The transfer portal — adjusted by the NCAA in 2021 to allow for a one-time transfer without sitting out a season — has changed college sports in massive ways.
Look no further than this season’s women’s basketball senior class. Seventeen of the top 25 recruits in the Class of 2022 have transferred from the school in which they started their basketball career.
Lauren Betts, who played her first season at Stanford, leads the list. She has been highly successful since leaving the Cardinal for UCLA in 2023. The Bruins made it to the Final Four last season. Four players from the Class of 2022 play for UCLA. Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez have been there for four years while Betts and Timea Gardiner (Oregon State) transferred in.
UCLA also lost two players — forward Janiah Barker transferred to Tennessee and guard Londynn Jones to USC — after the 2025 season. The Bruins’ entire freshman class also entered the portal at the end of their Final Four season.
Three players out of the Class of 2022 are not playing basketball this season. Maya Nnajii, the No. 9 recruit, played at Arizona before quitting basketball to focus on becoming a doctor. Ashlyn Watkins, who played three seasons at South Carolina, is sitting out this season after an ACL tear in January. Ruby Whitehorn was dismissed from the Tennessee basketball team last week after two arrests in three months.
Here’s a look at the Class of 2022, how their careers have gone thus far and where they will playing this season:
1. Lauren Betts, C, UCLA
Played at Stanford for one season, transferred to UCLA
After playing less than 10 minutes a game her freshman season at Stanford, Betts entered the transfer portal and landed at UCLA. Betts averaged 20 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in leading the Bruins to the Final Four last season. She was named Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-America. Betts returned for her senior season, in part, to play alongside her sister, Sienna.
2. Kiki Rice, G, UCLA
Never transferred
Rice came to UCLA with a goal in mind. She wanted to help the Bruins make it to the Final Four for the first time. Rice, who averaged 12.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists, did that last season. She returns for her senior year in hopes of winning a national title.
3. Janiah Barker, F, Tennessee
Played at Texas A&M for two seasons, UCLA for one, transferred to Tennessee
Barker left Texas A&M after two seasons for UCLA because she wanted to win. She sacrificed a starting job and played nine minutes less per game but won Big Ten Sixth Person of the Year as a junior. ‘You have to accept the role for the sake of the team,’ Barker said. This season, she will bring the experience of advancing to the Final Four with the Bruins to the Lady Vols.
4. Ayanna Patterson, F, UConn
Never transferred
Patterson is listed as a redshirt sophomore even though she’s been in the UConn program since 2022. She played 30 games as freshman before back-to-back season-ending injuries. She missed the 2023-24 season after surgery on her left knee and 2024-25 after surgery to repair a dislocated left shoulder. When Patterson played vs. Boston College on Oct. 13, 933 days had passed since her last game action.
5. Ice Brady, F, UConn
Never transferred
Brady missed her freshman season after suffering a dislocated patella in her right knee. She is listed as a redshirt junior for the Huskies. Brady told a local newspaper she knew she wanted to play at UConn when she was 10 years old. She signed with the Huskies as a sophomore in high school and pitched in 3.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 16 minutes a game during last season’s championship run.
6. Timea Gardiner, F, UCLA
Played at Oregon State for two seasons, transferred to UCLA
Gardiner was the highest-rated recruit in Oregon State history and averaged 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds a game over two seasons. After the disintegration of the Pac-12 Conference, she was one of eight players from the Beavers’ Elite Eight team to enter the transfer portal after the 2023-24 season. Gardiner helped the Bruins to a Final Four appearance last season, averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in just over 18 minutes a game.
7. Chance Gray, G, Ohio State
Played at Oregon for two seasons, transferred to Ohio State
Gray played at Oregon her first two seasons, averaging 13.9 points in 31 games during her sophomore year. She transferred to Ohio State, in part, because she grew up in the Cincinnati area and wanted to get closer to home. She averaged 12 points as a starter for the Buckeyes last season and led the team in 3-pointers with 70.
