Minnesotans moving on in the NCAA transfer portal

Playing Division 1 college basketball is a pretty nice gig - from free tuition, lodging and food to spending money in your pocket and a closet full of free gear. Heck, high major athletes even travel to road games on chartered planes and stay in really nice hotels. But for many players, the grass always seems greener somewhere else. This spring nearly 1,500 women have made the decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal. It's a shocking number. Among them are about two dozen Minnesotans.

The opportunity to enter the portal closes Wednesday night. So far, more than 500 players have found a new home. Another 500 or so can expect to settle on a different school in due course. For the rest, the decision to leave their scholarship and benefits behind will likely turn out to be a major disappointment. Many will have unintentionally ended their college careers early. Others will drop down to a level or two and pay their own expenses. Unfortunately, the portal is equal parts joy and sorrow and a lot of athletes are getting really bad advice.

Among the portal players who competed in Minnesota high school basketball, about half have already landed in a new program and a few more are in pretty good shape to do the same. Here's a look at where the D1 athletes from here sit at the moment as far as we've seen posted online. Keep in mind that we're only looking at Division 1 here as a number of D2 and junior college athletes are following a similar path.

THE BIGGEST FISH

Gianna Kneepkens – The 2021 graduate of Duluth Marshall (pictured above with her mom Betsy) concluded her storied high school career with a record 67-point game at the State Tournament. She went on to have an outstanding run at the University of Utah, including an impressive comeback from a major injury. Kneepkens is one of the best players in the country and a potential WNBA draft pick in 2026. There's no doubt she'll be in Utah's athletic hall of fame at some point. Kneepkens has elected to play her graduate season elsewhere and is apparently seeking a legitimate opportunity to win a national championship. The amount of NIL money available to a player of her stature this year is staggering.

HIGH MAJOR WINNERS

Nora Francois – The 2021 graduate, who played the most of her career at DeLaSalle, started out at North Iowa Area Community College where she dominated. That earned her a spot at the University of New Orleans. This year she averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game. She has landed at the University of Arizona.

Meme Wheeler – The 2021 power forward won a state championship at Robbinsdale Cooper and went on to Norfolk State where she established herself as a dominant mid-major competitor. She elected to move on for her 5th season and has been signed to high major West Virginia. Meme is a prize catch for the Mountaineers.

Lilly Meister – The graduate of Rochester John Marshall was a top 10 prospect in the Class of 2022, a lengthy forward with all of the tools to be successful in the Big 10. After two nice seasons at Indiana, Meister will now try her luck in the Big 12 at the University of Kansas.

MID-MAJOR MOVES

Nneka Obiazor – The 2020 graduate of Eden Prairie was a top 10 prospect coming out of high school. She started her career at Youngstown State, found success at Nevada-Las Vegas, did the same at Grand Canyon University and is now returning to Youngstown.

Alayna Contreras – After missing her senior year with a torn ACL, the 2022 graduate of Hopkins started her college career at Cochise JUCO in Arizona. She then went to UM-Kansas City and was a dominant performer in the Summit League. She now moves to Middle Tennessee State.

Finley Ohnstad – The graduate of Lakeville South was a top 10 prospect in the Class of 2024. She signed at high-major Kansas State. After red-shirting for the Wildcats, Ohnstad entered the portal and has signed with the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

Ava Miller – The 6'2 forward from Rochester Mayo was a top 35 prospect in Minnesota's Class of 2024. She played this season at D1 South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg where she started in 18 of 30 games for the Spartans. She has also transferred to North Dakota.

Jocelyn Land – After a decorated career at Holy Family in Victoria, the #12-rated prospect in the Class of 2024 played this season in the famed Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler University in Indianapolis. She had a solid season but has now transferred to the University of Montana.

Clara Glad – The Rogers graduate was the 10th-ranked prospect in the Prep Girls Hoops Class of 2023. She went to California for college and appeared in 32 games this season for UC-Davis. Clara has transferred to Eastern Illinois to play for former coach Marqus McGlothan

Savannah McGowan – The big power forward from Robbinsdale Armstrong was a top 10 prospect in the Class of 2023. The 6'2 post has spent the past two seasons at Illinois State where she averaged just under 10 minutes per game. She returns home to the University of St. Thomas.

Jada Hood – The 2020 graduate of Roseville also returns home to St. Thomas. The hard-nosed guard started her college career at Kilgore JUCO in Texas before moving to D1 Texas A&M-Commerce. This year she led D2 Christian Brothers University in Memphis with 15 ppg.

BEST AVAILABLE

Ronnie Porter – The diminutive point guard from St. Paul Como Park walked on at Wisconsin in 2022 after a top-20 high school career. She defied the odds to become a Big 10 standout.

Shania Van Nett – The 2023 graduate of Como Park suffered two ACL injuries in high school. She rebuilt her game at North Dakota Science before a standout season at D1 IU-Indy.

Amber Scalia – The 2022 graduate of Stillwater was a top-20 prospect who's had a solid career at St. Thomas but is now looking for a fresh start somewhere else.

MORE FAMILIAR NAMES

Ivory Finley – The 2021 graduate of Rosemount started out at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and played most recently at Utah State.

Desiree Ware – The 2022 top-10 prospect from Minnetonka has played three seasons at the University of Alabama-Birmingham.

Savannah White – The 2022 graduate from DeLaSalle was a top-15 prospect coming out of high school. After a short stay at Wisconsin she is part of a mass exodus from Indiana State.

Grace Massaquoi – The 2022 Holy Angels graduate has played at North Dakota Science, North Dakota State and Austin Peay in Tennessee.

Jenny Ntambwe – The 2022 graduate of Coon Rapids began her college career in JUCO in Missouri before playing at D1 Northwestern Louisiana. She was injured this season at Austin Peay.

Lily Niebuhr – The big post graduated from Chaska in 2022. She, too, is among the throng of players from Indiana State who have entered the transfer portal

Maya Mitchell – The 2022 forward from Shakopee had an outstanding two-year career at Rock Valley College in Illinois. This year she was at D1 Oakland University in Michigan.

Emily Christiansen – The top-25 prospect from East Ridge was a late signing at Drake University in 2023 but has seen limited playing time at the Division 1 level.

Ava Cossette – The top-20 prospect from the Class of 2024 out of Maple Grove suffered a torn ACL in high school, This year at South Dakota she missed the entire season with another knee injury.

Zoey Washington – The 2023 graduate of St. Croix Lutheran had a decorated high school career and was a top-20 prospect. She has dealt with injuries and played limited minutes at St. Thomas.

Kelly Boyle – The three-point bomber was a top-50 prospect coming out of Hopkins High School in 2023. She averaged 10 minutes per game this season at North Carolina-Greensboro.

MOVING DOWN

Taryn Hamling – The 2023 Grand Rapids graduated redshirted this season at D1 North Dakota State. She has now signed with D2 Minot State of the Northern Sun Conference.

Amy Thompson – The sharpshooter from Stillwater was a top-20 prospect in the Class of 2022. She drops down from D1 South Florida to D2 power Tampa.

Karly Jusczak – The 2024 Pine City graduate redshirted at the University of South Dakota this year. She moves closer to home at D2 Minnesota-Duluth.

To see the complete list of players in the transfer portal visit the On3 transfer portal tracker courtesy of standout womens college basketball reporter Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB on Twitter) of @On3Sports.