{"id":709238,"date":"2026-04-12T21:49:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709238\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T21:49:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T21:49:39","slug":"who-is-coming-going-in-transfer-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/709238\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is coming, going in transfer portal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One day after the NCAA Division I men\u2019s basketball championship, the college basketball transfer portal opened.<\/p>\n<p>The Tribune is tracking the major roster additions, subtractions and announcements of local teams.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">Want the latest news? <a href=\"https:\/\/mktops.chicagotribune.com\/subscriptions\/land-flash-sale-g-ct\/?market=ct&amp;source=manage&amp;g2i_source=MC&amp;g2i_medium=manage_member_center&amp;g2i_campaign=FG24\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subscribe to the Chicago Tribune<\/a> to read it all \u2014 and sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/signups.medianewsgroup.com\/chicago_tribune_sports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">free sports newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday: Providence guard Stefan Vaaks committed to Illinois, he posted on Instagram.<\/p>\n<p>What it means: Vaaks, a 6-foot-7 freshman from Estonia, was named to the Big East all-freshman team in his first season.<\/p>\n<p>He averaged 15.8 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Before coming to the United States, he played a season with BC Kalev\/Carmo in the Latvia-Estonia Basketball League. ESPN ranked him as the ninth-best player in the portal.<\/p>\n<p>He joins an Illinois team in need of a boost at guard with the departures of Keaton Wagler, who has declared for the NBA draft, and Kylan Boswell, who is out of eligibility.<\/p>\n<p>Vaaks is the latest in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/11\/02\/illinois-basketball-balkan-players\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">long line of international players<\/a> to join the Illini, including Croatian twin centers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivi\u0161i\u0107 and Montenegrin forward David Mirkovi\u0107. Those players had not yet announced their plans for next season as of Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday: Illinois freshman guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXAoxYuDRk8\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=f703c3ee-5567-4cb8-8c56-cfd797d5a29e\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Keaton Wagler declared for the NBA draft<\/a><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (23) works against UConn guard Silas Demary Jr. in the first half during the Final Four on April 4, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"1620\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776030576_40_CTC-L-Illinois-Final-Four-022_261298168-e1775967055666.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"34654971\" \/>Illinois guard Keaton Wagler (23) works against UConn guard Silas Demary Jr. in the first half during the Final Four on April 4, 2026, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (Armando L. Sanchez\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>What it means: Wagler was expected to move on to the NBA after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/04\/01\/illinois-keaton-wagler-david-mirkovic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the best freshman season ever<\/a> by an Illini.<\/p>\n<p>After<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/02\/07\/keaton-wagler-illinois-basketball\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> joining Illinois as the No. 261 recruit,<\/a> Wagler became a consensus All-American and the Jerry West shooting guard of the year in one season in Champaign. He set multiple Illinois freshman records, including scoring average with 17.9 points per game and 3-pointers with 87. He also averaged 4.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds while leading Illinois to its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/04\/06\/illinois-roster-retention-reload-efforts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">first Final Four appearance since 2005<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Wagler made the announcement on Instagram, thanking Brad Underwood and the Illinois staff \u201cfor believing in me when others did not.\u201d Wagler had two high-major offers out of high school, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/46886245\/2026-nba-draft-big-board-rankings-top-100-prospects-players\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> ESPN now rates him<\/a> as the fifth-best prospect in the NBA draft.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Illinois now has a big hole to fill with the departure of its leading scorer, along with backcourt mate Kylan Boswell, who is out of eligibility.<\/p>\n<p>Two other Illini players also are reportedly leaving. Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrovi\u0107 and Croatian forward Toni Bili\u0107 are entering the portal, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DraftExpress\/status\/2043018076707254613?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">DraftExpress<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mrwagner25\/status\/2043068546641490345?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">247Sports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Petrovi\u0107 played in just 18 games, averaging 1.7 points per game. Bili\u0107 came to the Illini in December and practiced with the team but did not play.<\/p>\n<p>Northwestern\u2019s Angelo Ciaravino, Jake West and Phoenix Gill announced their returns<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Northwestern guard Angelo Ciaravino grabs a rebound in the first half during the Big Ten Tournament Thursday, March, 12, 2026, at the United Center. (Josh Boland\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"5000\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776030577_850_CTC-BIG-TEN-MEN-TOURNEY014_55139f.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"33712442\" \/>Northwestern guard Angelo Ciaravino grabs a rebound against Purdue during the Big Ten Tournament on March, 12, 2026, at the United Center. (Josh Boland\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>What it means: Northwestern is on track for a roster reboot, but it will return guards Ciaravino and West, who had 35 starts between them in 2025-26. Ciaravino averaged 6.3 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, and West averaged 5.3 points and 2.4 assists in his first season.<\/p>\n<p>Gill, the son of former Illinois star Kendall Gill, played in 11 games as a freshman.<\/p>\n<p>Those announcements came after multiple reports of Wildcats players entering the portal following a 15-19 and 5-15 season.<\/p>\n<p>Northwestern will lose second-team all-Big Ten forward Nick Martinelli to graduation, but it also could lose its next three scorers.<\/p>\n<p>According to multiple reports, including from On3.com, forward Arrinten Page, forward Tre Singleton and guard Jayden Reid were among eight Wildcats players to enter the portal.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday: Notre Dame guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/04\/09\/hannah-hidalgo-notre-dame-returning\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hannah Hidalgo will return<\/a> for her senior year<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo celebrates late in the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Vanderbilt, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)\" width=\"1511\" height=\"269\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776030578_48_APTOPIX_NCAA_Notre_Dame_Vanderbilt_Basketball__7284_fdd849-1.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"34367753\" \/>Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo celebrates late in the second half against Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 on March 27, 2026, in Fort Worth, Texas. (LM Otero\/AP)<\/p>\n<p>What it means: Hidalgo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DW7SQbdE2Z6\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;ig_rid=ad47c395-c3b4-4a45-91a7-655fdd5baf6b\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">announced on social media<\/a> that she was returning to Notre Dame for her senior season after leading the Irish to the Elite Eight in 2026. As a junior, Hidalgo was named the Naismith and WBCA national defensive player of the year and a first team All-American by multiple outlets.<\/p>\n<p>She already holds the NCAA record for single-season and single-game steals and the Notre Dame single-season scoring record. She also ranks second in career scoring in program history.<\/p>\n<p>Hidalgo averaged 25.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 5.2 assists last season.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One day after the NCAA Division I men\u2019s basketball championship, the college basketball transfer portal opened. The Tribune&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,217,8042,16526,42824,231,772,1544,8497,4117],"class_list":{"0":"post-709238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-college-basketball","10":"tag-college-basketball-transfer-portal","11":"tag-illinois-basketball","12":"tag-keaton-wagler","13":"tag-ncaa","14":"tag-ncaa-basketball","15":"tag-ncaab","16":"tag-northwestern-basketball","17":"tag-notre-dame-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116393948000494112","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}