The offseason has just officially begun, and there are some college basketball coaches who are in for a make-or-break couple of weeks in the transfer portal.
The transfer portal is practically a free agency for college sports. It’s the wild, wild west and coaches are forced to recruit current college athletes on top of their own players. Sometimes, players already know where they want to play next, while still in their current team’s jersey.
But no one is immune from this current age in college sports. College basketball coaches everywhere are all dealing with the same thing. Some have more NIL money and better facilities at their dispenses, but the day-to-day grind is still the same. The transfer portal is where the season ahead can be won or lost.
And for these college basketball coaches, it’s an important offseason ahead.
10. Kevin Willard, Villanova
It might seem strange having Willard on this list, given he just started at Villanova a couple of weeks ago. But for the new head coach, the stakes are high.
Villanova basketball hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2022 and are quickly losing ground on the national stage. The former Seton Hall head coach is back in the Big East where he belongs, but circumstances at Villanova aren’t where you’d expect them to be.
The Wildcats are set to lose Eric Dixon, on top of a plethora of other seniors from the 2024-25 team. Tyler Perkins is about the only returning everyday player, and there aren’t any notable recruits coming in, so it’s practically a complete reset. It’ll be important for Willard to bring in fresh new faces and get things moving in the right direction for a proud yet anxious fanbase.
9. Darian DeVries, Indiana
DeVries comes to Indiana in the same way – a complete reset. But he comes with even tougher terms. It’s been much longer since IU was relevant and in the age of social media, you can very much sense the displeasure among Hoosier nation.
The difference between IU and Nova? The Hooisers had a few non-seniors that could have come back, but chose to enter the portal. DeVries could have started his tenure with Mackenzie Mgbako, Kanaan Carlyle, Malik Reneau, Myles Rice, and Bryson Tucker, but won’t have ANY of them.
In fact, Indiana isn’t set to return a single player who scored a single point in a game last season. It’s as if DeVries is starting his own program and needs to field a team in about a month and a half.
Of course, his son Tucker DeVries is a good start and former DePaul point guard Conor Enright is no slouch. Davidson’s Reed Bailey also chose Indiana, so the foundation is there. But they can’t even field a starting five right now, which is a tough selling point to start off with.
8. Shaka Smart, Marquette
Did anyone tell Shaka Smart the transfer portal exists? He seems to be totally against it, and it’s been hard to shame him too much. Marquette has kept winning on the formula of developing players who stay loyal to being Golden Eagles.
Here’s the problem this year – they have said bye-bye to Kam Jones, David Joplin, and Stevie Mitchell. While no major names have entered the portal (is Smart holding them hostage?), it’s tough to think that a team led by Chase Ross and Ben Gold can be a major player in the Big East next season. Smart may have to give in and get at least one or two players to help ease the transition to next season, or else the demise of Marquette may be coming very soon.
7. Penny Hardaway, Memphis
Penny Hardaway had his best year to date with Memphis, going 29-6 and earning a 5 seed. However, it didn’t matter, as the Tigers lost to 12 seed Colorado State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Still, a near 30-win season and no scandals gives Hardaway a legitimate season to build off of. But it won’t be easy. It will have to start with convincing star PJ Haggerty to return. And on a very senior-heavy team, Haggerty may be the only key returner if he does come back for his junior year.
We know that Hardaway can recruit. We also know that he’s yet to make a tournament run and despite getting knocked out early this year, there is some momentum to go off of. He needs to make sure not to lose it.
6. Wes Miller, Cincinnati
Miller’s tenure in the Queen City has been rocky and just in general in seems like a make-or-break year or else he might be looking for a new home next offseason.
So far, so good. Miller got journeyman, yet solid guard Kerr Kriisa to come to Cincy. Sencire Harris also committed to the Cats, so it has been an improved offseason so far.
Jizzle James, Cincinnati’s top scorer, is also set to return. So even though Cincinnati loses a handful of talent, the outlook actually looks pretty bright. If I’m Miller, I’m going all in on the portal this year. The guard play has the chance to be some of the best in the Big 12. They must add some players that can do damage in the frontcourt, but half of the battle is already won. With the hot seat as warm as it is, Miller needs to not only start strong, but finish strong.
