By the numbers: The transfer portal’s impact on the Big Ten
Transfer portal recruiting is still ongoing, but the majority of this spring’s action is over.
As expected, several Big Ten schools used the portal to significantly improve their rosters for next season. Other schools, however, lost numerous contributors to the portal and are still looking to fill holes.
Here are some of the key numbers to know about the transfer portal’s impact on the Big Ten this spring:
Transfer portal departures by school
Every Big Ten school lost at least one player to the transfer portal, but some were hit harder than others.
According to our record keeping on our Big Ten rosters page, a total of 79 scholarship players from 2023-24 rosters entered the transfer portal during the window from March 18-May 1. Those numbers include Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, which will be joining the conference beginning next season.
Two schools stood out in terms of portal attrition. USC and Minnesota both had seven transfer portal departures but under different circumstances.
Andy Enfield departed USC for SMU and the Trojans subsequently hired Eric Musselman.
Minnesota, however, is entering season four under Ben Johnson and is navigating the loss of seven players to the portal this spring. Several departures came from major contributors such as Elijah Hawkins, Pharrel Payne and Cam Christie, who is also testing the NBA draft waters.
Three other Big Ten schools had six players enter the transfer portal: Illinois, Nebraska and Rutgers.
Here’s the number of transfer portal departures (scholarship players only) by Big Ten school:
Illinois: 6
Indiana: 3
Iowa: 3
Maryland: 5
Michigan: 5
Michigan State: 2
Minnesota: 7
Nebraska: 6
Northwestern: 1
Ohio State: 5
Oregon: 2
Penn State: 5
Purdue: 2
Rutgers: 6
UCLA: 4
USC: 7
Washington: 5
Wisconsin: 5
Big Ten players still in the transfer portal
Of the 79 players from the Big Ten, many remain in the portal with some caveats. As of Tuesday, 16 of the 79 players remained in the transfer portal.
However, four players in the portal are currently testing the NBA draft process.
Coleman Hawkins (Illinois), AJ Hoggard (Michigan State) Cam Christie (Minnesota) and Bronny James (USC) all declared for the NBA draft. James is not expected to return to school. Christie is projected to go No. 36 in the latest mock draft over on ESPN.com. Hawkins and Hoggard are the most likely of the four to return to school next season.
Hawkins graduated from Illinois and is being heavily pursued by North Carolina. Hoggard is considering Georgia, Florida, Washington, USC and Vanderbilt.
Here are the other Big Ten players still in the portal, none of which were high-level producers at their schools last season: Berke Buyuktuncel (UCLA), Niccolo Moretti (Illinois), Samuel Ariyibi (Washington), Wesley Yates III (Washington), Will McClendon (UCLA), Ilane Fibleuil (UCLA), Nate Calmese (Washington), Kristupas Keinys (Minnesota), Blaise Keita (Nebraska), Mawot Mag (Rutgers), Bragi Gudmundsson (Penn State) and Favour Aire (Penn State).
Scholarship openings by Big Ten school
The final piece to examine is which schools are still looking to fill out their rosters for the 2024-25 season.
Only three Big Ten schools currently have all of their roster spots filled for next season: Penn State, Purdue and UCLA.
Illinois has three open scholarships remaining on its roster, which leads the Big Ten.
Iowa could have three if Payton Sandfort remains in the 2024 NBA draft rather than returning to school. Sandfort is currently projected as a second-round pick in most mock drafts and is in Chicago this week at the draft combine.
Schools with two scholarships currently open include Indiana, Nebraska and Oregon. The one uncertainty with the Nebraska roster is the status of Ahron Ulis, who did not play last season due to a gambling investigation from his time at Iowa.
Here are current open scholarships by Big Ten school as of Tuesday morning:
Illinois: 3
Indiana: 2
Iowa: 2 (if Payton Sandfort returns)
Maryland: 1
Michigan: 1
Michigan State: 1
Minnesota: 1
Nebraska: 2 (status of Ahron Ulis unknown)
Northwestern: 1
Ohio State: 1
Oregon: 2
Penn State: 0
Purdue: 0
Rutgers: 1
UCLA: 0
USC: 1
Washington: 1
Wisconsin: 1
Filed to: 2024-25 Big Ten preview