South Carolina Women’s Basketball 2026-27 Transfer Portal Tracker

South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley is beginning the process of assembling her roster for the 2026-27 season following a run to the national championship game. The Gamecocks fell 79-51 to UCLA on April 5, 2026, marking the second consecutive year the program has lost in the title game after a previous loss to UConn on April 5, 2025.

The program now faces a significant roster transition. Coach Staley is currently without four key players: Raven Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson, Maryam Dauda and Madina Okot. Three of these players are expected to be first-round picks in the WNBA draft.

Roster Changes and New Additions

To fill the gaps left by departing veterans, South Carolina is introducing three high school players to the program. These additions include guard Jerzy Robinson and post players Kelsi Andrews and Kaeli Wynn.

The team is also navigating the transfer portal, which opened on April 6, 2026, and is scheduled to close on April 20, 2026. This window provides athletes a limited timeframe to enter their names for potential transfers.

The impact of the portal has been a recurring theme for the Gamecocks. One year prior, MiLaysia Fulwiley departed South Carolina for LSU. During the 2025-26 season, Fulwiley recorded a 0-2 record in games played against her former team.

Season Retrospective and Context

Despite the loss in the 2026 national championship, the season was characterized by significant adversity. Staley managed the roster after losing star forwards Ashlyn Watkins and Chloe Kitts before the season began. Throughout the year, the team dealt with various injuries and illnesses, leading Staley to utilize eight different starting lineups.

The depth challenges were evident in the game logs, as the Gamecocks started or finished 34 of their 40 total games without a full roster available.

Despite these hurdles, South Carolina achieved several milestones during the campaign:

• The team won the SEC regular-season championship.
• The program reached its sixth consecutive Final Four.
• South Carolina set an SEC scoring record during March Madness.
• The team succeeded despite 50% of the roster having no prior experience playing past the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Broader NCAA Transfer Landscape

The 2026-27 transfer cycle is marked by new regulations that prevented official portal activity until after the season concluded on April 5, 2026. This differs from previous years when the portal typically opened during the NCAA tournament.

The scale of movement across the NCAA has been substantial, with more than 1,000 players entering the portal by the end of the first day. Other programs have seen massive turnover, including Iowa State, which saw 10 players enter the portal, and Georgia, which lost nine players following the departure of coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson.

Tennessee has also experienced significant losses under coach Kim Caldwell, including the loss of the No. 2 recruit in the country, Oliviyah Edwards, who requested a release from her national letter of intent. Every player from the Lady Vols’ No. 2-rated recruiting class from the previous year has departed.

As the window remains open until April 20, 2026, South Carolina and other top programs will continue to monitor the portal for potential additions to stabilize their rosters for the upcoming season.