#HLWBB Top Impact Transfers for 2026-27

Over the last few years, the transfer portal has become the primary source of player movement in college basketball. Each summer, across the country, star players find a bigger stage with more available NIL money, lightly-used reserves bet on themselves and look for opportunities for more playing time, and high-achieving students move for specialized graduate programs and career-driven reasons. 

All of it has certainly had a profound effect on the Horizon League. One needn’t look any further than the 2025-26 All-HL teams, which featured nine players, out of the 15 selections, who began their college careers elsewhere. Four players on that list (of the eight with remaining eligibility) then entered the portal just after receiving their plaques in the mail.

So who’s next? It’s impossible to say for certain, as previous versions of this now-annual post prove. Regardless, here’s another attempt at figuring it out.

Before getting started, it’s important to note that the words “top impact transfers for 2026-27” were chosen deliberately. These are players who should have an effect on their teams and the conference as a whole this coming season, and the (admittedly subjective) ranking criteria prioritized that goal, versus the idea of simply presenting a “best players” list.

1. Elisa Mevius – Green Bay (G)
Previous Schools: Siena (2022-24), Oregon (2024-26)

On3’s Talia Goodman ranked Green Bay’s portal class as the fourth best in the country among mid-major schools – despite only including three players – and Mevius was probably the single biggest reason for that placement. She’s an Olympic gold medalist, thanks to her run with the German national 3×3 basketball team at the 2024 Paris Games, and was a reliable presence at the Big Ten level for Oregon until a knee injury ended her 2025-26 campaign after just two games. Mevius, the MAAC’s Freshman of the Year at Siena in 2022-23, presents as a classic Phoenix archetype: a guard with good size who can do a little bit of everything.

2. Claire Gregwer – Purdue Fort Wayne (G/F)
Previous Schools: Davenport (NAIA) (2022-23), Aquinas (NAIA) (2023-25)

It’s a little bit of a cheat to include Gregwer on this list, given that she signed with Purdue Fort Wayne last November and spent the spring semester as a non-playing member of the Mastodons’ roster. Regardless, and for all intents and purposes, she’s functionally a transfer addition for the 2026-27 season.  Whatever you want to call her from a clerical standpoint, Gregwer was a force of nature for Aquinas in 2024-25. She averaged 19.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game on the way to Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference first-team honors, and was somehow both a workhorse and efficient (46.3 percent shooting, 37.7 percent from three). If that sounds like another recent NAIA-to-PFW player, Alana Nelson, it might not be a coincidence.

3. Jorey Buwalda – Green Bay (F)
Previous School: Milwaukee (2023-26)

Green Bay likes to pick off star players from its I-43 rival, and there are plenty of stylistic and cultural explanations for that. At the same time, Buwalda was arguably a top-five Horizon Leaguer to enter the portal, and most of the time, that situation doesn’t require much further analysis. Most players on this list, whether from a high-major school or a junior college, involve educated guesswork; Buwalda does not. She was an All-HL third teamer last season with the Panthers after averaging 12.1 points and 8.7 rebounds per game with the Panthers. Given that conference player of the year Jenna Guyer is out of eligibility, Buwalda fills an immediate need in Kayla Karius’ rotation.

4. Mackenzie Blackford – Robert Morris (G)
Previous School: Duquesne (2024-26)

Though Green Bay’s class drew the national attention, Chandler McCabe spent the spring proving that her previous portal successes – Aislin Malcolm, Bailey Kuhns, and Eva Levingston among them – were no fluke. RMU’s 2026 transfer haul is again near the top of the Horizon League, with Blackford standing as one of its headliners. After one of the best careers in Solon (OH) High School history, she became an every-game starter at Duquesne as a sophomore this past season. Superficially, the 5-7 junior presents as a three-point specialist, and Blackford more than lived up to that label during a three-game stretch in February when she hit 17 of her 33 tries, including a 7-for-14 effort on the way to a career-high 27 points against St. Bonaventure.

5. Jada Leonard – Youngstown State (G)
Previous Schools: Saint Peter’s (2022-24), Bryant (2024-25), Cleveland State (2025-26)

Leonard, obviously, is already well known around the conference thanks to spending last year at Cleveland State. Her calling card is elite perimeter defense, as evidenced by her 2.9 steals per game in 2025-26, a number that ranked 21st nationally and secured Leonard a place on the HL’s all-defensive team. However, it’s a little bit unfair to pigeonhole the Bronx native as a stopper. She was the leading scorer at Saint Peter’s during her first two collegiate seasons, then averaged 12.0 points per game with the Vikings. Though many of those tallies came in runout situations after takeaways, injuries forced Leonard to handle the ball more and more for CSU as the schedule crept forward, and she became comfortable in that role.

