Just minutes after the national championship game, the transfer portal will open. That’s how fast the line between the 2025-26 season will be erased and the construction of rosters for 2026-27 season begins.
Florida State will again be active in the transfer portal ahead of year 2 under coach Luke Loucks. The Seminoles will likely retain just a small group of players — Thomas Bassong, AJ Swinton and Jalen Crawford — for next season. Loucks and the staff also were able to quickly build connections on the recruiting trail as they signed Jasen Lopez, Marcis Ponder, Brandon Bass and Collin Paul last November. A fifth prospect, Martay Barnes, reclassified and will sign on April 15.
Three Seminoles with eligibility remaining (Martin Somerville, Cam Miles and Alier Maluk) have announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Tuesday. Any of them could opt to return to FSU.
The FSU coaching staff has a budget to acquire talent, although Loucks has indicated it’s larger than last year. Loucks said in mid-March that he projects FSU will target 3-5 prospects, but that was also before the announcements by Somerville, Miles and Maluk.
Loucks and FSU’s assistants last year scoured portal entrants from mid-major schools and gave them more minutes in a power conference. Even in a small time frame, their development was on display. Three examples:
Robert McCray V saw his assist totals rise to 6.1 at FSU (up from 4.5 at Jacksonville as a junior). Chauncey Wiggins saw his scoring average increase by five points to 13.3 while averaging career-bests in shooting from the floor (47.9) and rebounding (3.9) after he was mostly a role player at Clemson. Lajae Jones averaged more points (12.7 vs. 10.8) despite playing about three and a half fewer minutes in 2025-26 compared to the prior year at St. Bonaventure.
The Seminoles started 0-5 but delivered 10 ACC regular-season wins. We’ll look at a few potential options, emphasis on potential, listing some players who have declared their intentions to jump in the portal on Tuesday.
Caleb Sanders: A three-star prospect from Riverview who played at North Tampa Christian Academy, Loucks and the staff offered Sanders on May 19, 2025 (per his 247Sports prospect timeline). Sanders picked up a USF offer a few days later and committed on May 23. Sanders averaged just 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 11 games for the Bulls. He’s not the biggest contributor on this list. But given the previous connection to the FSU staff, the Seminoles could take a second shot at the 6-6, 185-pound Sanders and could have multiple years to develop him, too.
Terrence Hill Jr.: The Atlantic 10 Conference’s Sixth Man of the year, Hill Jr. averaged 15 points, 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds in his second year at VCU. He’s 6-3, 180 pounds and is capable (although inconsistent) as a 3-point shooter (finishing at 37 percent). He started just two games at VCU but expect power conference teams to pursue him in April. While college basketball roster construction is in a year-to-year mode, Hill Jr. has multiple years of eligibility.
Baye Ndongo: The 6-9, 214-pound forward played three years at Georgia Tech. He is athletic, scores at a high rate (12.4 points) and pulls down rebounds well (8.2 per game). Expect the market to be very competitive, although it would be fun to have Ndongo (given three years of ACC experience) on the roster. FSU’s coaches felt Wiggins brought value and had familiarity with the ACC, so a player like Ndongo makes sense. And the possibilities of having Ponder learn from a big man like Ndongo is intriguing.
Karter Knox: The son of FSU wide receiver Kevin Knox Sr., Karter averaged 8.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in his second year at Arkansas. He’s a Tampa native, and could be intrigued by a return to his home state. And Loucks has shown his desire to recruit the Sunshine State.
Jamier Jones: The 6-6, 218-pound Jones averaged 11.9 points and 4.5 rebounds as a freshman at Providence. Scoring in double figures in 21 games, the Sarasota native has very good size but doesn’t stretch the floor (just 12 made 3-pointers).
Kamrin Oriol: The 6-3, 187-pound Oriol averaged 20.9 points and 4.3 assists at North Florida. He scored 19 points at Florida, 11 points at Tennessee and 29 points at Miami in 2025-26. The St. Petersburg native shot 40.2 percent from 3-point range last season.
Junior college transfer option
Leano Rolle: An athletic 6-7, 175-pound guard/forward from The Bahamas, Rolle averaged 14.5 points and pulled down 7.2 rebounds at Southwest Mississippi Community College. FSU visited with Rolle in February. Rolle told the Osceola on Monday that a visit is in the works to FSU and two more schools in April.
Unlikely but watch out for boomerang transfers
Taylor Bol Bowen: A bouncy 6-9 forward with a long wingspan, Bol Bowen spent a year at Alabama and averaged 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds. He played more minutes at FSU in 2024-25 (24.9 on average) than at Alabama (19.0) in 2025-26. Bol Bowen was able to land big money at Alabama, a system that is very similar to FSU’s. A reunion might be unlikely because of the price tag, but Bol Bowen is a player that Loucks wanted to retain until Alabama’s offer far exceeded what FSU could pay last spring.
De’Ante Green: After spending two years at FSU, Green went to USF and scored 6.4 points with 4.5 rebounds in 2024-25. He didn’t play last season as he recovered from an Achilles injury. Green is 6-10 and 210 pounds. Given his knee injury in high school and the college heel injury, it’s an unlikely match unless the Seminoles miss on other big men.
