College basketball’s 5 most intriguing transfers of the 2025-26 season

Quick: How many Division I men’s basketball players transferred last spring?

If you guessed north of 1,800 — the exact number was 1,838, according to Evan Miyakawa, who tracks college hoops analytics at his website — it’s time to sign up for a college hoops trivia team. We’re expecting big things from you.

Impact transfers have become as commonplace in college basketball as questionable calls and eye-popping NIL deals ever since 2021, when the NCAA allowed players to become immediately eligible at their new schools. In this day and age, it’s not unusual to see important contributors bounce around to multiple programs. There are lots of lists ranking the top transfers across college basketball this year — including at The Athletic, where C.J. Moore and Sam Vecenie broke down the top 100 moves with an eye toward each player’s NBA potential.

But the list below is more about who intrigues us this upcoming season. It can be tough to keep up with who is playing where in 2025-26 (especially if you compare with 2024-25 or even 2023-24). Hopefully this list, presented in alphabetical order, gives you at least a few players worth keeping tabs on when the season tips off next month.

Chad Baker-Mazara, USC

Baker-Mazara is one of the most interesting — and polarizing — players in college basketball regardless of which uniform he’s wearing. The 6-foot-7 guard/forward is 25 and on his fifth school after transferring to USC following two solid seasons at Auburn, where he helped the Tigers reach the 2025 Final Four and earned third-team All-SEC honors after averaging 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists. (His previous stops were Duquesne, San Diego State and Northwest Florida State, a junior college. In 2023, he led his team to the NJCAA national championship; at SDSU he was the 2022 Mountain West sixth man of the year.)

Baker-Mazara, ranked the No. 46 transfer by The Athletic, epitomizes a 3-and-D wing, but more than that, he is the definition of an up-and-down athlete. When he’s up and feeding off the crowd’s energy he’s a great defender — he grabbed four steals in Auburn’s 79-73 loss to Florida in the national semifinals — and capable of momentum-changing plays. But when he lets his emotions take over it can be tough to rein him in. He has a reputation for being hot-headed: He was assessed six technicals in 2023-24 (but only three last year). He’s twice been ejected from games after flagrant 2 fouls. If he can keep his composure, he could star on a USC squad that brought in 10 transfers.

Bryce Hopkins, St. John’s

Intra-conference transfers are always ones to watch. Are other teams (and defenders) so familiar with those individuals’ games that the transfer doesn’t have any sort of advantage? Or does the individual know the league so well they excel with their new team right away? At St. John’s, the Red Storm are banking on the latter, as former Providence standout Hopkins moves three hours southwest to join the defending Big East champs.

The 6-foot-6, 225-pound forward, ranked as the No. 13 transfer by The Athletic, has taken a circuitous route throughout college hoops. A consensus top-40 recruit, Hopkins started his college career at Kentucky in 2021 under former coach John Calipari and, after averaging just 2.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in less than seven minutes per game, transferred to Providence after one season. He shined in the Big East as a sophomore in 2022-23, averaging 15.8 points and 8.5 rebounds while shooting 45.2 percent from the floor and leading the Friars to the NCAA Tournament. Then, 14 games into his junior year he tore his ACL. Turns out that was just the beginning of a (very) long road back. Hopkins sat out the rest of the 2023-24 season to rehab. Then, just three games into the 2024-25 season, he suffered a bone bruise that sidelined him the rest of the year.

When he’s healthy, he can be huge — Vecenie, The Athletic’s NBA Draft analyst, called him a “genuine program-changer.” But which version of Hopkins shows up in 2025-26, and can he stay healthy?

Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois

Yes, this Stojakovic is related to the one you’re thinking of.  The son of three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, Andrej started his college career at Stanford after being named a McDonald’s All-American out of high school, but transferred to Cal before his sophomore year. He was a major scoring threat for the Bears last season, averaging 17.9 points (and 4.7 rebounds) per game, though most his points come from attacking the rim; he’s not a great shooter from deep, ironic considering his dad was a two-time NBA 3-point champ.

Now at Illinois, Stojakovic, ranked the No. 41 transfer by The Athletic, could become one of the best guards in the Big Ten if he improves on his 32.2 career 3-point rate. His 6-foot-7 frame makes him a tough matchup for smaller defenders, ideal for an Illinois system that thrives on mismatches. While Stojakovic isn’t a great defender himself, the pieces and basketball IQ are there to become one (he led Cal in blocks last season at 1.2 per game).

Henri Veesaar, UNC

As a longtime Gonzaga assistant, Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd helped sign dozens of international players and turned many of them into All-Americans and/or NBA lottery picks. Lloyd thought Veesaar, an Estonia native, would be next on that list. He redshirted in 2023-24, packed 35 pounds onto his 7-foot frame and became a star substitute (he started just five games) for the Wildcats last season, averaging 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks off the bench, all while shooting 59.2 percent.

His entry into the transfer portal surprised some, as it seemed Veesaar was poised for a starring role at Arizona this season. Now he’s hoping that comes in Chapel Hill. He will help a UNC squad in desperate need of a rim protector — no Tar Heels player averaged more than 0.9 blocks per game in 2024-25. Veesaar is in line to be the best defensive big of Hubert Davis’ tenure.

Is it possible Veesaar, ranked the No. 5 transfer by The Athletic, will share the floor with McDonald’s All-American Caleb Wilson, who checks in at 6 feet 10, 215 pounds? If so, that sounds like a defensive nightmare.

Darrion Williams, NC State

Williams was arguably the best player available in the portal, a do-everything forward who dominated his final three games of the 2025 NCAA Tournament for Texas Tech, averaging 23.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field during that stretch. He entered his name in the NBA Draft before withdrawing and deciding to return to college, albeit at a different school. Williams, The Athletic’s No. 4 transfer, was a major get for first-year Wolfpack coach Will Wade.

At Texas Tech the offense ran through Big 12 player of the year JT Toppin, but at NC State, Williams should be the focal point. Putting someone with his skill set under that type of spotlight is why there’s already buzz about Williams winning 2026 ACC player of the year, and someone who should push for All-America honors. Williams isn’t that big — he’s listed at just 6-6 — but he’s smart and strong, able to back a defender down to the block or take them off the dribble. He’s also a career 37.9 percent shooter from outside.

Also considered: PJ Haggerty (Memphis to Kansas State); Owen Freeman (Iowa to Creighton); Jaland Lowe (Pittsburgh to Kentucky)