8. Aaliyah Gayles, G, Utah State
Played at USC for three seasons, transferred to Utah State
Gayles was shot multiple times at a house party in April 2022 and was unable to walk, let alone play basketball, when she signed her letter of intent to play at USC. She took 2022-23 as a redshirt year to rehab and recover. Gayles played in 22 games over two seasons for the Trojans, averaging five minutes off the bench. This spring she announced she would transfer to Utah State with two years of eligibility remaining.
9. Maya Nnajii, F, N/A
Played at Arizona for two seasons
Nnaji was the highest-rated recruit in Wildcat women’s basketball history. She decided to quit playing basketball during her sophomore season, stating on Instagram: “In light of recent events, it has become clear to me that I need to reprioritize my main goal and true life’s purpose: becoming a physician. With the support of my family and guidance from Above, I am stepping away from basketball to start a new chapter of my life.”
10. Raegan Beers, C, Oklahoma
Played at Oregon State for two seasons, transferred to Oklahoma
Beers was an all-Pac-12 selection for Oregon State after averaging 17.5 points and 10.6 rebounds as a sophomore. After the disintegration of the conference, she was one of eight players from the Beavers’ Elite Eight team to enter the transfer portal after the 2023-24 season. ‘I want to go to a place where I’m going to develop and be challenged,’ Beers said when she signed with Oklahoma. Beers helped the Sooners to a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, averaging a team-high 17.3 points and 9.4 rebounds.
11. Justine Pissott, G, Vanderbilt
Played at Tennessee for one season, transferred to Vanderbilt
After averaging seven minutes a game in her freshman season with the Lady Vols, Pissott entered the transfer portal and landed at in-state rival Vanderbilt. She started 28 games in her sophomore season with the Commodores, averaging 6.8 points and 2.2 rebounds. Pissott came off the bench for head coach Shea Ralph last season.
12. Ashlyn Watkins, F, N/A
Played at South Carolina for three seasons
Watkins was averaging 7.2 points and 1.9 blocks in 19 minutes a game off the bench for South Carolina last season before tearing the ACL in her left knee on Jan. 5. Watkins announced in July she would not play for South Carolina during the 2025-26 season, and coach Dawn Staley confirmed that she’s not enrolled in school. Watkins has one season of eligibility remaining. ‘It’s pretty brave of her to do something like this, I think she’ll come back,’ Staley said ‘… as much as we can see her, we see her.’
13. Grace VanSlooten, F, Michigan State
Played at Oregon for two seasons, transferred to Michigan State
VanSlooten started 62 of 63 games for Oregon in two seasons but entered the transfer portal in April 2024. Within a week, she visited and committed to the Spartans and moved closer to her Toledo, Ohio, home. VanSlooten averaged 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds as a junior and was named second-team All-Big Ten.
14. Ta’Niya Latson, G, South Carolina
Played at Florida State for three seasons, transferred to South Carolina
Latson averaged 25.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists as a junior at Florida State. The first-team All-ACC guard led the nation in scoring. Hoping to compete for a national championship, Latson entered the transfer portal and chose South Carolina without even visiting. “She just said this is where she wants to be,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley told Sports Illustrated. “It doesn’t happen like that very often — for us or anybody else. It happens that way for people who have clarity on what they want.”
15. Ruby Whitehorn, G, N/A
Played at Clemson for two seasons, transferred to Tennessee
Whitehorn started 62 of 66 games at Clemson before entering the transfer portal after her sophomore season and signing with Tennessee in May 2024. She averaged 11.6 points, 4 rebounds and 1.7 assists last season. Whitehorn was suspended from the team on Aug. 8 following an arrest on two felony charges of aggravated burglary and domestic assault. Those charges were downgraded to misdemeanors — vandalism and aggravated criminal trespass — and she was reinstated Sept. 8. Whitehorn was charged with a misdemeanor for simple possession after a traffic stop on Oct. 30. She was dismissed from the Tennessee basketball team Nov. 2.
