NCAA Basketball Transfer Portal Overview
The NCAA basketball transfer portal opened on Tuesday, April 7, and closed on April 21. Any player not entered by 11:59 p.m. on April 21 is no longer eligible to transfer. During the initial period, it was a dead period with no visits permitted until April 10. From April 10 to 30, in-person and off-campus evaluations were allowed. From May 1 to June 30, in-person, on-campus visits were permitted during the “quiet period.”
An evaluation period took place from May 8 to 10 at the NBA G-League Combine and continued until May 17 for NCAA-certified events. Last season, UC signed Kerr Kriisa and Sencire Harris in early April, but did not come up with an agreement for Baba Miller until mid-May.
New Players Committing to Cincinnati Bearcats
Tylen Riley
Tylen Riley, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard from Tulsa, committed on April 22 after taking visits to UC and Oklahoma. “Tylen is the ultimate competitor and just an unbelievable story from the time he enrolled in college a few years back to where he is now,” UC coach Jerrod Calhoun said. “He has shown significant growth and can do a lot of things on both sides of the ball. Tylen will light up a room and is a consummate winner.”
Riley averaged 15.0 points and 4.4 assists per contest, starting all 38 games this past season at Tulsa on his way to second-team All-American Conference honors and American Conference All-Newcomer Team laurels. He scored in double figures 31 times, leading the Golden Hurricane on 12 occasions, and posted eight games with 20-plus points. He led the American and ranked 11th nationally with 203 made free throws and ranked second in the conference in free-throw percentage at 87.1%.
Elijah Perryman
Elijah Perryman, a 6-foot-2 guard, averaged 4.4 points and 3.1 assists for Calhoun and the Aggies. He shot 44% from the field, 30% from the arc and 80% from the line with a high of 16 points vs. Fresno State. Perryman signed on April 20, giving UC three of new coach Jerrod Calhoun’s former Utah State players on the 2026-27 roster.
Trevian Carson
Trevian Carson, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound forward, will be a senior after averaging 11.9 points, 6.9 rebounds per game and 2.9 assists for the North Dakota State Bison. Carson commited April 20. He shot 48% from the field, 37.5% on 3-point shots and 80.3% from the free-throw line. Carson’s season-high was a 29-point game against Drake, where he was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers. He also had a 19-point, 12-rebound effort against Northern Arizona.
Adlan Elamin
Adlan Elamin, a 6-foot-9, 185-pound forward, will be a sophomore and entered the portal April 7. Elamin committed to the Bearcats April 16. He averaged 6.7 points and 3.1 rebounds. Elamin had three 15-point games for Jerrod Calhoun and the Aggies and an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double against New Mexico Feb. 4. He joins David Iweze from Utah State in joining the Bearcats, with guard Elijah Perryman expected to join them.
Eric Mahaffey
Eric Mahaffey will be a redshirt sophomore and committed late on April 15. He’s the son of former Miami University player Jamie Mahaffey and brother of Evan Mahaffey, who also played at Akron with stops at Penn State and Ohio State. Mahaffey is a 6-foot-6 wing who averaged 7.8 points and 5.6 rebounds for the Zips. Both Eric and brother Evan Mahaffey played at Moeller High School.
Other Notable Transfers
Riley Allenspach
Riley Allenspach will be a senior. The 6-foot-11, 247-pound center averaged 13.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for George Mason last season after previously playing two seasons at Samford. He shot 56.6% from the field, 31.3% on 3-pointers, and 68% from the free throw line. His best game was 26 points and eight rebounds against Old Dominion. Allenspach committed April 13.
Tyler Tejada
Tyler Tejada will be a senior. The former Towson Tiger is 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds and averaged 17.7 points and 5.5 rebounds at Towson. He shot 43.2% from the field, 29.1% on 3-pointers and 88.2% from the foul line. His season high was 35 points against Hampton. In 2025, he was the Coastal Athletic Association Player of the Year. Tejada visited April 12 and committed on April 13.
Myles Colvin
On Friday, April 10, the first day visits were permitted, UC secured the services of the 6-foot-5 guard Colvin, who last played at Wake Forest.
