The Early Winners of the College Basketball Portal

The money is flowing in college basketball even after the transfer portal closed on April 21, around midnight EST. The portal opened right after the National Championship game on April 7. Those who haven’t committed after the deadline have time to make a decision, but teams start off-season workouts shortly after the season ends, and then practice on a limited basis right after the school year ends. That decision will need to be made in the next few weeks or many players will be scrambling to find schools (and probably will have to lower their price). 

From a betting perspective, if you want a firm grasp of the 2026-27 college basketball season or are just looking to bet futures, we have a look at the top as of April 21, near the deadline. Check out the NCAA Tournament Championship Odds from DK in parentheses.

1)Indiana (+7500): Head coach Darian DeVries missed the tournament in his first season, but that won’t happen this season with Markus Burton (Notre Dame), Aidan Sherrell (Alabama), Darren Harris (Duke), Samet Yigitoglu (SMU), Bryce Lindsay (Villanova) and Jaedan Mustaf (Georgia Tech). It’s not just about quantity, as Burton is an underrated player who suffered a season-ending ankle injury at Notre Dame. Sherrell provides shot blocking and rebounding. Yigitloglu is a 7-2 shotblocker and rebounder. This is going to be a tough team to score against in the paint. The Big 10 is usually not shy of quality big men, so Indiana did a nice job of counteracting that.

2)Louisville (+2500): They could claim the first spot after picking up Flory Bidunga, a 6-9 big man from Kansas, a strong defender and great athlete. Not only did they add one of Kansas’ best players, but they just added another solid big man in Alvaro Folgueiras (Iowa), who is more of a stretch 4 or 5. They also added Jackson Shelstad from Oregon, who played just 12 games due to injury, but was one of the best guards in the portal. Then add Karter Knox from Arkansas as a big wing who can shoot spot-up threes, and Pat Kelsey should have Louisville contending in the ACC.

3)Tennessee (+3500): He’s not retiring yet, folks and maybe there was a reason. Rick Barnes has gone to three straight Elite Eights, and he’s about to turn 72. Could this be the season? Terrence Hill Jr. goes from hitting a big shot for VCU to playing for Tennessee (hello $$$). They add Jalen Harlson from Notre Dame, who goes from a struggling program to a place where he should shine with better players as a 6-7 wing. Miles Rubin is another athletic big man who can defend from Loyola-Chicago. Tyler Lundblade from Belmont adds a strong shooter along with Dai Dai Ames from Cal.

4)Texas (+4000): Sean Miller made a Sweet 16 run last season and could go farther this season. The key addition was TCU forward David Punch, a strong shotblocker at 6-7, who is also a good mid-range shooter. Elyjah Freeman goes from D2 to Auburn and now Texas, though he was inconsistent last season. He has all the tools to play at the next level. Isaiah Johnson (Colorado) is a very quick guard who can also make threes (37%). They also get center Matas Vokietaitis back ($$), and they add an All-American freshman in Austin Goosby.

5)DePaul (+50000): Chris Hotlmann may finally have a really good squad in Chicago after going .500 for the first time since 2019-20 last season. That’s because they brought in six quality players thanks to some increased money. It starts with center Magoon Gwath from San Diego State after spurring some pretty good high major programs because he’s a 7-footer who can block shots and is still developing. Wing Ade Popoola comes from Tulsa, where he shot 41% from three-point range. The Blue Demons desperately needed three-point shooters who could defend. They also added Kahmare Holmes, who averaged nearly 20 points per game at Wofford last season.

6)Iowa State (+5000): If Joshua Jefferson had stayed healthy….we’ll never know. But TJ Otzelberger didn’t dwell on his injury and his loss to graduation, along with Milan Momcilovic, to the portal. Those were huge losses, but then the Cyclones added JaQuan Johnson from Bradley, a dominant defender who hounds opponents as a diminutive point guard, who can also knock down threes. Tre Singleton comes from Northwestern as a 6-8 power forward who finishes well near the rim and has a lot of growth potential. Ryan Prather is making a big leap from Robert Morris, but so did Alvaro Foluieras at Iowa. They added some solid talent, but they also lost a lot to graduation and the portal.

7)Miami-Florida (+6000): Jai Lucas did an excellent job in his first season at Miami. He adds Somto Cyril, who is 6-11 with a 7-7 wingspan at 260 pounds. He averaged a little over 9 points and a little over 5.0 rebounds at Georgia, but with better pieces around him? DeSean Goode is from….Robert Morris. Of course, the Colonials are becoming a mid-major AAA team for the big leagues. He can really score and was the Horizon League Player of the Year. Acaden Lewis was a very good freshman point guard at Villanova and could be even better in the ACC with Cyril running the rim and freshman All-American Caleb Gaskins coming in.

8)Providence (+9000): New coach Bryan Hodgson comes from South Florida, where he brought Gavin Hightower with him as a solid playmaker and defender. They added another strong off-ball defender in Miles Byrd from San Diego State. Arrinten Page comes from Northwestern as (you guessed it), a shotblocker and rebounder, who also spend team at USC and Cincinnati. Devin Vanterpool from FAU, a 6-4 guard who averaged nearly 16 points and 6.3 rebounds. Ryan Sabol is a 39.9% three-point shooter from Buffalo, who adds scoring. There were some nice gets for Hodgson in his first portal additions.

9)UConn (+1500): You could say that Dan Hurley’s best transfer was keeping Braylon Mullins. When there was just a little money in NIL, Mullins would have gone to the NBA Draft, but not nowadays. The Huskies also kept point guard Silas Demary, which was huge. They added one of the better bigs in the portal to replace another great one (Tarris Reed). Najai Hines (6-10, 265) from Seton Hall is just a sophomore, so he’ll have a chance to get better, but he will have big shoes to fill. The bigger pickup was Nik Khamenia from Duke, who is a former five-star recruit who was nearly forgotten in Durham because of the Boozer brothers and all that talent. He can replace Alex Karaban in the lineup.

10)Missouri (+6000): The Tigers have done a nice job under Dennis Gates, making two straight NCAA Tournament appearances. They also have a very strong freshman class coming in with Jason Crowe and Toni Bryant, who are McDonald’s All-Americans. Jamier Jones (Providence) is coming off a strong season as a freshman, averaging nearly 12ppg and 38.7% from three-point range. Bryson Tiller (6-11, 240) arrives from Kansas as a 6-10 shotblocker who can score and rebound. Jaylen Carey (6-8, 270) is a dominant rebounder coming from Tennessee. The Tigers really beefed up their frontcourt and should be one of the better SEC rebounding squads.

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