March Madness! College basketball transfer portal sets new record for Day 1 entrants

Andrew Nemec | Mar 26, 2025

Michigan Wolverines guard Justin Pippen (10) dribbles in the first half at Crisler Center. Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Last year, nearly 300 men's college basketball players entered the transfer portal on the opening day of the transfer window.

Hoping to streamline the process, the NCAA moved the transfer window back a week and cut the number of days it remained open from 45 to 30 this year.

The result?

March Madness! (No, not the tournament!)

According to multiple sources, more than 800 players entered the portal on day 1 - Blueprint Sports' Josh Strickland put the exact number at 889 - which is the equivalent of more than 55 complete Division I rosters (15 scholarships per program).

But given that more than 200 were already sitting in the transfer portal when it opened that number quickly ballooned to more than 1,000.

In the opening days of the transfer portal on the women's side, more than 800 players entered the portal.

And, in both cases, some pretty big names have hit the market.

Three former five-star recruits are available - Indiana's Mackenzie Mgbako, Arizona State's Joson Sanon and Miami's Jalil Bethea - as well as former McDonald's All-American Mookie Cook, who is leaving Oregon after two seasons.

Coming out of Roselie Catholic (New Jersey) in the class of 2023, Mgbako was rated the nation's No. 8 overall recruit.

He averaged 12.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore.

Still, arguably the biggest prize in the portal is Providence's Bryce Hopkins.

Coming out of Fenwick (Illinois) in the class of 2021, Hopkins was rated a top-50 prospect and signed with the Kentucky Wildcats.

He transferred to Providence after one year and has spent the past three seasons with the Friars, playing just 17 games over the past two seasons but averaging roughly 16 points and 8 rebounds per game.

Interestingly, Hopkins has entered the portal with a "do not contact" label, which indicates he already has a future home in mind.

Another marquee name is the reigning Mountain West Player of the Year, New Mexico's Donovan Dent.

The junior guard averaged 20.2 points, 6.4 assists and 2.3 per game this year for the Lobos, while shooting 49 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from three-point range.

As a recruit, Dent was a standout at Centennial (California) and was a four-star prospect, rated the nation's No. 116 overall prospect.

Still, he compiled just five offers - California Baptist, Long Beach State, Montana State, New Mexico and UC Santa Barbara.

Things are quite different in his second opportunity on the open market.

Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina have already been confirmed to have made contact, but many more are expected to have reached out.

On the women's side, Wisconsin's Serah Williams and Auburn's Taliah Scott are the early headliners among entrants.

Williams was originally an international recruit from Canada, while Scott originally committed to Arkansas coming out of St. John's Country Day (Florida) in the class of 2023.

What does it all mean?

College programs are scrambling to add to their roster, or, in some cases, keep it together.

Despite its appearance in the Sweet 16, Michigan lost Justin Pippen, the son of Scottie Pippen, to the transfer portal this week.

Given that there are roughly 5,600 Division I men's basketball players around the country, it seems just under 20 percent of them are suddenly in the transfer portal.

It's truly March Madness.

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