Though the portal hasn’t technically opened yet it hasn’t stopped players from announcing their intentions to enter it, and the negotiating with players (largely through agents) is well underway.
Florida is still looking to retain as much of their production from a year ago as possible, but armed with a mountain of NIL money all options are on the table for how they could look to bring in portal talent.
Already there are hundreds of players who have announced their intention to enter the transfer portal, and while it’s not even close to the full list of quality players that will look to move, it’s a start where we can see some of the names Florida could look to pursue.
Here are some of the best players who have announced their intention to enter the portal:
Jackson Shelstad
Oregon
Right now the jewel of the portal class is point guard Jackson Shelstad, a 6’0” junior who has been productive for all three seasons at Oregon, though his 2025-26 campaign was cut well short due to injury after just 12 games. Averaging 15.6 points and 4.9 assists, Shelstad is a pure point guard in a college basketball market that is extremely short on those. As proven of a ball handler as there is in college basketball, expect him to have his pick of just about any team in the country.
Jeremiah Wilkinson
Georgia
As a freshman at Cal, Wilkinson put up big numbers as an undersized guard and that small frame limited his options in the portal but Georgia was willing to give him a chance and he delivered with 17.4 points per game. More of a scoring guard than a traditional distributing point guard, Wilkinson has now put up huge point totals in two high-major leagues and his next step will be a fascinating one.
Somto Cyril
Georgia
Joining Wilkinson in the portal from Georgia is Somto Cyril, a massive center who Florida fans may remember from his early ejection during the first meeting between the two teams. 6’11” and 260 pounds, Cyril might not have a ton to his offensive game outside of turn and dunk right now but that style of play is effective especially when paired with his huge presence on the defensive end. Averaging 2.2 blocks per game last season, Cyril is one of the best rim protectors in the country.
Stefan Vaaks
Providence
Overall it was an extremely frustrating year for the Friars but a bright spot was the play of 6’7” Estonian freshman Stefan Vaaks. A skilled wing, Vaaks averaged 15.7 points and 3.2 assists while hitting 35% of his threes. While the production speaks for itself the film is even better, should you be willing to brave the difficult Providence season, and Vaaks could fit in just about anywhere playing any role required on the wing or even in the backcourt where he has ball handling and passing abilities.
Isaiah Johnson
Colorado
You might be catching a theme with a lot of the players who have already announced their intention to transfer–players with multiple years of eligibility remaining coming from schools that had disappointing seasons. It has been difficult for Colorado to get talent into Boulder but they hit a home run with freshman Isaiah Johnson, a 6’1” guard who came in right away to average 16.9 points per game while chipping in 3.0 assists. Now, you might be wondering if this was just a chucker on a bad team–but that wasn’t the case. Johnson shot 38% from three and 57% from two, so he was able to be extremely efficient despite having a lot of defensive attention sent his way.
Baye Ndongo
Georgia Tech
It has been a rough stretch for Georgia Tech the last few years but Baye Ndongo showed a lot of loyalty staying for three seasons as one of their most productive players before finally looking to go elsewhere now as a senior. The 6’9”, 240 pound forward is a physical interior player who averaged 11.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season and would be the kind of power forward the Gators would like in their jumbo lineups.
Finley Bizjack
Butler
Bizjack was a popular recruit when he came to Butler out of high school and he has had the kind of steady growth that everyone loves to see in the college game averaging 4.2 points as a freshman, 10.2 points as a sophomore, and now 17.1 points a game as a junior. A 6’4” shooting guard, Bizjack is generally a jumpshooter from both three and the mid-range and feels like someone who could hit some tough jumpers in March if he ended up on a tournament team.
Dedan Thomas
LSU
Look, I get it–if you’re someone who follows Florida’s recruiting you’ve heard of Thomas before. You heard about him coming out of high school when Florida recruited him, you remember when he was going to leave UNLV and Florida was rumored before he chose to return, and you remember when Florida allegedly recruited him before he chose LSU. This article is about the best players in the portal, remember–not necessarily guys Florida is going after, though it wouldn’t be shocking if the Gators got involved. Thomas has put up big numbers in each of his three seasons, with the guard averaging 15.3 points and 6.5 assists for the Tigers this past season before an injury that ruined any shot the team had at a turnaround.
Paulius Marauskas
Saint Mary’s
Originally playing for Arizona as a freshman before spending two years at Saint Mary’s, this 6’8” Lithuanian is an extremely gifted and versatile wing who averaged 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds last year, and those numbers could easily be higher if not for Saint Mary’s extremely low pace of play. He might have the flashiest style of play but whenever you watch Marauskas play he is getting things done from both a production and efficiency standpoint, and he did it for a winning Saint Mary’s team. Wherever Marauskas goes, he could end up being the most underrated transfer of the class.
Kwame Evans
Oregon
A bouncy 6’9” forward (who played at Montverde in high school as a 5-star recruit, notably) it’s been three solid seasons for Evans at Oregon but it feels like he never fully had his breakout. This past season he averaged 13.3 points and 7.4 rebounds as a solid starter, and his next team will hope that with the fresh start he’ll make the leap to all-league player
Miles Byrd
San Diego State
Before every year Miles Byrd seemed to find himself on every “breakout candidate” list put out by college basketball media and while that never totally seemed to happen the 6’7” wing has been one of the best players in the Mountain West averaging 10.4 points and 4.7 rebounds last season. His defense is superb and that will make him a valuable piece wherever he goes, and his next team will likely imagine there is more offensive upside than what he was able to show in a SDSU offense that was quite a slog the last few years.
This is just part one of the series, so look for more articles on the best available transfers to be released in the coming days.