Roster overhauls are not uncommon in today’s era of men’s college basketball.
This offseason is no different, with around a dozen power-conference schools returning zero or just one player from this past season. It’s been a growing trend as the sport has become more reliant on the transfer portal, with salary caps dictating roster construction and teams adding seven to eight players in the spring becoming the new norm.
Last week, we looked at how the Final Four teams — and Duke — have been approaching the offseason. This week, we’re putting the same focus on the three winningest programs in college basketball history: Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina. None made it out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament and each face massive rebuilds heading into next season.
All information as of 9 a.m. ET on April 20
Players leaving: Bill Self faces arguably the biggest rebuild of the three programs featured here.
Potential No. 1 pick Darryn Peterson was gone regardless, but All-Big 12 big man Flory Bidunga’s decision to enter the portal and head to Louisville was a difficult loss. Starting wings Melvin Council Jr. and Tre White were seniors, and six more players joined Bidunga in the portal. The biggest loss among that group was Bryson Tiller, who started 31 games and looks poised for a breakout season in 2026-27. Making matters worse, Tiller committed to rival Missouri.
Players staying or incoming: The retention list is short. Kohl Rosario, who started the first six games of this past season before seeing his role diminish as the year progressed, is back and still has a high ceiling.
Self has the fifth-best class of incoming freshmen, led by five-star point guard Taylen Kinney. Two more SC Next 100 recruits, Davion Adkins and Trent Perry, and four-star guard Luke Barnett round out the group.
Kansas has also landed two players out of the portal thus far: Utah transfer Keanu Dawes and Toledo transfer Leroy Blyden Jr. Dawes was one of the Big 12’s best rebounders last season, ranking in the top 50 nationally at 8.8 per game. Blyden, a 6-foot-1 point guard, was the MAC Freshman of the Year.
Players in limbo: Freshman big man Paul Mbiya has been an interesting follow. He suddenly played a key role in the NCAA tournament, reports emerged that he planned to enter the portal … and yet, he’s still on the Jayhawks and hasn’t portaled yet.
Work to do: Kansas has a massive amount of work to build a roster that can compete next season. The Jayhawks’ top target is No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes, who they appeared on track to land until a recent trip to Kentucky cast doubt on their status as the frontrunners.
Kansas has hosted a long list of players from the portal, although Terrence Hill Jr. (Tennessee) and DeSean Goode (Miami) have committed elsewhere. Charlotte big man Anton Bonke was on campus last week, as was Utah transfer Terrence Brown, though UNC appears to be the favorite for Brown.
With Blyden committed, Self needs a scorer with size on the wing. Vyctorius Miller (Oklahoma State) is among the players on the Jayhawks’ list for that role. In the frontcourt, Cincinnati transfer Moustapha Thiam — one of the best bigs left in the portal — is among their targets, though he is visiting Michigan this week.
Players leaving: A roller-coaster season that started with the nation’s largest payroll and ended with a second-round loss to Iowa State in the NCAA tournament portended a roster overhaul.
The starting backcourt of Otega Oweh and Denzel Aberdeen is out of eligibility (although Florida is attempting to secure an extra year for Aberdeen), while Jayden Quaintance was expected to declare for the NBA draft. Six more players also entered the transfer portal, including starting guard Collin Chandler and frontcourt mainstays Andrija Jelavic, Mouhamed Dioubate and Brandon Garrison.
Players staying or incoming: Two key contributors are back from last season: starting center Malachi Moreno and rotation wing Kam Williams, who missed most of the second half of the campaign with a broken foot. Moreno has a chance to be one of the best centers in the country next season.
Role player Trent Noah and redshirts Braydon Hawthorne and Reece Potter are also back. And Kentucky’s lone high school commit is four-star guard Mason Williams, son of new assistant coach Mo Williams.
After missing on a few early portal targets like BYU’s Robert Wright III and Georgia’s Jeremiah Wilkinson, Mark Pope finally landed his 2026-27 backcourt last week with Washington transfer Zoom Diallo and Furman transfer Alex Wilkins. Diallo averaged 15.7 points and 4.5 assists last season for the Huskies, while Wilkins was one of the most electric first-year point guards in the country and boosted his stock with 21 points against UConn in the NCAA tournament.
Players in limbo: Barring a surprise return from Quaintance, Pope isn’t waiting on any stay-or-go decisions.
Work to do: Kentucky still has plenty of targets left on the board, with overall No. 1 recruit Stokes at the top of the list.
Stokes is down to the Wildcats and Jayhawks, with a decision expected to come at any point. Pope could use a statement signing to help the overall vibe in Lexington, and they don’t get much bigger than Stokes. Kansas had the lead entering Stokes’ recent visit to Kentucky; did Pope flip momentum on the trip?
Kentucky needs shooting, and NC State transfer Paul McNeil Jr. is on the shortlist. Utah transfer Terrence Brown was also a target, but visited North Carolina and Kansas and hasn’t rescheduled a visit to Kentucky. Up front, the Wildcats are prioritizing Syracuse transfer Donnie Freeman, one of the best players available. Former USC center Gabe Dynes is expected to visit this week; the 7-foot-5 Dynes would provide interior depth.
Players leaving: With Hubert Davis out and Michael Malone in, extensive roster turnover was inevitable.
Projected top-five pick Caleb Wilson was headed to the NBA regardless, while Seth Trimble is out of eligibility. Still, nine players entered the portal following the coaching change, with Derek Dixon and Luka Bogavac the most notable, although two have since opted to withdraw and return to Chapel Hill to play for Malone.
It’s also worth noting that Carolina had a commitment from top-10 incoming freshman Dylan Mingo until he reopened his recruitment last week.
Players staying or incoming: The lone starter guaranteed to return from last season is Jarin Stevenson, who helped fill Wilson’s shoes after his injury and played well, averaging 10.7 points and 6.4 rebounds over the Tar Heels’ final 10 games. Jaydon Young and Isaiah Denis are returning after initially exploring the portal. And while Mingo opted to decommit, top-25 recruit Maximo Adams kept his commitment to the Tar Heels after the coaching change.
Since the portal opened, Malone added Virginia Tech transfer Neoklis Avdalas. The 6-foot-9 guard was inconsistent for most of his freshman season, but generated first-round NBA draft buzz early in the campaign and has an intriguing combination of size and playmaking ability.
Players in limbo: All-ACC big man Henri Veesaar has yet to announce his intentions.
The proven big man could return to Carolina, enter the NBA draft or head into the transfer portal. Veesaar is essentially the lynchpin to Malone’s first season who would be in the preseason All-American conversation should he return to college after averaging 17.0 points and 8.7 rebounds last season.
Work to do: There are two priorities for Malone right now.
One, as we just mentioned, is keeping Veesaar. He provides an anchor on the interior and would give the new head coach a player to build around. But given the timing of Veesaar’s pending decision, the lack of legitimate replacements at his position is glaring.
The second focus is a couple of perimeter scorers and playmakers, and the Tar Heels have a few players on their shortlist. Utah transfer Terrence Brown is atop the board; he’s visited UNC and Kansas. Wake Forest transfer Juke Harris met with the Carolina staff a couple weekends ago, although he’s also going through the NBA draft process. NC State’s Matt Able and Paul McNeil Jr. have also been linked to the Tar Heels.