Colvin will be a senior. At Wake Forest, he averaged 11.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, shooting 40.3% from the field, 36% on 3-pointers and 87% from the foul line. He had a 33-point game against Queens University and a 32-point game vs. Syracuse. Colvin played two seasons at Purdue before becoming a Demon Deacon. His father, Roosevelt, played football at Purdue University and went on to win two Super Bowls for the New England Patriots in the NFL.
David Iweze
David Iweze, a 6-foot-10 freshman who redshirted for coach Jerrod Calhoun at Utah State, committed to the Bearcats on day one of the portal, April 7. Iweze is from Roanoke, Texas, and weighs 240 pounds. He averaged 11 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks for iSchool Entrepreneurial Academy. He was ranked the 18th-best prospect in Texas by 247Sports.
Additional Players Contacted by Cincinnati Bearcats
- Juan Cranford Jr. – Will be a junior. The 6-foot-4 Cranford is from Dayton and played at Eastern Kentucky University, where he averaged 12.1 points. He shot 40.7% from the field, 36.3% from the arc and 79.6% from the line. His high game was 23 points against Stetson when he scored 23 points, going 4-for-7 on 3-point shots.
- Amarion Dickerson – Will be a graduate student. The 6-foot-7 guard played in eight games for the University of Southern California before being injured. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.4 rebounds for the Trojans. Playing for Robert Morris the year before he hit for 13.3 points and 5.9 rebounds. He had 25 points and nine rebounds in last year’s NCAA Tournament vs. Alabama.
- Jalen Shelley – Will be a junior. The 6-foot-8, 210-pound forward started in 25 games for Loyola Marymount and averaged 13.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He shot 45.&% from the field, 28.7% from the arc and 70.4% from the line. Shelley had a high game of 27 points against San Francisco and had an 18-point, 10-rebound performance in an earlier game with the Dons, one of four double-doubles on the season. He played his freshman season at USC.
- Jalen Cox – Will be a senior. Cox is a 6-foot-3 guard who averaged 17.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists at Colgate. Cox shots 52.1% from the field, 36.5% from the arc and 85% on free throws. He had five double-doubles during the season, including a 38-point, 11-rebound effort against Loyola-Maryland.
- EJ Walker – Walker, who played nearby in Erlanger at Lloyd High, will be a sophomore. In one year at South Carolina, the 6-foot-7 Walker averaged 2.9 points and 2.7 rebounds and shot 42.9% from the field. He had eight points in a loss to Texas and a six-rebound game vs. Florida.
- Joson Sonan – Sonan will be a junior and averaged 7.9 points and 2.4 rebounds per game for St. John’s. He shot 34% from the field and from 3-point ramge as well as 77% from the free throw line. He had a 16-point game vs. Auburn and 15 points and nine rebounds vs. DePaul. Sonan is 6-foot-5 and 200 pounds and averaged 11.9 points per game at Arizona State as a freshman.
- Taj DeGourville – DeGourville will be a junior and played at San Diego State last season. The 6-foot-5 guard averaged 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game along with three assists per contest for the Aztecs. He shot 37.1% from the field, 34.5% on 3-pointers and 65.3% on free throws. He had a 13-point game vs. UNLV and on Feb. 25 had 12 points and eight assists against Calhoun’s old Utah State team.
- Jeremiah Johnson –The 6-foot-4 Johnson will be a junior. At Campbell University, he averaged 15.2 points per game, shooting 44.9% from the field, 37.3% from the 3-point line and 86.5% on free throws. He had a high game of 32 points with six treys vs William & Mary. He also played at Green Bay.
- Prophet Johnson –The 6-foot-3 guard would be a grad student. At Sacramento State, he averaged 18.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game along with 3.7 assists. He shot 46.8% from the field, 39.2% in 3-pointers and 74.2% on free throws. He had 35 points in a win over Weber State. He also played at Southern Utah and Fairfield.
- Gabe Dynes – Dynes will be a senior who is 7-foot-5 and 214 pounds. Jerrod Calhoun is familiar with him, having recruited him to Youngstown State out of Independence, Kentucky. Dynes averaged 2.9 points and 2.3 rebounds for the USC Trojans. Previously with the Penguins in his sophomore year, he averaged 6.8 points, 5.8 rebounds per game and 3.1 blocks.
