An Updated Look at Gators Women's Basketball Roster After Recent Portal Moves

By Cam Parker Sports Illustrated

Updated April 19, 2026 10:42 AM

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Tammi Reiss took the Florida Gators women's basketball head coaching job knowing she would have an opportunity to build the program from the ground up. As a result, she will have an almost entirely new roster for her first season.

Of Florida's 12-player 2025-26 roster, one has exhausted her eligibility, 10 have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal and only one remains on the roster. Meanwhile, Reiss has already added three new players to the roster from the portal will need to add more.

As a result, Florida Gators on SI is taking an updated look at the roster for Year One of the Reiss Era.

Departures (11)

Transfers (10)

G Emilija Dakic (So.)
G Sarah Deng (Sr.)
C Gift Ezekiel (Sr.) - Iowa State
G Knisha Godfrey (Gr.) - Ole Miss
G Liv McGill (Jr.) - Oklahoma State
G Daviane Mindoudi Ongbakahoumb (Jr.)
F Me'Arah O'Neal (Jr.)
C Caterina Piatti (So.)
G Laila Reynolds (Sr.) - LSU
F Nyadieng Yiech (Fr.) - Grand Canyon

Florida's 10 portal departures are the most in the SEC with headlining players Liv McGill, Layla Reynolds and Me'Arah O'Neal all transferring from the program. McGill, a former five-star, leaves after two seasons in which she averaged a combined 19.2 points per game and will head to Oklahoma State, while Reynolds, who averaged at least 10 points in each of the last two seasons, will head to LSU.

O'Neal, one of the top recruits in the 2024 class and daughter of NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, became Florida's 10th portal departure on April 14 and confirmed her decision on Saturday.

"After a lot of thought and intentionality with my next steps, I've made the tough decision to enter the transfer portal," she said in her announcement. "With faith and high expectations, I'm ready to power forward and embrace wherever God takes me next."

Graduations (1)

G Alexia Dizeko

Dizeko leaves after three seasons at Florida after transferring from South Georgia Technical College ahead of the 2023-24 season. Last season, she averaged 5.1 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.

Arrivals (3)

Transfers (3)

G Vanessa Harris (So.) - Rhode Island
F Mallory Miller (Jr.) - Butler
G Talia Parker (Jr.) - TCU

Reiss began her portal moves by signing Butler forward Mallory Miller on April 13. Miller, with two years of eligibility remaining. After averaging 9.6 points and 4.4 rebounds last season, Reiss pointed to Miller's versatility on offense that "fits our system perfectly" as a key reason for targeting her.

"(She) checks every intangible box for me -work ethic, coachability, competitiveness, and hunger to improve her game through player development," Reiss said. "Mallory has multiple years to develop her game with our staff and I cannot wait to watch her grow and help rebuild our program!"

Vanessa Harris, who played under Reiss last season at Rhode Island, joined the program on April 14. The A-10 Sixth Woman of the Year and member of the A-10 All-Rookie Team, she averaged 10.2 points off the bench. Reiss pointed to Harris' aggressiveness, size and strength and mid-range pull-up as benefits.

"To say I am excited that Vanessa and her family chose to join our Gator family is an understatement," explained Reiss. "I have loved coaching this young lady and watched her game grow before my eyes. She had such an immediate impact on our program at Rhode Island, and helped lead us to another A-10 regular season championship, a second NCAA Tournament berth and our first A-10 Tournament championship in program history."

Rounding out Florida's current transfer class is former TCU guard Taliyah Parker, who signed with the program on Sunday with two years of eligibility remaining. She averaged 1.4 points in 18 appearances off the bench after initially transferring from Texas A&M, where she averaged 5.4 points as a freshman.

"She is an incredible athlete on both sides of the ball, and possesses speed, size and length. She has an explosive first step and has the ability to really attack the rim," Reiss said. "Taliyah is a three-level scorer with the ability to face up and play with her back to the basket. She is fantastic in transition with her speed and explosiveness, and a very intelligent, hard-working, team oriented, competitive young woman."

Returning Players (1)

F Jade Weathersby (Sr).

Jade Weathersby is the lone player from last year's roster to announce a decision on her future, making her the sole returning player on the current roster. She averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds off the bench last season.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/florida as An Updated Look at Gators Women's Basketball Roster After Recent Portal Moves.

This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 10:31 AM.