16. Ashlon Jackson, G, Duke
Never transferred
Jackson has started 70 games for the Blue Devils the past two seasons, averaging 29 minutes a game. She averaged 12.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists last season. Jackson led Duke with 87 3-pointers as it advanced to the Elite Eight in 2025. She has evolved as a player at Duke, scoring from all three levels and working to improve her rebounding and defense.
17. Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, F, Baylor
Never transferred
Littlepage-Buggs was named unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year in her first season at the school and has not looked back. She averaged a double-double last season, with 13.8 points and 10 rebounds a game. Littlepage-Buggs was named first-team All-Big 12 as the Bears were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
18. Talaysia Cooper, G, Tennessee
Played at South Carolina for one season, transferred to Tennessee
After playing an average of just over eight minutes in 24 games for South Carolina her freshman year, Cooper transferred. But because she did it outside of the transfer window, she had to sit out a season when she arrived at Tennessee. Last season, her sophomore year of eligibility, she started 27 of 34 games and averaged 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 3.1 steals.
19. Gabriela Jaquez, G, UCLA
Never transferred
Jaquez started 33 of 36 games for the Bruins last season, averaging career-bests in both field goal (52%) and 3-point percentage (35%). She averaged 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. Jaquez finished the year with 34 turnovers, less than one per game. She has been named to the 2026 Cheryl Miller Award preseason top 20 watch list; the award is given to the top small forward in Division I college basketball.
20. Indya Nivar, G, North Carolina
Played for Stanford for one season, transferred to North Carolina
Nivar played in 35 games her freshman year for the Cardinal and averaged 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 12.6 minutes per game. She entered the transfer portal and returned to her home state of North Carolina. Nivar started 34 games for the Tar Heels last season, averaging 8.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.0 steals a game.
21. Paris Clark, G, Virginia
Played at Arizona for one season, transferred to Virginia
Clark was injured early in her freshman season and averaged 3.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 13.2 minutes over 24 games for the Wildcats. She was one of six players to transfer away from Arizona in 2023. Clark landed at Virginia and has struggled with injuries, having undergone three surgeries during her career. She averaged 10.3 points and 1.9 steals last season. Virginia has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2018.
22. Londynn Jones, G, USC
Played at UCLA for three seasons, transferred to USC
Jones was an All-Big Ten honorable mention pick, averaging 8.5 points per game with a team-high 72 3-pointers, last season for the Bruins. After entering the portal in April, she joined crosstown rival USC. Jones started 60 games over two seasons at UCLA and is a 3-point threat with 206 in her career to date.
23. Cotie McMahon, F, Ole Miss
Played at Ohio State for three seasons, transferred to Ole Miss
McMahon was named first-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore and junior and started all 97 games in which she played for the Buckeyes. She averaged 16.5 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 44.4% last season. The Dayton, Ohio, native said of leaving the Buckeyes: ‘I felt confident in my decision, especially with the coaching staff that we have here. Speaking of (Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin), she made it very comfortable for me.’
24. Tonie Morgan, G, Kentucky
Played at Georgia Tech for three seasons, transferred to Kentucky
Morgan started 95 games for the Yellow Jackets and averaged 13.7 points, 5.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds last season while shooting 49% from the field. Projected to go in the top 10 of the WNBA draft, Morgan transferred to Kentucky because of coach Kenny Brooks’ ability to develop point guards, including Georgia Amoore. ‘I saw a vision, a vision (Brooks) had for me and this team. I knew that’s something that I wanted to be a part of, so I knew this was the place for me,’ Morgan said during the SEC media day.
25. Kyla Oldacre, C, Texas
Played at Miami for two seasons, transferred to Texas
A 6-foot-6 center, Oldacre started 21 of 31 games her sophomore season for the Hurricanes and averaged 5.0 points and 4.4 rebounds. She improved her averages to 8.8 points and 5.9 rebounds as a junior for the Longhorns, who advanced to the Final Four. Oldacre had an ankle injury over the summer but has been cleared to play.