One of the biggest repercussions of the transfer portal and NIL for mid-major schools has been losing key players, especially following a successful season in that school’s given conference. With each offseason comes an ongoing battle between player retention and the prospect of playing for a power-5 program.
The Atlantic 10 is one conference in particular that has had to deal with this more and more as of late.
Take a program like Richmond.
During the Spiders’ 2021-22 NCAA Tournament run, Richmond had four players on its roster – Jacob Gilyard, Nathan Cayo, Grant Golden and Nick Sherod – who had been with Chris Mooney and the team for multiple seasons. Continuity was something the Spiders prided themselves on.
Then, just a season later, they lost out on bringing back star forward Tyler Burton for a fifth year to the transfer portal and Villanova. The same happened with 2024 A-10 Most Improved Player of the Year, Dji Bailey, who transferred to LSU following his four years with the Spiders.
Beyond the Spiders, it’s a trend hurting all mid-major schools, this year-after-year process of having to retool rosters and attempt to replace the fabric of a program.
That said, here are some of the A-10’s most notable departures on both the men’s and women’s sides that programs will have to account for throughout the upcoming 2025-26 season:
Reed Bailey, Davidson (Transferred to Indiana)
Perhaps the most significant of the conference’s departures on the men’s side is reigning Most Improved Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team honoree Reed Bailey, who made his way to Hoosier land for his senior season.
Bailey comes off a year in which he averaged 18.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and was one of the Wildcats’ few bright spots in a season that produced just a 17-16 record, 12th in the A-10.
Bailey’s freshman season at Davidson was head coach Matt McKillop’s first, thus Bailey would end up playing a paramount role in helping the program transition from one McKillop to another – a change of scenery on the head coaching front the program had not seen in 33 years. And while the Wildcats did not finish above eighth place in the conference in his three years, Bailey clearly cemented himself as one of the A-10’s best players by the time he finished out his junior season.
Jalen Haynes, George Mason (Transferred to Cincinnati)
Jalen Haynes may have only seen the court with the Patriots for a year, having redshirted when he arrived in Fairfax in 2023. He helped propel George Mason to heights it hadn’t seen in 14 years in his lone season playing.
Haynes contributed 14.1 points and 6.9 rebounds per game across the Patriots’ first 27-win campaign since 2011 and an appearance in the A-10 semifinals.
Now Haynes will suit up for the Bearcats, moving on from the A-10 to the Big 12 and making Cincinnati his fourth collegiate stop in five years. Unfortunately for the Patriots, they will have to compensate for losing their leading scorer and rebounder in Haynes, who also locked up All-Conference First Team team honors this past season.
Melvin Council Jr., St. Bonaventure (Transferred to Kansas)
Melvin Council Jr. played a big role for the Bonnies in the first year of the Woj general manager era. Council, who made the All-Conference Third Team, led St. Bonaventure in points (14.6), assists (4.1) and steals (2.1) in his lone season competing in Olean.
In transferring to Kansas – his third stop in as many seasons – he’ll have a chance to compete for a yearly national championship contender and stalwart in the Big 12 looking to bounce back following an early NCAA Tournament exit last year in the Round of 64.
On the flip side, the Bonnies will be without a player who anchored much of their offensive and defensive efforts during the 2024-25 season.
Laura Ziegler, Saint Joseph’s (Transferred to Louisville)
Laura Ziegler did just about everything for Saint Joseph’s last season, pacing the Hawks in four of the five major statistical categories with 17.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and almost a block per game.
Her efforts were enough to garner All-Conference First Team honors for the second-straight season, further capping off a stellar three-year tenure with Saint Joseph’s in which she finished with just over 1,400 points, over 900 rebounds and A-10’s Rookie of the Year honors in 2023.
Given her accomplishments, it makes sense that Ziegler shifted to the ACC for the 2025-26 season, where she will undoubtedly support Louisville’s efforts in working toward a significant run in the NCAA Tournament – something the Cardinals haven’t done since 2023. Saint Joseph’s will now enter the new season trying to fill a void left by Ziegler and second leading scorer Mackenzie Smith, who graduated back in May.
Luke Bamgboye, VCU (Transferred to Texas Tech)
While the Rams won’t be lacking from a transfer portal acquisition or overall roster standpoint, given they were voted to repeat as A-10 champions in the recent 2025-26 preseason rankings, they will certainly miss Luke Bamgboye’s defensive prowess this upcoming season.
Bamgboye made quite the impression in his lone season with the Rams, leading the team in blocks and making the All-Rookie and All-Defensive Teams en route to an A-10 championship and NCAA Tournament appearance back in March.
He will suit up for a Texas Tech squad fresh off an Elite Eight appearance – the Red Raiders’ best finish under Grant McCasland – and look to build upon a successful collegiate rookie season.
Bobby Durkin, Davidson (Transferred to Minnesota)
Alongside Reed Bailey and Connor Kochera, Bobby Durkin made up the other piece of Davidson’s power trio last season. Durkin led the Wildcats in blocks per game during the 2024-25 campaign and finished third in scoring and second in rebounding.
With Kochera graduating, Bailey transferring to Indiana and Durkin heading to Minnesota, Davidson’s core certainly took a hit. Durkin, who has two years of eligibility remaining, will get a chance to compete for a Big 10 program. Coming off a breakout season in which he contributed 13.5 points per game, Durkin will look to elevate his new team – one that has not competed in the NCAA Tournament since 2019.
Jayden Dawson, Loyola Chicago (Transferred to Kansas)
Jayden Dawson will go from competing against Melvin Council Jr. at Gentile Arena in Chicago last season to sharing a locker room in Allen Fieldhouse this season.
Dawson was an All-Conference Second Team honoree in his final season with the Ramblers, increasing his scoring average by six points during the 2024-25 campaign. He was also on the 2023-24 Loyola Chicago squad from two seasons ago that won a share of the A-10 regular season championship with Richmond, helping establish the Ramblers as a contender in just their second season in the conference.
Same as Council, Dawson will bring experience to an underclassmen-dominant Kansas team, helping the Jayhawks try to get past the Round of 32 in the Big Dance for the first time since the year they won the championship in 2022.
Chance Moore, St. Bonaventure (Transferred to West Virginia)
Chance Moore led the Bonnies in rebounds (6.5) and blocks (0.8) last season, proving to be an important defensive presence for the program. Like Melvin Council Jr., Moore was only in Olean for one season after spending time at Arkansas and Missouri State.
His move to West Virginia marks a return to a power-5 program. He looks to play a larger role with the Mountaineers than he did with the Razorbacks a few years ago where he played in only five games during the 2021-2022 season.
Jerni Kiaku, Duquesne (Transferred to Indiana)
Jerni Kiaku leaves Duquesne following a season in which she averaged 13.2 points per game to help lead the Dukes to the WNIT. Kiaku was second on the team in scoring, upping her average by almost seven points per game during the 2024-25 season.
Indiana is the third stop of Kiaku’s collegiate career, as she spent a year at North Carolina Central before heading to Duquesne. This upcoming season with the Hoosiers will allow her to play for a team with six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, not including 2020 when postseason events were cancelled as a result of the pandemic.
Josh Rivera, Fordham (Transferred to Seton Hall)
Josh Rivera joined a Big East program in Seton Hall after finishing third in scoring for the Rams last season, averaging 10.7 points per game.
The Pirates are amidst a rebuild of their own after finishing the 2024-25 campaign just 7-25 in Shaheen Holloway’s third season as head coach. Luckily for Seton Hall, though, Rivera is one of 10 new portal acquisitions, meaning the Pirates will have a plethora of options on the floor come November.
