Gators Women's Basketball Loses Bulk of Roster, Including Star Guard, to Transfer Portal

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- As Tammi Reiss takes over the Florida Gators women's basketball program, she will have to do it with an almost entirely new roster, as most have announced plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, including two of the program's best players in recent memory.

Guards Liv McGill and Laila Reynolds each announced plans to transfer from the program on Monday, making it nine planned outgoing transfers as Florida moves on from former head coach Kelly Rae Finley and onto Reiss, who was hired on March 23 after seven seasons at Rhode Island.

McGill, the highest-ranked recruit to sign with the Gators in program history, departs Florida after two seasons. She averaged 22.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game last season, making her one of three players in the entire country to average 20/6/6. She was eventually named First-Team All-SEC.

McGill entered the portal with a "do not contact" tag, according to On3's Talia Goodman.

BREAKING: Florida’s Liv McGill plans to enter the transfer portal, her advisor Adam Kado told @On3.

The 5-9 sophomore guard averaged 22.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 6.3 apg and 2.6 spg this season. https://t.co/siNmxPz3G2 pic.twitter.com/3M1idfjZjZ
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 6, 2026

Meanwhile, Reynolds departs from Florida after three seasons, including a junior season in which she averaged a career-high 12.1 points per game on 42 percent shooting from the field. Another former five-star guard, this time from the 2023 recruiting class, Reynolds was a member of the 2024 SEC All-Freshman team in her first season and eventually formed a dynamic duo at guard with McGill.

Reynolds will have one year of eligibility remaining.

In addition to McGill and Reynolds, Florida is losing guard Sarah Deng, guard Daviane Mindoudi Ongbakahoumb, guard Emilija Dakic, guard Knisha Godfrey, center Gift Ezekiel, center Caterina Piatti and forward Nyadieng Yiech, with Godfrey, Piatti and Yiech each entering with a "do not contact" tag.

Florida's nine portal departures ties Arkansas and Georgia for the most in the SEC.

Reiss enters her first season leading a program that has the distinction of being the only athletics program on campus to have not won a conference title, a challenge Reiss has not shied away from since taking over the program last month.

"I need a certain investment in women's basketball, and they did that. I've had other opportunities, but again, I've been very particular about the program that checks all the boxes and is a builder program,'' Reiss said, via Florida Gators' writer Scott Carter. "I don't like inheriting. I want something to build. All I needed was someone to meet halfway. Florida came to the table, and they are ready. They want a good women's basketball program, and they are ready to resource it accordingly."

For now, she will look to build her first roster – which currently only lists forwards Jade Weathersby and Me'Arah O'Neal – through the transfer portal, which opened on Tuesday and closes on April 21.