Who’s the next Yaxel Lendeborg? Best mid-major players in the transfer portal

When the maize-and-blue confetti fell on Michigan men’s basketball after its 69-63 win against UConn in the 2026 NCAA Tournament championship game on Monday, one season came to an end.

At midnight, less than an hour after the Wolverines finished off their victory, another began.

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The day after the title game, the transfer portal opened, sending the more than 360 Division I teams into a rush to start assembling their rosters for next season — whether it’s trying to hold onto their own players or trying to nab difference-makers from other teams.

REQUIRED READING: College basketball transfer portal rankings: Top 50 available players

For players outside of the sport’s power conferences, the portal is an opportunity to earn a bigger payday from a bigger program while getting to showcase your game on the sport’s biggest stages. This time a year ago, Yaxel Lendeborg was an all-conference standout at UAB before entering the portal, signing with Michigan and becoming the centerpiece of a Wolverines team that won the program’s first national championship in 37 years.

While having that kind of impact isn’t a realistic bar for any mid- or low-major star, there are dozens of players available from the sport’s smaller leagues who can be all-conference performers at the Power conference level and lift their new programs to the NCAA tournament.

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Who are some of the players poised to help some of the country’s best teams next season? Here’s a look at the best mid- and low-major players available in the transfer portal:

REQUIRED READING: College basketball rankings too-early Top 25 poll for 2026-27 season. Who’s next?

Best mid-major players in the transfer portal

Note: Players from the Mountain West and Atlantic 10 were not considered for this article

Paulius Murauskas, Saint Mary’s

Murauskas is the No. 7 player available in USA TODAY’s transfer portal rankings for a reason: The 6-foot-8 Lithuanian averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for a 27-win Saint Mary’s team last season. It’s possible the first-team All-West Coast Conference honoree follows former Gaels coach Randy…

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Publish date : 2026-04-09 10:06:00

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