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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) – The Illinois women’s basketball team is celebrating a significant achievement in player retention, with all indications pointing to a successful offseason.
As of Monday, April 20, the NCAA women’s basketball transfer portal has officially closed. Barring any unexpected developments, Illinois is on track to retain each of its core players from the 2025-26 season.
During the previous season, eight Illini players logged 12 or more minutes per game, contributing to the team’s advancement to the NCAA Tournament and winning a game for the second year in a row. Notably, none of these players graduated, and there have been no reports of any entering the transfer portal as of Tuesday night.
The lineup set to return for the 2026-27 season includes the following players:
Note: The following list reflects the class each player will be in for the 2026-27 season.
- Berry Wallace, 18.4 points per game, junior
- Cearah Parchment, 13.6 points per game, sophomore
- Gretchen Dolan, 12.9 points per game, redshirt junior
- Maddie Webber, 10.8 points per game, senior
- Destiny Jackson, 9.9 points per game, sophomore
- Jasmine Brown-Hagger, 6.7 points per game, senior
- Aaliyah Guyton, 6.3 points per game, junior
- Lety Vasconcelos, 3.5 points per game, redshirt junior
Plus, Illinois is set to bring in LSU transfer Divine Bourrage.
Illini head women’s basketball coach Shauna Green has made retention the norm among her program in Champaign. Among Illinois’ 2025 graduating class, which was instrumental in turning around the program, were five players who spent three or more years with Illinois.
The Illini are losing three players to the transfer portal from its 2025-26 roster. Erica Finney, Naomi Benson and Hayven Smith are all moving on. None of those three players played more than four minutes per game on the year.
Click here for information on Illinois men’s basketball’s roster outlook for the 2026-27 season.