The NCAA transfer portal is about to open again, and for Florida women’s basketball, it comes at a pivotal time.
Beginning April 6 and closing April 20, Division I women’s basketball players will have a window to officially enter the transfer portal, a system that allows college athletes to explore opportunities at other schools.
Entering the portal doesn’t mean a player is immediately leaving. Instead, it signals their intent to explore their options to play at a different school. During that time, other programs can contact them, and the player can ultimately decide whether to stay or transfer.
This year’s window is significantly shorter than in the past. When the NCAA first introduced transfer windows during the 2022-23 academic year, athletes had 60 days to make a decision. That timeline has been reduced multiple times and now lasts just 15 days, following a rule change approved March 25 by the NCAA Division I Cabinet.
The window now opens the day after the national championship games, shortening what was once a monthslong process into just over two weeks. The tighter timeline adds pressure across the sport, but especially for Florida, which is adjusting to a recent coaching change.
Former head coach Kelly Rae Finley was fired at the beginning of the month following her five-year tenure, leaving behind a roster of players she personally recruited and built close relationships with.
Finley’s tenure brought in high-level talent, including three McDonald’s All-Americans, over the past two years. Among them is sophomore guard Liv McGill, who led the team in scoring this season, and sophomore forward Me’Arah O’Neal. Her 2024 recruiting class was ranked in the top 10 nationally by ESPN.
But beyond talent, Finley built strong personal connections. In college athletics, those relationships often play a major role in a player’s decision to stay or leave.
The day after the introductory press conference welcoming new head coach Tammi Reiss, McGill, who led the team in scoring this season, posted a picture of herself and former head coach Finley on her Instagram story along with a message.
“Everyone says ‘it’s just business’ but what about the emotions that went into building the relationship?” she said. “You’ve always told me to trust my work, but I trusted you to not let me fail. Thank you.”
Her words highlight a key reality of the transfer portal. While it’s a system with rules and deadlines, the decisions behind it are deeply personal.
In the press conference, Reiss said her first priority is meeting with players and building relationships with the current roster following her hiring. Her approach comes at a crucial moment when players are having doubts in the program and the coach they initially committed to. And under current NCAA rules, athletes now have more freedom than ever to transfer.
Players can move between schools multiple times without sitting out a season, as long as they remain academically eligible. To be eligible to transfer, athletes need to enter the portal during the designated window by letting their school’s compliance office know. After that, they can choose a new school at any time.
As the April 6 window approaches, Florida faces uncertainty, but also opportunity. Some players may choose to stay and build with a new coaching staff. Others may explore different paths.
While the window could mean losing athletes, it also gives Reiss an immediate opportunity to recruit from the transfer portal and begin shaping the roster in her first weeks on the job.
With only 15 days to decide, the clock is ticking. And for the Gators, what happens during that short stretch could shape the program’s future.
Contact Isis Snow at isnow@alligator.org. Follow her on X @isis_snoww.
Isis is a senior sports journalism student who is in her fourth semester at The Alligator. She previously has written for the Avenue desk and has covered the Florida volleyball beat. She also has experience in live broadcast reporting with WUFT. Despite hailing from Las Vegas, Nevada, she is a life-long Michigan and Detroit Lions fan. To make up for the emotional toll of being a fan of those teams, you will often find her in the gym weight lifting and playing basketball.