6. Jaeda Murphy – Milwaukee (G)
Previous School: Mississippi Valley State (2024-26)

Beyond losing Buwalda, Milwaukee had a relatively quiet offseason that allowed Kyle Rechlicz’s young roster to incubate a bit. However, Rechlicz did make one outstanding transfer addition in Murphy, a point guard who immediately offers the Panthers some veteran leadership at a vital position. It can be hard to stand out with a team that’s pretty famously among the worst in Division I every year, but Murphy shouldered that substantial burden very well. Her four assists per game ranked third in SWAC play last season, and though the Chicagoan struggled with turnovers, at least some of that issue can be attributed to team quality. Murphy also averaged just shy of ten points per game and excels at earning trips to the free throw line.

7. Chloe Oliver – Cleveland State (G)
Previous Schools: Davidson (2023-24), Stony Brook (2024-26)

It could be argued that Bob Dunn’s biggest moves in the first weeks of his Cleveland State tenure involved retaining four of the six Vikings who entered the portal in the wake of Chris Kielsmeier’s departure, a stunning success rate compared to what’s typical for the situation. However, beyond that, Dunn did well to add Oliver as a steady hand to a backcourt situation that carries a bit of uncertainty right now. There’s nothing particularly flashy about the Montreal native’s game, nor is there anything that jumps off of her stat page, but she’s the sort of smart, tough floor leader who can reinforce a team’s culture. Oliver is also a capable shooter who could post career-best scoring numbers with CSU.

8. Mia Kalich – Youngstown State (F)
Previous School: Seton Hill (DII) (2023-26)

It’s just a coincidence that Kalich will wear number 21 for Youngstown State – the uniform donned so effectively by portal departure Sophia Gregory for the last two years – but it’s hard not to see a little bit of the 2025-26 HL Defensive Player of the Year in Kalich, a highly-decorated athlete in her three years at the Division II level. She doesn’t quite have Gregory’s size, but does have that same ability to do just about everything needed on a basketball court. At Seton Hill last season, Kalich averaged 14.0 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 4.0 steals, while shooting 63.9 percent from the field. Look no further than another former Penguins star, Lilly Ritz, with any questions about how DII numbers translate to the Horizon League.

9. Atarah Walker – Northern Illinois (F)
Previous School: SUNY Niagara (NJCAA) (2024-26)

Walker is a Niagara Falls, NY native who committed to Niagara in early April, but learned the harsh side of college basketball only days later, when Purple Eagles head coach Jada Pierce resigned. Ultimately though, NU’s loss was Northern Illinois’ gain, and Jacey Brooks ended up with the sort of middle-of-the-floor presence that’s often found tons of success in the HL. In a pair of seasons at SUNY Niagara (a two-year school, in contrast to many other outposts in the SUNY system), Walker was a consistent double-double threat who averaged eight points and eight rebounds as a freshman, then nine and nine in 2025-26. It might be a bit naïve to expect that sort of instant impact for NIU, but at 6-3, her ceiling is high.

10. Timberlynn Yeast – Robert Morris (F/G)
Previous School: Marshall (2023-26)

With Robert Morris presently trying to navigate the final steps from good team to champion, it’s hard to argue with the Colonials adding a player who has already been there. Yeast helped Marshall to the WNIT title in April by playing some of the best basketball of her career. Her all-tournament selection was helped along by a 12-point, seven-rebound effort that ended Youngstown State’s season, and she followed that up with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists against Army West Point to propel the Thundering Herd to the Fab 4. The redshirt junior is part of a famous Kentucky sports family, including former NFL receiver Craig Yeast (an uncle), and sister Teigh, who happens to be an incoming freshman hooper at RMU.

Welcome to Rochester Mallory!

A great new addition to the squad!🤩 pic.twitter.com/m6LOa3Zm6r

— Oakland Women's Basketball (@OaklandWBBall) April 10, 2026

11. Mallory Ramage – Oakland (G)
Previous Schools: Loyola Chicago (2022-24), Lewis (DII) (2024-26)

Ramage was recruited to Lewis by Keisha Newell, and the two joined forces on the Flyers’ 26-4 NCAA Midwest Regional squad in 2024-25. Just over a year later, Ramage became Oakland’s first transfer addition of the spring. Those facts alone say quite a bit about Newell’s belief that the 5-10 guard can contribute plenty to the Golden Grizzlies, and help build on last season’s expectation-shattering campaign. Ramage led Lewis with 14.6 points per game, while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 34.1 percent from three-point range, more than enough to earn first team All-GLVC honors. Even as an obvious focal point for defenses, Ramage was also an elite ball protector – her 8.9 percent turnover rate was 29th best in Division II.

