We all know that the transfer portal has completely changed the landscape of college sports. We also know that players on bad teams sometimes think that they need to go elsewhere to compete for postseason success. Thus, it makes sense to think that top stars on bad teams will enter the portal, right?
Before we get going here, I do want to acknowledge that I'm not specifically advocating that these players enter the transfer portal, despite what the headline might suggest. Instead, I want to highlight good players who are on teams that aren't currently playing winning basketball. I'd love to see these players stick around and build a winner where they are, but the current state of college sports means that these are the exact kind of players who often wind up in the portal. Personally, I think every player should do what she thinks is best for her career, so if all of these players believe staying where they are is the right move, great! But in the event they do decide to enter the portal, I wanted a chance to introduce y'all to some really good players who you might not know about yet, since they're on "bad" teams.
Kiyomi McMiller, Penn State
After a strong freshman season at Rutgers, Kiyomi McMiller has blossomed into one of the nation's top volume scorers this season at Penn State, leading the nation in field goal attempts per game at 20.1.
PPG | FGA | USG | |
|---|---|---|---|
2024-25 (Rutgers) | 18.7 | 18.1 | 34.4% |
2025-26 (Penn State) | 22.3 | 20.1 | 35.7% |
McMiller is one of the highest-usage players in the nation. Considering that, her 45.8 percent shooting mark from the field isn't awful, but you'd probably like to see that higher if you're relying on her as your go-to scorer. That's especially true when you consider the gravity that center Gracie Merkle brings to the floor. The nation's leader in field goal percentage, you'd think that she'd draw the defense in enough to give perimeter players like McMiller easier looks, but it hasn't quite panned out that way.
Solè Williams, Florida State
With Ta'Niya Latson gone, the big question for Florida State was if someone should step up to fill the hole left by the departure of one of the most gifted scorers in college basketball. Solè Williams has tried to fill that gap, but she's struggled to figure out the role without turnover issues and efficiency concerns.
She's shooting better than she did at Texas A&M — 41.5 percent this season, up from last year's 31.1 percent — but that still ranks in just the 24th percentile among qualified players, and her 3.1 turnovers per game have been a problem for the Seminoles. Williams is a good basketball player, but feels more suited for a secondary scoring role rather than being forced to be a team's lead option.
Zahra King - SMU
SMU's move to the ACC has worked in some sports, but not in women's basketball. Even the hiring of former Arizona head coach Adia Barnes has done little to improve things this season — in fact, the team's net rating has dropped from -6.8 last season to -15.0 this season.
One bright spot has been Zahra King. After playing sparingly last season at Cal, King has emerged as SMU's best player, putting up 15.0 points per game and shooting 40.9 percent from the floor. Her 3.2 turnovers per game suggest this may not be the best role for her, though, and it'd be nice to see her play beside another strong scoring threat, whether that be at SMU after a portal addition this offseason or somewhere else.
Kierra Merchant - Houston
Speaking of teams whose conference shifts have gone poorly, Houston women's basketball has been a disaster in the Big 12, much to the disappointment of me, a UH graduate who thought the hiring of Matthew Mitchell would turn this program around quickly. Instead, is marginally better in terms of win total and worse in terms of metrics.
Kierra Merchant started the season off playing heavy minutes for this team and had a handful of strong performances, including scoring 21 points in a win over UTSA that moved the Coogs to 2-0. I won't lie here — that win had me hopeful for good things this season. Unfortunately, Merchant and the rest of Houston's team have been plagued by inconsistency, and her minutes have dwindled. More than any other player in this article, I think a change of scenery would be smart here. The junior guard is a good defender with enough offensive upside to justify a rotational role on a good team.
Leah Harmon, UCF
Leah Harmon hasn't played since Jan. 24 due to injury. UCF was 2-7 in Big 12 play when she went down, which wasn't great, obviously. However, it speaks volumes that since Harmon's injury, UCF hasn't won a game. Maybe that finally changes in the regular season finale against Houston, but without Harmon, it'll be tough. Despite missing eight games, she still leads the Knights in total points scored.
I wonder, though, if history might come into play here. Specifically, UCF's very recent transfer history. Kaitlin Peterson looked like a star with UCF and was one of the nation's top scorers, but she's essentially vanished into a crowded rotation at Ole Miss. Seeing Harmon elsewhere could be fun, but would it end up similar to the Peterson situation?
Nene Ndiaye, Rutgers
After two seasons buried in the Boston College rotation, Nene Ndiaye has found something at Rutgers this season, averaging 15.0 points per game for the Scarlet Knights and shooting 40.8 percent from deep.
The Scarlet Knights have been 9.1 points per 100 possessions better with Ndiaye on the floor this season, but that hasn't really translated to success for a team that's sitting at 1-16 in conference play. Ndiaye is a classic example of a good scorer who probably needs to be one spot lower in the pecking order for a team to really shine.
Bonnie Deas, Arkansas
After Mike Neighbors resigned as Arkansas' head coach, I wondered what the program would look like going forward. Neighbors was known for bringing pace to his teams, which partially allowed Kelsey Plum to hold the all-time scoring record at Washington until Caitlin Clark surpassed her.
Arkansas | Pace | Rank |
|---|---|---|
2024-25 | 74.9 | 32nd |
2025-26 | 76.8 | 17th |
New hire Kelsi Musick has kept the pace up, though, which has been both good and bad for freshman guard Bonnie Deas. Good in that the extra possessions have allowed her to average 10.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, and bad because you can see some of the exhaustion of that pace in her 31.7 percent shooting mark from the floor. I wonder what she'd look like in a slower-paced system.