[KartyFan]

I think it's worth mentioning that Stanford football and men's basketball have significantly expanded use of the transfer portal in the last two years. Below are the numbers per On3:

Football:

2022: 1 in, 9 out (-8)
2023: 5 in, 21 out (-16)
2024: 4 in, 13 out (-9)
2025: 18 in, 27 out (-9)
2026: 6 in, 10 out (-4) - fewer inbound transfers but much better retention


Men's Basketball:

2022: 0 in, 4 out (-4)
2023: 1 in, 5 out (-4)
2024: 4 in, 4 out (0)
2025: 1 in, 2 out (-1)


We still lost more than we gained in all but one of the above years. However, in my opinion the portal is open enough to allow a program to build momentum and be successful. Maybe not national championship contenders, but certainly meaningful postseason participants.

The challenge is that all that momentum can go away in one fell swoop with a coaching change or scandal, as we are witnessing with WBB. You can see the same above in football in 2023 and 2025 after coaching changes (we did a little better making up for losses in 2025). Because we are unlikely to ever bring in a whole new team of high quality players through the portal, whoever is left picking up the pieces will have a long road to recovery.

[KartyFan]

I think it's worth mentioning that Stanford football and men's basketball have significantly expanded use of the transfer portal in the last two years. Below are the numbers per On3:

Football:

2022: 1 in, 9 out (-8)
2023: 5 in, 21 out (-16)
2024: 4 in, 13 out (-9)
2025: 18 in, 27 out (-9)
2026: 6 in, 10 out (-4) - fewer inbound transfers but much better retention


Men's Basketball:

2022: 0 in, 4 out (-4)
2023: 1 in, 5 out (-4)
2024: 4 in, 4 out (0)
2025: 1 in, 2 out (-1)


We still lost more than we gained in all but one of the above years. However, in my opinion the portal is open enough to allow a program to build momentum and be successful. Maybe not national championship contenders, but certainly meaningful postseason participants.

The challenge is that all that momentum can go away in one fell swoop with a coaching change or scandal, as we are witnessing with WBB. You can see the same above in football in 2023 and 2025 after coaching changes (we did a little better making up for losses in 2025). Because we are unlikely to ever bring in a whole new team of high quality players through the portal, whoever is left picking up the pieces will have a long road to recovery.