12. Alexa Hocevar – Cleveland State (G)
Previous Schools: IU Indianapolis (2023-25), Toledo (2025-26)

It’s pretty rare for a player to spend three full years in college and still carry unanswered questions about their potential. However, that’s essentially what Cleveland State has in Hocevar, who spent most of 2024-25 as a big-time contributor for IU Indianapolis, but has otherwise been buried, both in her freshman season with the Jaguars, and as a junior at Toledo. However, two years ago, Hocevar averaged 8.1 points per game, including four outings of 13 or more during her final eight games in Indy. She’s also a very good defender, a solid rebounder and, at 6-1, could potentially play three different positions for the Vikings.

13. Paula Lopez – Detroit Mercy (G)
Previous School: Buffalo (2023-26)

It’s probably fair to say that year one of the Kiefer Haffey era didn’t go quite as planned for Detroit Mercy, given that the Titans began the season with a veteran team of successful players who elected to stick around through a coaching change, then thudded to a 7-24 finish. UDM’s subsequent roster overhaul – which was inevitable, win or lose – will be one of the league’s more interesting storylines this fall, but Lopez presents as the sort of player who can help things settle quickly. She came into her own while a junior at Buffalo in 2025-26 as a facilitator (2.3 assists per game) and occasional scorer (7.9 points per game, including a pair of 20-point outings), and will likely find a prominent-enough role on the new-look Titans to build on that.

14. Dženifera Rieksta – Northern Kentucky (F)
Previous Schools: Williston State (NJCAA) (2024-25), Vincennes (NJCAA) (2025-26)

Part of what makes Jeff Hans a great coach is his willingness to cut against the grain a bit. Last season, his incoming group at Northern Kentucky featured more true freshmen and former junior college players than most, and this year, the Norse will have a decidedly international flavor. Rieksta checks both of those boxes as a juco from Latvia, then a few others as a 6-2 post player who will return instant credibility to a Norse frontcourt that was hit with the portal departures of Maddie Moody, Mia Jordan, and Jamaya Thomas, along with the graduation of Abby Wolterman. She averaged 12.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.6 blocks per game at Vincennes last year and has a bevy of FIBA experience.

15. Macie Taylor – Cleveland State (G)
Previous Schools: Wright State (2022-25), Miami (2025-26)

Like Hocevar, Taylor is a player who began her career in the Horizon League, then exited for a Mid-American Conference school last season, before returning to the HL though Cleveland State. Somewhat awkwardly, Taylor’s Miami beat Hocevar’s Toledo in the MAC title game back in March (though neither player can claim a ton of credit or blame, as they were on the court for a combined two minutes in the contest). As with most of Dunn’s additions, Taylor is a fantastic defender. She produced a 3.1 percent steal rate in her 13 minutes per game with the RedHawks, and her 11 double-digit outings two years ago at Wright State prove that she’s plenty capable of grabbing a few buckets as well.

16. Leah Middleton – Northern Illinois (G)
Previous Schools: Le Moyne (2023-24), Binghamton (2024-26)

In Middleton, Brooks has the sort of adaptable multi-position guard that just about every coach craves. What’s more, she’s a proven commodity at the Division I level after averaging more than 20 minutes per game and starting regularly at Binghamton over the last two seasons, while the Bearcats improved from 13 wins to 20. Middleton’s consistency is a modest concern, as she’s the sort of player who can shoot 8-for-16 over consecutive games against UMBC and NJIT in February, but 1-for-7 against Bryant and Vermont in the contests before and after that pair. However, with the Huskies returning most of their 2025-26 production, the pressure will be light.

17. McKenna Johnson – Green Bay (G)
Previous Schools: Minnesota (2024-25), Butler (2025-26)

Johnson is a classic Green Bay story as a Wisconsin native (from Wilmot, near the Illinois line) who left the area for a high major program, then transferred back home (-ish) to play for the Phoenix when things didn’t work out exactly as expected. The former ESPN No. 60 high school prospect managed six starts for Butler last year, all in the Bulldogs’ final nine games, while delivering a handful of nice performances, including 18 points against Creighton and 16 versus Villanova in February. Johnson likes to shoot, a lot. In fact, her 30.1 percent usage rate was 73rd nationally.

18. Allie Daniels – Wright State (F)
Previous School: West Virginia Wesleyan (2025-26)

It’s probably accurate to say that Kari Hoffman has spent most of her five-plus years at Wright State desperately searching for some credible size and rebounding ability, given that the Raiders’ best rebounding rate during her tenure (47.6 percent in 2024-25, Amaya Staton’s record-setting final season) ranked 292nd nationally. She may have both in the 6-3 Daniels, who averaged 9.1 rebounds per game as a freshman at West Virginia Wesleyan. Her 53.3 percent accuracy shows that she’s a capable finisher near the basket as well; at the very least, she should be half of a very solid tandem with returning Grace Okih, one that can take shot-making pressure off of Rylee Sagester and Olivia Brown.

