According to On3's Talia Goodman, the women's NCAA transfer portal contains more than 1,500 names this spring. That includes a significant group of talent with New England ties.
We've been following the portal activity since the national championship concluded. By my count, 32 New England natives have entered their names into the portal. An additional 10 standouts (which I'm defining as a double-digit per-game scorer, for simplicity) from New England Division 1 colleges have also gone portaling.
Every player's decision-making process is different. But we can spot a few themes in the month of frenetic activity so far.
Here are my five key takeaways.
TRANSFER PORTAL TALK:Â 7 men's portal takeaways
1. Boston College, Holy Cross make splashes
BC is maneuvering through arguably the most pivotal offseason among New England's women's basketball teams. The Eagles hired Kate Popovec-Goss as their new head coach and have made a handful of signings in the portal, led by two significant additions native to the region.
Grace Oliver (Norwelll, Mass.) is a major get. The 6-foot-1 junior averaged 14.3 points and 6.1 rebounds at Wake Forest and was among the best local talents available. She's a potential cornerstone forward of BC's next era. The Eagles kept momentum up by signing Natalia Hall-Rosa (Randolph, Mass.), who came off the bench at Seton Hall as a freshman. I've previously mentioned BC's struggles to maintain a local presence in its program, and this is a notable step in that direction.
Holy Cross has long repped some local standouts, and the reigning Patriot League champs went back to the well in the portal. Colleen Phiri (Haverhill, Mass.) makes a lot of sense as the type of versatile scoring forward and high-motor rebounder the Crusaders have fielded recently. Emma Lizotte (Saco, Maine) also transferred in as a previous reserve center at Quinnipiac.
2. Carla Berube's Northwestern era highlights New England
Berube, a native of Oxford, Mass., swooped in for the Northwestern head coaching job after spending six seasons at Princeton and compiling a pristine, 147-29 record (.835 win percentage). She's immediately put her stamp on the roster with transfer additions highlighted by two prominent New England natives.
Jasmyn Cooper (North Easton, Mass.) and Camdyn Nelson (Greenwich, Conn.) transferred in tandem from Syracuse. Cooper averaged 10.8 minutes per game and Nelson averaged 9.2, but they were two of the elite recruits in the 2025 high school class, with Cooper earning a No. 60 ranking from ESPN. They'll join a Wildcats roster that has Claire Keswick (Wrentham, Mass.) and incoming recruit Brooke Golden (Chester, N.H.). Northwestern will have some of the highest concentration of New England ties in Division 1 next year.
3. 2025 high school stars change course
Seven New England players in the 2025 high school class committed to high-major programs (Power Four plus the Big East). Five of them have transferred after one year. Cooper, Hall-Rosa and Camdyn Nelson were mentioned above, but there's more to unpack.
Kaelyn Carroll (Dedham, Mass.), the top-ranked 2025 prospect from New England, is moving from Kentucky to George Washington. The 6-foot-3 wing averaged 3.4 points in 11.8 minutes per game, logging 18-point and 15-point outings but struggling to break into the rotation consistently on a national top-25 team. Carroll is a significant addition for a Washington program that's quietly on the rise, with its 22-11 season representing the most wins from the program since 2016-17.
Ava Black (Auburn, N.H.), who teamed up with Carroll at Tabor, is transferring from Vanderbilt to Penn State. Black similarly was a reserve on a Vanderbilt squad that made the NCAA Sweet Sixteen, averaging 2.8 points per game highlighted by 12 points in the Round of 64 against High Point.
We should also mention Christina Pham (South Boston, Mass.) — though not technically at a high-major, she's transferring to Penn after averaging 5.1 points on another NCAA Tournament team in Fairfield. We didn't rank New England's 2025 class, but off the cuff, those are six arguable top-10 prospects from the region who are transferring after their freshman seasons. The reasons are different for each player, but it's notable how quickly many have moved on.
4. More big decisions from big names
New England's top tier of talent helped lead multiple high-major schools to the NCAA Tournament. Though Oluchi Okananwa (Peabody, Mass.), the top returning star in the region, is staying put at Maryland, two Virginia Tech standouts have changed programs.
Carys Baker (West Hartford, Conn.), the daughter of longtime NBA player and Bucks assistant coach Vin Baker, ranked second on the Hokies in scoring (14.1) and rebounding (6.9) last season. The 6-2 forward is now at national powerhouse Louisville, which just notched its 13th Sweet Sixteen run under coach Jeff Walz.
Baker's running mate, Mackenzie Nelson (Greenwich, Conn.) heads to a different ACC rival in Clemson. The older sister of Camdyn Nelson, Mackenzie averaged 8.0 points and dished out 5.7 assists as a sophomore point guard. She joins a Tigers program that reached the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 2019 and second time since 2002.
5. New England college stars leveling up
We often see the mid-major college stars of this region use the portal as a launching pad to the high-major level. This year, an additional 10 players from outside New England averaged at least 10 points at a New England school before entering the transfer portal.
Former BC guard Lily Carmody, who averaged 12.8 points in her lone season with the program, is joining the reinvented core at Northwestern. Boston University center Anete Adler, who tossed in 15.4 points per game, is on a high-major track to Colorado. Keira Hanson (from Vermont, to DePaul), Vanessa Harris (from Rhode Island, to Florida) and Ella Ryan (from Quinnipiac, to Arizona State) are each transferring to a high-major school.
And though the Mountain West isn't a high-major conference, Eva DeChent deserves a shoutout too. She led UNH and finished second in America East at 18.1 points per game and now joins a San Diego State squad that made the NCAA Tournament two years ago.
