to his home state of Louisiana, but essentially every big program would have a level of interest. 

3. Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor

A former top recruit, Yessoufou added to his reputation of being one of the best scorers in the class by averaging nearly 18 points per game for the Bears. He’s still refining parts of his game and cleaning up his handle, but he’d have a chance to be one of the top players in college basketball should he return to school. This was an 11th-hour entry just ahead of the deadline for a player still projected in most mock drafts as a first-round pick, but his options are now open for a late college pivot if his draft stock doesn’t come along as hoped. 

4. Juke Harris, Wake Forest

Harris became the latest guard to thrive in Steve Forbes’s system this past season, exploding to 21.4 points per game after averaging just over six as a freshman. He’s another who will explore NBA options and see if he could sneak into the first-round conversation. If not, Michigan, North Carolina and Tennessee are among those in strongest pursuit. 

5. Moustapha Thiam, Cincinnati

Thiam’s talent has always popped as a fluid 7-footer with all the tools to play in the NBA one day. We saw him finally put it all together late in his sophomore season at Cincinnati, averaging 17.7 points, 10.0 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game in his final nine games as the Bearcats made a surprise run onto the bubble. He visited Michigan over the weekend and would be an incredibly intriguing Aday Mara replacement in the Wolverines frontcourt assuming Mara turns pro.  

Cincinnati center Moustapha Thiam is a fluid 7-footer who will be an NBA player one day. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

6. Massamba Diop, Arizona State

Diop is one of the most sought-after bigs in the portal after a monster freshman season at Arizona State. Players over 7 feet with his mobility, rim-protecting instincts and skill level don’t grow on trees. He visited Gonzaga over the weekend, with Rick Pitino and St. John’s also expected to host him on a visit soon. 

7. Paul McNeil Jr., NC State

McNeil had a breakout sophomore campaign playing for Will Wade, establishing himself as one of the sport’s best three-point shooters after making 43% this season. He’s out to prove he’s more than just a specialist for his NBA standing, but at worst he provides major gravity to whichever offense snags him next. 

8. Dwayne Aristode, Arizona 

NBA scouts coming through Tucson would regularly rave about Aristode’s long-term potential, but he rarely got a chance to show it this season on a loaded Arizona team. Players with his positional size at 6' 8" with a feel for the game and a good shooting stroke don’t tend to linger in college long. Auburn has been aggressive in its pursuit early. 

9. Isaac Celiscar, Yale 

Celiscar stuffed the stat sheet incredibly effectively over the last two years at Yale, averaging north of 13 points, six rebounds and three assists per game while also emerging as a strong defender. Baylor and Minnesota are among those in hottest pursuit after Celiscar got tons of high-major attention upon first entering the portal. 

10. Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, UNLV

Gibbs-Lawhorn left Illinois a year ago seeking a chance to prove his mettle as an offensive alpha and did just that at UNLV, emerging as one of the sport’s top bucket-getters and doing so efficiently to boot. Small scoring guards like Gibbs-Lawhorn aren’t the easiest players to build around, but it’s hard to argue with the incredible production. 

UNLV guard Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn proved his mettle this season. | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

11. Jaylin Stewart, UConn

Stewart won a national championship as a freshman and was a key part of this season’s run to the title game. But without a guarantee that he’d have a chance to start as a senior, Stewart hit the portal hoping to have a breakout senior year and boost his pro stock. A return to his home state at Washington is believed to be in play, as could be following top UConn assistant Luke Murray to Boston College. 

12. Tylen Riley, Tulsa 

Riley was one of the sharpest evaluations of the last portal season, with Tulsa taking him from a bench scoring guard at California Baptist to a starting point guard on a 30-win Golden Hurricanes team. While a bit limited as a shooter, Riley is electric to watch with the ball in his hands and a dynamic athlete at the rim. He has taken visits to Cincinnati and Oklahoma thus far. 

13. Julius Halaifonua, Georgetown 

Georgetown initially thought it would be able to keep Halaifonua, but the New Zealand native got cold feet and hit the portal late last week. Bigs with Halaifonua’s passing chops and touch around the rim are in short supply, which will make teams live with his defensive warts. 

14. De’Shayne Montgomery, Dayton 

Montgomery has bounced around in his college career, moving up from Mount Saint Mary’s as a freshman to Georgia as a sophomore before yo-yoing down to Dayton, where he starred as a junior. The south Florida native has sights set on a high-major bounce back for his final season of eligibility and is a fairly intriguing three-and-D prospect with high-level defensive chops. 

15. Christian Reeves, Charleston

Reeves was always a developmental project when Duke signed him out of high school, but the 7' 2" big man put it all together at Charleston this season as part of a platoon with fellow top portal big Chol Machot. His rebounding and block numbers on a per-minute basis are off the charts. He seems likely to get a shot as a high-major starter in his final year of eligibility with recent visits to Kansas and Michigan State. 

Vanderbilt guard Frankie Collins has experience at four power-conference schools. | Wesley Hale-Imagn Images

16. Frankie Collins, Vanderbilt

Collins is a viable starting point guard option with tons of experience under his belt, having spent time at Michigan, Arizona State, TCU and now Vanderbilt. The concern is his injury history, having had his last two seasons cut short after nine games due to a foot injury with the Horned Frogs and knee issues for the Commodores. 

17. Fred Payne, Boston College 

Payne was one of the lone bright spots on a Boston College team that suffered through a miserable 2025–26 campaign, breaking out during his sophomore season en route to averaging north of 15 points per game. While more of a combo guard than a true point, he’s a big-time bucket-getter who takes care of the ball. 

18. Abdi Bashir Jr., Kansas State 

Bashir is one of the top three-point specialists in the portal, knocking down 44% of his shots from deep on high volume in 18 games at Kansas State this season. While limited elsewhere as a defender and all-around scorer, Bashir is a value add as a game-changer from distance. 

19. Mikey Lewis, Saint Mary’s 

Lewis is a bucket-getter, starring in Randy Bennett’s backcourt for the Gaels this season before hitting the portal. While not a true point guard, he’s dynamic as a scorer at all three levels and can knock down pull-up threes from well beyond the arc. He visited Vanderbilt over the weekend, yet another potential difference-maker in the Commodores’ strong portal class. 

20. David Fuchs, San Francisco

Fuchs is a productive frontcourt piece that should have a strong market of suitors given the dearth of available options. While undersized to play center at 6' 9", he’s sturdy on the glass and a physical scorer around the rim who can occasionally stretch the defense from three. 

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