BREAKING: BYU’s Kailey Woolston has withdrawn her name from the transfer portal, sources told @On3sports.

Woolston averaged 13.3 ppg and shot 47% from deep in 2023-24.

Major news for BYU.

TRACKER: https://t.co/StsxDxjlYl pic.twitter.com/RS7gHSyx8V

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 4, 2025

Bummer. I was secretly hoping she might be the outside shooter we were looking for.

Just noticed Gracie Merkle, 6'6" C from Penn State, avg 15.5 ppg, soph.

I just watched some highlights and Merkle can make put backs and move down the floor. Reminds me of a bigger version of Vonleh. Hope we get one or two like her.

Honestly the coaches look to still add more shooters to the roster as they continue to follow some. So she will be competing with more players than that come summer.

They are still looking for elite three point shooters. She will mostly play the 3 for us behind bella and marcayla.

So far im not seeing us have any connections with any big post player besides breya an she's visiting other schools currently, unless they are, and keeping it under wraps for now.

Coach Nicki, Aaron have both followed Avery Howell out of USC. We will she if follows back

Coach, Aaron have both followed Kayleigh Heckel as well out of USC. Again we will see if she follows back.

From what I've seen at least, a lot of our portal stuff comes out of no where. This staff likes to keep things quiet, so I personally am not concerned that we don't visibly see us tied to a lot. It's no where near as visible as the men's game

Nikki is great at keeping things under wraps and even keeping social media hidden until the players is ready to announce. Although there was some social media regarding Kiera Pemberton following some coaches there is no mention at all of a visit or that we were a finalist until she was ready to announce. I think it will be that way with other players as well. I hate that our recruiting is done in such a black box, but it certainly keeps others from knowing what we are doing.

I wonder if there's any possibility at all that she would consider red shirt to give her two years at the position once Bella moves on. I think she and Marcayla will compete for that second spot. I hope that the loser of the competition would consider a red shirt but that might be too much to ask in this day and age. That would also help with managing minutes.

However, I also like having at least 4 6-foot or taller players that can switch any position on D available so hopefully we can get at least one more tall guard to help with this and hopefully two. In a perfect world with unlimited NILlet's add Gianna K and Deng. Lots of good players still left at this position in the portal.Just at the guard position we played five regularly this past season.

WBB dead period April 3-7. No official or unofficial visits allowed. But phone calls, emails, texts are allowed. Teams who go to Elite 8 and beyond are unable to recruit or have visits Those coaches have complained the transfer portal should not begin until after the Ncaa tournament is over.

BearTiger said:

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WBB dead period April 3-7. No official or unofficial visits allowed. But phone calls, emails, texts are allowed. Teams who go to Elite 8 and beyond are unable to recruit or have visits Those coaches have complained the transfer portal should not begin until after the Ncaa tournament is over.

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Call me a sceptic…I'd say a realist. I feel fairly confident that certain players know if program X & Y are interested. There are unofficial ways. Called "head hunting" in business…college athletics is very much a business now more than ever…unfortunately.
I'll add that the same thing happens during the season to get players to enter the portal to then go to X or Y

BUatbirth said:

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BearTiger said:

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WBB dead period April 3-7. No official or unofficial visits allowed. But phone calls, emails, texts are allowed. Teams who go to Elite 8 and beyond are unable to recruit or have visits Those coaches have complained the transfer portal should not begin until after the Ncaa tournament is over.

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Call me a sceptic…I'd say a realist. I feel fairly confident that certain players know if program X & Y are interested. There are unofficial ways. Called "head hunting" in business…college athletics is very much a business now more than ever…unfortunately.
I'll add that the same thing happens during the season to get players to enter the portal to then go to X or Y

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BUatbirth…..your analysis is spot on. I have thought this to be true for several years

I repesctfully disagree, so you are saying Ncaa is fair about this period and coaches in Elite 8/Final 4/NC do not have legitimate complaint about this? So if Baylor went to Elite 8/Final 4/NC that Coach N wouldn't have legitimate complaint about waiting until Ncaa tournament is over? You know she will be all over that. Coaches starting at Elite 8 and beyond have complained about it this year and previous years. Honestly, we were able to get 2 good commits and visits early since we didn't go to Elite 8. Those Elite 8/Final 4 coaches have legitimate complaints, it really should be fair across the board when a player enters. How do we know what portal players are thinking? Maybe Scott was interested in one of those Elite 8/Final 4 teams, but didn't want to wait until after NC game was over, which is when a lot of the big names enter the portal. Maybe Scott decided to commit on the spot while she was in top 5 transfer players and not wait until the big names come out after NC.

BearTiger said:

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WBB dead period April 3-7. No official or unofficial visits allowed. But phone calls, emails, texts are allowed. Teams who go to Elite 8 and beyond are unable to recruit or have visits Those coaches have complained the transfer portal should not begin until after the Ncaa tournament is over.