- Jayden Hastings – The 6-foot-9, 240-pound forward will be a junior. Hastings averaged 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game for Boston College last season while shooting 61.1% from the field. His 47 blocks would be three shy of what Thiam had for the Bearcats in 2025-26. He had two double-doubles for the Eagles last season with three 12-point games and a 10-point, 13-rebound game in an overtime loss to Syracuse.
Current Bearcats in the Portal
- Shon Abaev – Abaev was the first of the current Bearcats to leave, with his departure announced by On3 Sports on Monday, April 6, the day before the transfer portal actually opened. Abaev committed to Florida State April 13.
- Keyshuan Tillery – Sam Kayser of League Ready reported Tillery’s departure on Tuesday morning, April 7. Tillery later confirmed with a “thank you Cincinnati” post on Instagram. On April 22, Tillery rejoined Wes Miller and Jizzle James with the Charlotte 49ers.
- Moustapha Thiam – UC’s starting pivot has pivoted elsewhere. Jon Chepkevich of Draft Express reported the news which was not a surprise based on rumored dollar figures. At 7-foot-2, Thiam was UC’s most productive 7-footer, averaging 12.8 points and 7.1 rebounds. He had a season-best 28 points with eight rebounds in the upset win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse and 24-point games vs. Oklahoma State and UCF. In UC’s second-round Big 12 tournament loss to UCF, he had 18 points and 16 rebounds.
- Sencire Harris – “Buck” Harris was an early transfer to UC a year ago from West Virginia. Known for his defense, he led the Bearcats with 36 steals. Harris averaged 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds and was a starter early in the season. His season high was 12 points against NJIT, Eastern Michigan, Iowa State and Kansas State.
- Bryson Buckingham – The 6-foot-2 freshman guard from Edmond, Oklahoma, didn’t play and will have four years of eligibility at his next stop.
- Jizzle James – James waited a day, but was in the portal April 8, which UC confirmed. On April 13, On3 Sports reported James would join former coach Wes Miller in Charlotte. James finished his third year playing for Miller, averaging 10.9 points and shooting a career-high and UC best 44% from the perimeter. His top game was a 24-point performance at Kansas State when he made 6-of-8 treys. He also had 18-point games vs. BYU and in the home loss to West Virginia. James averaged 12.7 points as a junior and committed to return last April before briefly being separated from the team for “personal issues” in August. He returned Dec. 17 vs. Alabama State, scoring 16 points off the bench. He eventually played 23 games, starting 21 this past season.
- Halvine Dzellat – The 6-foot-10 backup played in 26 games, averaging 2.1 points and two rebounds. He had a season-high 11 points against NJIT. Dzellat entered the portal April 15.
- Jalen Haynes – Like Tillery, Haynes showed up at the Jerrod Calhoun press conference, which looked like it left the door open, but Haynes entered the portal April 15. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound power forward would require a medical redshirt to be eligible as he spent the season injured in 2025-26. He committed to Dayton April 16, pending approved eligibility. He suffered a leg injury in October and eventually returned to practice, but didn’t play so he could preserve the opportunity to get a medical redshirt and another year. In his last season at George Mason, Haynes was Atlantic 10 First Team, averaging 14.1 points and 6.9 rebounds.
- Tyler McKinley – The 6-foot-9 forward who played locally at Walnut Hills and Winton Woods had three starts for UC and played in 25 games. He averaged 1.8 points and 2.2 rebounds, but struggled with lingering knee issues most of the season. McKinley hit the portal April 15 and joined Charlotte and Wes Miller April 22.
- Baba Miller – Miller entered the portal as a formality April 16. He would need the NCAA to approve a fifth year, which is something currently being considered. The following day he also declared for the NBA Draft.
- Kerr Kriisa – Another season would be his seventh, but it won’t come here. He averaged 5.8 points for UC, playing in 19 games with 12 starts, with a career-high 20 points against Tarleton State, where he made six 3-pointers.
- Jordi Rodriguez – A 6-foot-6 wing from Spain, Rodriguez played 15 games off the bench for the Bearcats, averaging 2.3 points. He made three treys vs. NJIT, finishing with a season-high 10 points. He entered the portal April 17 and on April 22 also joined Wes Miller and several teammates in Charlotte.
