WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
UNM鈥檚 Joaquim enters portal amid national surge
Lobo forward Jessie Joaquim joins more than 1,100 Division I women鈥檚 basketball players exploring transfers
Opening day for the 2026 NCAA women's basketball transfer portal proved relatively quiet for the University of New Mexico as junior Jessie Joaquim was the lone player listed among various tracking websites.
Joaquim, a 6-foot-2 forward, averaged 4.0 points and a team-leading 6.9 rebounds in 30 games (14 starts) for the Lobos last season. Her name was among 15 Mountain West players entering the portal Monday as reported by . Several other tracker sites did not list any UNM players.
New Mexico last week hired Amy Eagan as its new head coach. Several players from Lindenwood, Eagan's previous program, have reportedly entered the transfer portal including All-Ohio Valley Conference first-team guards Ellie Brueggeman and Brooke Coffey.
In January, the NCAA approved moving the portal's opening to the day after the national championship game for a 15-day window.
More than 1,100 Division I women's basketball players entered the portal after it opened just after midnight, according to an Associated Press review of the portal.
Among them was Audi Crooks, the nation鈥檚 second-leading scorer and one of nine Iowa State players to enter the portal. Tennessee already has five of its players in the portal. Miami and Georgia each have eight players in the portal. Stanford has four players in the portal, including star Nunu Agara.
There were nearly 900 players combined from Division II and III in the portal already as well by Monday afternoon.
