2026 Transfer portal
- Thread starter SoonerTalk405
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Not a fan. Always injured and I think we can get more skilled.
In a lot of the national portal recruiting articles, we aren’t being mentioned as being in contention for anyone of note other than Brown and Crooks. Hope we are just flying under the radar. We have to land some talent.
SoonerTalk405
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Pretty sure Crooks is heading to Notre Dame.
Soonerguy06
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I really hope the staff isn't just pursuing a handful of players that EVERYONE ELSE is also pursuing, and actually reaching out to dozens of players. Denny said he wanted to make sure we don't let a good thing in having Chavez go to waste because we didn't add the right pieces to surround her in the portal, so I hope that means he's providing resources that we didn't have last offseason. You'd think that the centers would be more attracted to OU now that Beers has graduated and we've made back-to-back Sweet 16s, but idk.
This staff is only looking to add 2 players, maybe a third. I don’t think she takes this roster over 12 to 13 people. We need a starting center. After that it’s really in the nice to have category. Retention is obviously important to this staff and you don’t retain by acquiring transfers over your underclassmen. If you do then why recruit out of HS at all. Just buy a new roster every year like TCU. Personally, I don’t want a team built like that.
soonerstar
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Any news on where Vann might land?
Me either. One or two pickups and build your team. That will attract high school recruits in the future and they’ll be needed. The grabbing older girls will age out if coaches only recruit the very top high school kids.
Soonerguy06
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I get your point, and I agree - we need a starting center and another starting guard, or two to replace Verhulst/Vann, if you can't land top tier talent out of high school (consistent top 5 recruiting classes), you MUST pursue that type of talent out of the portal to build a complete team. Unless freshmen are former high school All-Americans you really can't depend on them to produce consistently especially in the SEC and if they do it's an added bonus. I honestly believe if we had a couple transfer players to go to on the bench this team could have done better this last season. We really didn't get much production from our bench. Maybe 10 points/game, 15 tops in SEC play. Instead, we relied on freshmen and a returning sophomore who didn't play her freshman season to try to navigate their first season asap and be productive for us and as a result our team didn't really improve from the season before, which I thought would be the case. Yes, it helps the next season when they have that experience, but the current season does suffer for it, IMO. I really don't expect the 3 freshmen to help much, at least not until the end of the season, and at that it'll most likely only be Bell that does. I hope i'm wrong and all 3 are surprisingly productive!
SoonerTy
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So as of Friday April 10th 2026, we have 2 returning starters : Aaliyah & Sahara
If we only take 2-3 portal players that lands us right back where we were last year, lacking quality depth.
Relying on so many Freshmen to make an impact in the SEC is definitely a choice, a choice that didn’t exactly help us when it got tougher and we want to go back to that again for next year? If there’s a chance to upgrade our bench do we not take it?
I’m just playing Devil’s Advocate here, We need 3 players just for a starting 5.
You can convince me that Caya or Keziah could step into a starting role, IF they can improve on their shooting. Hypothetically they do, so then we’ll still need a starting Forward and Center.
I like Brooklyn at the 4, she can cover the 5 at times but I wouldn’t wan’t her to start there, Bell looks promising to come off the bench but then again, Freshman. Which then brings us to the Addy Brown of the situation, she’s a 4, definitely not a 5. So that tells us, ideally, they want a Veteran to start at the 4 and not an underclassmen.
And then our most glaring need: Center. We have 0, They should ideally be looking to bring in 2, a Starter AND a backup.
I’m just not understanding not looking beyond adding only 2 transfers when we need at least a minimum of 3. If we only add 2 then we’ll have the same problem as last year and I assumed that’s not something we wanted..
And look at the National Champions, UCLA & Michigan, numerous transfers.
If we only take 2-3 portal players that lands us right back where we were last year, lacking quality depth.
Relying on so many Freshmen to make an impact in the SEC is definitely a choice, a choice that didn’t exactly help us when it got tougher and we want to go back to that again for next year? If there’s a chance to upgrade our bench do we not take it?
I’m just playing Devil’s Advocate here, We need 3 players just for a starting 5.
You can convince me that Caya or Keziah could step into a starting role, IF they can improve on their shooting. Hypothetically they do, so then we’ll still need a starting Forward and Center.
I like Brooklyn at the 4, she can cover the 5 at times but I wouldn’t wan’t her to start there, Bell looks promising to come off the bench but then again, Freshman. Which then brings us to the Addy Brown of the situation, she’s a 4, definitely not a 5. So that tells us, ideally, they want a Veteran to start at the 4 and not an underclassmen.
And then our most glaring need: Center. We have 0, They should ideally be looking to bring in 2, a Starter AND a backup.
I’m just not understanding not looking beyond adding only 2 transfers when we need at least a minimum of 3. If we only add 2 then we’ll have the same problem as last year and I assumed that’s not something we wanted..
And look at the National Champions, UCLA & Michigan, numerous transfers.
OU was foolish last year playing with 11 players. You have the scholarships, use them. If you have injuries then you are toast. You never know when that would happen. At the same time, OU wants to play at a rapid pace. You can't do that efficiently with a thin bench. It is a strategy that will never get you to the Final Four.
