College basketball’s offseason barely begins before next season’s drama unfolds—the transfer portal opened the day after Michigan celebrated its second national title.
This creates chaos, as it has been in the past few years.
“You realize that this now— it’s truly professional basketball,” Dan Hurley said to the media on Tuesday.
UConn will lose many key pieces from the 2025-26 season, which saw them make a run to the National Championship game. Alex Karaban, Tarris Reed Jr., Malachi Smith, Dwayne Koroma and Alec Millender are all out of eligibility. Centers Eric Reibe and Rrezon Elezaj entered the transfer portal, making the center position the Huskies’ top priority.
“Eric was a soldier and a warrior for us,” Hurley said. “He saved us in the non-conference. He played great. He’s going to have a great career no matter where he goes. He’s one of my favorite guys I’ve coached. I’ve got nothing but great things to say about Eric.”
Jayden Ross has been confirmed to return for the 2026-27 season. Silas Demary Jr. was confirmed to return for his final season on Tuesday evening. Solo Ball, Braylon Mullins, Jaylin Stewart, Jacob Furphy, Uros Paunovic and Jacob Ross are currently undecided, with decisions coming soon.
Coming in as freshmen next year are four-star recruits small forward Colben Landrew and shooting guard Junior County.
“You expect [them] to come in here and to continue to add to your culture,” Hurley said.
The Huskies have five open scholarship spots for next season. They are also seeking an assistant coach to replace Luke Murray, who is now the head coach at Boston College.
“It’s just like a player; it takes a certain type of coach to work with us, work for me,” Hurley said. “I don’t want to bring somebody in here that can’t handle it, so I got to take my time there.”
UConn reportedly had Seton Hall center Najai Hines on campus for a visit on Tuesday. The 6-foot-10 freshman averaged 14.4 points, 12.2 rebounds and 4.9 blocks per 40 minutes and led the Big East in blocks.
Syracuse forward Donnie Freeman visited Kentucky on Tuesday, but if he does not leave with a commitment to Mark Pope’s program, he could potentially visit Storrs on Friday, according to Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68. The 6-foot-9 sophomore averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game on 47.4% shooting, 30.2% from downtown and 76.7% from the free-throw line.
Cincinnati center Moustapha Thiam was also contacted by UConn, but no visit is scheduled yet. According to Goodman, Thiam visited St. John’s on Tuesday and also has heard from Gonzaga, Arkansas, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Tennessee and UCF. The 7-foot-2 sophomore averaged 12.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game on 52.5% overall shooting, a 28.8% clip from distance and 63.3% from the charity stripe.
Furman guard Alex Wilkins was impressive in the Huskies’ 82-71 win over Furman in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He entered the transfer portal, and UConn is involved in his recruitment, according to Kentucky Sports Radio’s Jacob Polacheck. Kentucky’s Mark Pope met with Wilkins over the weekend in South Carolina, and Polacheck also reports that Alabama, Kansas and Syracuse are also involved. Additionally, The Portal Report said that Houston, Xavier, Baylor, Creighton, Providence, Texas, SMU, Miami (Fla.), Arkansas, Ole Miss, Illinois, Seton Hall and Vanderbilt also have interest. The 6-foot-5 freshman averaged 17.8 points, 4.7 assists and two rebounds per game while shooting 46% overall, 32.8% from deep and 82.4% from the foul line.
On3’s Joe Tipton reported that Connecticut was among the programs interested in New Mexico guard Jake Hall, the Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Hall has also received interest from Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, Providence, Illinois, Kansas, Washington, Vanderbilt, Indiana and Alabama. Standing at 6-foot-4, he averaged 16.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in 47.9% overall shooting, 43.8% from 3-point range and 80% from the free-throw line.
On3’s Pete Nakos reported Saint Mary’s center Drew McKeever has also received interest from UConn. The 7-foot-3 big man averaged 8.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in 23 minutes on average. He visited Iowa on Sunday.
League Ready’s Sam Kayser reported Charleston Southern’s A’Lahn Sumler has heard from UConn after earning All-Big South First Team honors averaging 18.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per contest and shot nearly 40% from 3-point range. Kayser also reported that Sumler heard from Kansas, Iowa State, Vanderbilt, Ohio State, Maryland, Ole Miss, DePaul, Pittsburgh, Wichita State, Minnesota and Nevada.
Tipton also reported that UConn was among the seven schools that N.C. State guard Matt Able was down to, along with Baylor, North Carolina, Stanford, UCLA, Miami (Fla.) and Virginia. The 6-foot-6 freshman averaged 9.2 points per game during ACC play and shot over 37% from deep. One of his best games was a 19-point performance against North Carolina. The former top 20 recruit visited UCLA on Tuesday.
There is still a lot of time for this list to grow, as the transfer portal is open until April 21.