5. Scott Drew, Baylor
Loyalty might be a thing of the past in college sports but as far as college basketball coaches go, Scott Drew is one of the most loyal there is in 2025. But don’t be surprised if the Baylor fanbase becomes impatient. Since the national championship in 2021, Baylor hasn’t made it to the second weekend. They’ve had good college and pro talent, but it hasn’t translated to wins in March and last season, only 20 wins total.
With Norchad Omier’s time in college finished, VJ Edgecombe likely off to the NBA Draft, and Robert Wright taking a max contract with BYU (joking, but really not), Drew will need a new core in Waco.
So far, you can’t knock his job. Michael Rataj out of Oregon State is one of the best adds of any team so far. Obi Agbim put up great scoring numbers at Wyoming and Cameron Carr showed potential at Tennessee.
But this is about re-focusing the trajectory of the program. Baylor has been sliding, there’s no denying that and for one of the game’s best coaches, winning the portal is a must.
4. Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall
When SHU hired Shaheen Holloway, he made a lot of statements about not screwing things up in South Orange. While he’s beloved by the fanbase, no one can deny a 7-win season isn’t exactly living up to that promise.
We all know the Pirates’ NIL situation has been some of the worst in college hoops and before an upgraded facility was unveiled in March, that was near the bottom too. But with the Big East’s new revenue sharing plan and the facility in use, Seton Hall has some things to work with.
So far, they landed Merrimack’s Budd Clark, a scoring guard who could help in that department. But that’s been it and they’ve lost just about everybody else. It’s another case of a team truly restarting, which might not be a bad thing after failing to get to 10 wins for the first time since 1984. But the only way we see a reversal is a few big splashes this offseason.
3. Jeff Capel, Pitt
You’ll notice a pattern here – the ACC is down bad and so are their coaches. Let’s start with Jeff Capel.
His time at Pitt has been… head scratching.
After four straight losing seasons, Capel’s strung together three straight winning seasons. It took some time, but it’s a better state of Pitt basketball. Still, after just going 17-15, they haven’t hit that next step forward.
With star guard Jaland Lowe gone to Kentucky, Capel did act quickly, getting former Iowa State big Dishon Jackson. It’s not a fair ‘trade’ but it’s a move that keeps things somewhat in balance. But that can’t be all. The Panthers will lose twins Guillermo Diaz Graham and Jorge Diaz Graham. The key depth pieces are gone, so on a team that could’ve actually returned quite a bit, they’re forced to start over again. That’s the tough part about the portal and the thing that’ll really test Capel’s abilities.
2. Micah Shrewsberry, Notre Dame
Shrewsberry might be in an even tougher place than Capel because a 28-38 record at ND clearly has him starting next season on the hot seat. But luckily, with Markus Burton set to return, Shrewsberry has one of the best starting points of any college basketball coach in the country. That’s a great selling point to other players in the portal. Burton is a star in the ACC and it should be easy to pitch that to prospective transfers.
Unfortunately, Tae Davis vouched to go elsewhere, so there will need to be a new Robin to join Batman. Notre Dame is a popular destination, but it’s lost some stream in the basketball world. This is the perfect year for Shrewsberry to change that and confirm he’s the right man for the job.
1. Red Autry, Syracuse
A once proud program has about had it with Red Autry. As a Syracuse alum, I’m not overdoing that statement. The Orange fanbase was not happy with Autry’s second season on The Hill, even after winning 20 games in year one.
And honestly, it’s not all fair. Star guard JJ Starling missed a few games. Star freshman Donnie Freeman missed the whole second half of the season. And other players didn’t seem to be themselves.
But next season, there can’t be the same excuses. 5-star Sadiq White and 4-star son of Carmelo Anthony, Kiyan Anthony, make their way to Central New York. They join Starling and Freeman, arguably two of the best star duos to return to a team in all of Power Five basketball.
Autry added Nate Kingz, a sharpshooter from Oregon State, and Nait George, a pure point guard from Georgia Tech. He also nabbed a few less sought after big men. But like a few of the other coaches mentioned here, it’s time for him and Syracuse to go all in. This team is one legitimate big man and another quality wing piece away from truly making a statement next season. For Syracuse’s sake, Autry needs to make it happen.