By Hunter Murdaugh
The University of West Georgia baseball program has reshaped its roster after adding experienced transfer players to strengthen the team in Carrollton ahead of the 2026 season. This isn’t just happening for the Wolves though, as coaches across the country are increasingly relying on the transfer portal to add more experienced players from all levels who can contribute immediately.
The transfer portal has become a tool used by many collegiate athletic programs now, but the baseball world has been one of the most affected. Programs are no longer relying as much on recruiting high school athletes and developing them over several years. Instead, coaches are looking at experienced players from other schools to strengthen their teams immediately.
The transfer portal, created by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018, is an online database that allows college athletes to officially declare their intention to transfer to another school. Once a player decides to enter the portal, head coaches and recruiters from other programs can reach out to that athlete, much like how they would recruit a high school player.
In baseball, the system has opened the door for players looking to get more playing time, a fit with a better program, or the opportunity to compete at a different level. This past offseason “61 different Division 1 programs took at least 10 transfer commitments, with 12 of them adding 15 or more,” according to NCAA transfer portal data compiled by Baseball America. This is a huge jump from last year where only 36 programs reached double digits. If you go back one more year to 2023, that number drops to 20.
This national trend is reflected locally at West Georgia.
At UWG, 21 of the 2026 team’s 42 players were acquired by Head Coach Jeff Smith from the transfer portal just this past offseason. This adds to the players that joined the program from the portal in previous years, and the number of non-high school recruits now make up 79% (33) of the total roster.
Coaches agree that this new approach allows programs to adapt more quickly. Rather than waiting several years for a high school recruiting class to develop, teams can add players who already understand what is required of them at the college level, and what it takes to succeed.
That experience can make a huge difference during a long season.
At the same time, the mix of returning players and newly acquired ones can create a more dynamic team culture. Teammates can learn from one another’s background and playing styles, which often brings new strategies and perspectives to the field.
For players, it also means adjusting quickly. “Transfers had to learn the rules and ethics of the program quickly, or we were doomed,” said former collegiate baseball player Brody Parkerson on his experience with the transfer portal. “Most guys adapted, a few didn’t, and they were typically the ones left off the travel roster come spring,” he continued.
Parkerson began his collegiate baseball career in 2019 at Gordon State College in Barnesville, GA. After spending 3 years with the Highlanders and watching the transfer portal grow, he made the decision to transfer to NAIA powerhouse Georgia Gwinnett College, who were just a year removed from winning a national championship. Like many players who ultimately decide to transfer, Parkerson said there were many factors that played into his decision to do so. Some of those included scholarship amount, program culture, and even proximity to family.
As the college baseball landscape continues to change, programs like West Georgia are embracing the changes. The mix of experienced transfers, international talent, and high school prospects are becoming a key part of building and managing a roster for coaches across the sport.
For fans, the result is a faster, more competitive game filled with athletes from a variety of backgrounds.
And for growing programs like the West Georgia, it represents a new era of college baseball–one shaped not only by recruiting, but by opportunity.