19. Sara Basaran – Northern Kentucky (F)
Previous School: Collin College (NJCAA) (2024-26)

It’s been forgotten, to an extent, in the portal era, but traditionally, junior college recruiting was a good way to add productive veterans without waiting a couple years for freshmen to grow into it. It’s an angle Hans has consistently pursued in his time at Northern Kentucky, and Basaran – an NJCAA Third Team All-American last season – might end up as an ideal example of those upsides. She was the go-to player on a 23-8 Collin team last year, as the six-footer led the Cougars in scoring (13.1), rebounding (8.2), and several other categories. Basaran is a product of the same high school in Sweden, Hagagymnasiet, as Cleveland State’s Hanna Medina Kajevic and Wright State’s Maja Dilen.

20. Berlynn Carlson – Oakland (F)
Previous School: Mount St. Mary’s (2025-26)

As a freshman at Mount St. Mary’s, Carlson earned a regular starting role and delivered 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, along with solid all-around defense. None of that is necessarily eyebrow-raising, but here’s something that is: the 6-3 Oregon native plays mostly as a wing who runs relatively well, bucking the assumption that someone of her height would be parked in the middle of the floor. So, potentially, she could offer quite a compelling counterpoint to the talents of returners like Makenzie Luehring and Lianna Baxter. Carlson is still raw to some extent, but “raw” is workable with her foundation, particularly with plenty of others around to pull the OU rope

Welcome to Norse Nation, @SofijaTodorov13 ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/HvLfaIRznr

— NKU Women's Basketball 🏀 (@NKUNorseWBB) May 11, 2026

21. Sofija Todorovic – Northern Kentucky (F)
Previous School: Cloud County CC (2025-26)

Every so often, it’s possible to read between the lines of the generally-stale coach quotes that populate signing press releases. Todorovic seems like one of those cases, as Hans called her “a stretch forward who can impact the game in a multitude of statistical categories” who has the “versatility, skill set, and ability to play from the perimeter [which makes] her an exciting addition to NKU.” In other words, the third-year Norse coach seems to believe he has an x-factor athlete on his hands. The Serbian’s statistics as a juco freshman seem to back him up: Todorovic had 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game at Cloud County, despite averaging fewer than 20 minutes.

22. Fatou Sane – Cleveland State (G)
Previous School: Duquesne (2024-26)

Given the defensive acumen on last season’s Duquesne team, including the likes of Blackford and Sane, it’s certainly more than a little surprising that the Dukes were 12-19 overall, and gave up a middling 65.1 points per game. Regardless, Sane should help the Vikings buffer Leonard’s departure to rival Youngstown State, given that she put up 1.3 steals per game in 2025-26, and 3.2 per 40 minutes, with the latter number good enough to rank 105th nationally out of 3,182 qualifying players. At an even six feet tall and with decent rebounding ability, the Senegal native offers some positional flexibility as well.  

23. Ella Riggs – Oakland (G)
Previous Schools: Furman (2022-24), Purdue Fort Wayne (2024-26)

After spotty playing time in her first three collegiate seasons (one of which was a redshirt at Furman), Riggs finally carved out something of a regular role with Purdue Fort Wayne last season. That role was largely as a three-point shooter for the Mastodons, and though a 31.5 percentage from deep from such a player won’t turn many heads, that number deserves a little bit of context. Riggs had six games in 2025-26 where she hit at least two triples and connected on at least half of her tries, which includes efforts like her 2-for-3 in the always-hostile Kress Center on January 14th. It’s also reasonable to think that Newell has plans for Riggs beyond chucking bombs.

24. Jasmine Fearne – Wright State (G)
Previous School: Bowling Green (2022-26)

Fearne’s four years at Bowling Green were quite the roller coaster ride, including contributions to a 30-win squad as a freshman, one full season lost to injury (though she did get to meet Abbie Riddle, her once-and-again teammate, that year), sparing usage while a redshirt sophomore, then, finally, a starting assignment for two long stretches of last season. The Australian is primarily a three-point shooter, but one that needs chances to find her rhythm, as she did during one three-game stretch early last year, when she attempted a whopping 29 triples and made 11 of them (37.9 percent). It’s probably a safe bet that Hoffman knows what to do with her.

25. Kennedy Younkin – Northern Kentucky (F)
Previous School: East Tennessee State (2024-26)

The Norse’s first signing of the spring turned out to be something of an anomaly, given that Younkin is from (relatively) nearby, Ashville, OH, and previously played at a four-year school, East Tennessee State. The 6-2 forward is a classic post player who never truly had much of an opportunity at ETSU, though she did average 13.4 minutes per game for last season’s Buccaneers, which won the Southern Conference regular season title. Younkin is an above average rebounder and plays a bit longer than her height on the defensive end.