A top SEC women’s basketball player is now without a team. Can she enter the transfer portal?

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Khamil Pierre is out at Vanderbilt. Despite the transfer portal being closed, loopholes may allow her to play next season.

Despite being left off the All-SEC Team by the league’s coaches this past season, Vanderbilt forward Khamil Pierre was one of the best players in perhaps the most talented conference in women’s college basketball during the 2024-25 campaign.

As a sophomore, the 6-foot-2 forward from Arizona was the only player in the nation last season to average at least 20 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals per game. Pierre’s consistency and versatility helped the Commodores make the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, marking the first time in more than a decade that the program made consecutive trips to March Madness.

Pierre ranked sixth nationally in field goals made per game (8.5), 14th in steals per game (2.9) and 12th in PER (35.8). The WBCA tabbed her as an honorable mention All-American and she was also invited to Team USA trials for the FIBA AmeriCup squad.

But now, suddenly in the middle of the summer, Pierre is ostensibly a free agent.

Vanderbilt released a statement on Monday evening from head coach Shea Ralph stating that Pierre is “no longer a member of the program.”

Ralph added: “Khamil is a great player and I have no doubt she will have success in the future. Ultimately, it was determined it would be best for Khamil and our program to go in different directions. We wish her the best of luck.”

The announcement from Vanderbilt was shocking to many around women’s college basketball and puts Pierre’s immediate future in limbo. Since the transfer portal closed on April 23, the event begs questions about if Pierre will be able to find a new school and play for them this upcoming season.

Multiple sources told SB Nation in March that they expected Pierre to enter the portal after Vanderbilt’s season ended in Durham, North Carolina, following an overtime loss to Oregon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But Pierre — who has two seasons of eligibility remaining — never entered the portal and even released a statement on her social media accounts in mid-April saying she had “peace and clarity,” and believed “in the vision coach Ralph” had for her. Back then, just a few months ago, it looked like Pierre was staying and would continue to form a formidable partnership with USBWA Freshman of the Year Mikayla Blakes for Vandy. Pierre and Blakes were the only teammates in Division I to each average north of 20 points per game last season.

But something changed between then and now. Sources SB Nation spoke with on Monday that are familiar with Pierre’s situation said there was a disagreement between her camp and the program regarding compensation. That Vanderbilt’s announcement came on June 30 — a day before the House Settlement goes into effect — may not be a coincidence.

The settlement paves the way for schools to share revenue with athletes directly and many programs are shrinking or dissolving their NIL collectives. After July 1, NIL deals worth more than $600 have to be approved by the NCAA’s clearinghouse, which is run by Deloitte. Front Office Sports recently reported that some “collectives have been ‘frontloading’ deals — paying players an entire year’s worth of NIL income — in advance of the clearinghouse launch so they wouldn’t be subject to the new scrutiny.”

The question now for Pierre is, can she find a new program and can she play this upcoming season? By NCAA rules, doing so would require waivers granting special permission. The transfer portal closed in April and players who transfer after that date are supposed to sit out a full season before being eligible to take the court again.

However, multiple sources — including player agents and coaches around the SEC — told SB Nation that there are loopholes Pierre could potentially exploit to play this upcoming season. One way is to simply transfer to a new school, like any typical student, without having any contact with the basketball staff there. Then, once Pierre is accepted to and enrolled in that new school, she could be added to the roster as a walk-on and — hypothetically — be compensated with funds from revenue sharing made possible by the House Settlement.

Sources also said that the NCAA may be more willing to give Pierre a waiver to transfer and immediately play if Vanderbilt removed her from the team. On the flipside, if it was Pierre’s decision to leave the program, the NCAA is less likely to be empathetic when considering a waiver. The statement from Ralph ambiguously frames which party made the decision, or if it was mutual. However, Vandy247 reported that Pierre was “dismissed” from the team.

If Pierre can find a way to play immediately, a list of potential suitors for her won’t be short.

“She’s valuable,” one agent said.

“I’d take her,” a longtime Power 4 assistant coach said.

Some Power 4 programs that struck out during the peak of transfer portal season still don’t have full rosters. One of them is N.C. State, who needs a player like Pierre that can play at power forward following the graduation of Madison Hayes. The Wolfpack attempted to land a handful of transfers at that position, including Kara Dunn (Georgia Tech to USC), Allie Kubek (Maryland to Florida State), Fatmata Janneh (Saint Peter’s to Texas A&M), Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda (Texas to Vanderbilt) and Kylee Kitts (Florida to Ohio State).

It’s also worth noting that BYU just hired Pierre’s high school coach, Andrew Curtis, as an assistant. A potential move to Provo would give Pierre another opportunity to team up with a talented young guard in Big 12 Freshman of the Year Delaney Gibb. Pierre’s AAU coach, Brian Porth, is now an assistant at Pepperdine.

Whatever happens next with Pierre will only add to an offseason that has been full of strange transfer stories.