Duke and Florida Just Locked In Their Starting Fives and the Rest of College Basketball Is Playing Catch-Up

The college basketball transfer portal slammed shut Tuesday night at 11:59 p.m., and the picture is already crystal clear: some teams are cooking while others are scrambling. The portal haul this year is a step down from last spring, especially if top free agents like Santa Clara's Allen Graves or Iowa State's Milan Momcilovic stick around for the NBA Draft. But that's actually good news for programs that figured out how to keep their best guys home. On paper, lots of the best talent next season will be returners, not shiny new transfers or freshmen.

Florida Just Did Something Crazy

Here's the thing about Florida that makes them dangerous: Tommy Haugh is skipping the NBA Draft and running it back with Alex Condon. Let that sink in. There was only one senior who stayed at one school for all four years in the entire SEC last year, and now the Gators are going to have two. The Haugh-Condon big-to-big passing combination has been terrorizing opponents for years, and Florida gets another year of it. If Rueben Chinyelu also returns for his senior season instead of jumping to the NBA, their frontcourt becomes genuinely terrifying. Point guard Boogie Fland is back. Sniper Urban Klavzar is back. Slasher Isaiah Brown is back. Depth guys like CJ Ingram, AJ Brown, and Alex Lloyd are staying put. Todd Golden's squad could be the preseason No. 1 team in the nation. They might even add Denzel Aberdeen back at the 2-guard spot if he gets his eligibility waiver.

Illinois Locked Down What Mattered Most

Illinois checked the retention box by keeping five key rotation players from last year's Final Four team. That's the blueprint other programs should be copying right now. Kansas and Kentucky look like major losers at this point in the cycle, though there's still time to flip the script with No. 1 recruit Tyran Stokes' decision still pending. Louisville grabbed some serious talent in Kansas big man Flory Bidunga, Oregon point guard Jackson Shelstad, Iowa stretch 4 Alvaro Folgueiras, and Arkansas wing Karter Knox, but they're still hunting for that missing piece or two.

The portal shuffle is far from over. Some rosters still aren't set. But right now? Florida is looking scarier than ever, and Illinois proved you don't need a portal haul if you keep your own guys happy.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.