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So how did TCU get the 6'7" Kentucky commit if they're not supposed to recruit yet?

Please beartiger…what you said is 100% true. You think everyone plays nice beartiger?

Silva committed prior to the dead period. Dead period is in place every year. Not saying I think it's followed. That would be naive. But it's definitely put in place yearly

GelaBear said:

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I just watched some highlights and Merkle can make put backs and move down the floor. Reminds me of a bigger version of Vonleh. Hope we get one or two like her.

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One writer's opinion--production dropped off as opponents prepared for her and little adjustment made.
https://www.psucollegian.com/sports/women_basketball/column-gracie-merkle-has-become-a-liability-for-penn-state/article_361fd078-dce3-11ef-8ed3-bf63c7551e80.html

Interesting one coming out of k state

BREAKING: Kansas State’s Zyanna Walker has entered the transfer portal, sources told @On3sports.

The 5-11 sophomore averaged 8.2 ppg, 3.8 rpg and 3.4 apg this season.

TRACKER: https://t.co/StsxDxjlYl pic.twitter.com/lDt7u7vOQ5

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 4, 2025

She is a good player and played well vs USC in S16. She is a good defender and can create her own shot. Good size. Will be interesting to see if we are interested.

A devil's advocate counterpoint.

Maybe the teams already reaching the Elite 8 and beyond don't need the extra leg up on recruiting the portal. It may not be "fair" to them, but it is the equivalent of the worst NBA teams getting the top picks in the next draft. So the slight disadvantage to the teams already at the top can contribute to more parity across the league, which in the grand scheme is better for the sport.

I'm not sure where I land, but that thought process has some appeal.

That is an interesting position and one that has at least some real merit. Certainly the teams left in the final four are the teams that have the least difficulty getting in top players on their team. I saw that South Carolina has had players on campus from the portal. And I'm sure recruits would love to watch elite eight or final four practices and as BUVA nicely states, there are always ways of letting a player know that you are interested, I'm starting to fall in line with this type of thinking. history shows that those teams do not have any difficulty getting top transfers into their program whether they are playing late into the tournament or not.

What do ya'll think about Kennedy Basham at center? We recruited her out of HS and very good height. Not sure she is my primary center but she would be a great backup. Wonder if she even consider that because I do think she would get good time on the floor.

Kansas State is another program decimated by graduations and transfers.

Out of their 8 core rotation players last year:

• 5 are lost to graduation: Serena Sundell, Ayoka Lee, Jaelyn Glynn, Temira Poindexter, Kennedy Taylor.
• 1 is lost to transfer portal: Zyanna Walker.
• 2 other key players are lost to transfer portal who would have played prominently next year: Brylee Glenn, Eliza Maupin.
• Only 2 core players return: Taryn Sides, Gisela Sanchez.

Zyanna Walker is an interesting player. Excellent defender, she was All Big 12 defense this year, and there is much to love about her game. However, she only shot 28% from the 3 point line in last two years. With Buggs' limited shooting range at the 4, plus a 5 with likely limited range, seems important that we have perimeter players who can spread the floor and present a legitimate threat from the 3 point line.

Dcheetah said:

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What do ya'll think about Kennedy Basham at center? We recruited her out of HS and very good height. Not sure she is my primary center but she would be a great backup. Wonder if she even consider that because I do think she would get good time on the floor.

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Looks like she will be a senior. I'd like to see more than the six rebounds she averaged in twenty-seven minutes of PT.

I am looking forward to seeing our team push the pace with fast breaks next year. Jana is a lot of fun to watch in the open floor, and with Taliah Scott, Kiera Pemberton, Bella Fontleroy, Darianna Littlepage Buggs, and Marcayla Johnson, she'll have a lot of speedy and talented finishers running beside her.

Polarbear said:

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I am looking forward to seeing our team push the pace with fast breaks next year. Jana is a lot of fun to watch in the open floor, and with Taliah Scott, Kiera Pemberton, Bella Fontleroy, Darianna Littlepage Buggs, and Marcayla Johnson, she'll have a lot of speedy and talented finishers running beside her.

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Simply having numbers/depth will allow more pressure D [creating turnovers] and pushing pace on O.

Next year will likely be the first year under Collen where depth isn't a big concern.

Would be great [and fun to watch] if the team can average 85+ possessions per game during conference play.

I wouldn't rule her out because of that. T'ea Cooper when she. came from South Carolina had a low three-point, shooting percentage and raised it considerably once she got here. Chloe Jackson was the master of the mid range shot, and we have been sorely lacking that. I thought that Jada would be that person after her Virginia Tech showing but she was much less consistent since that time. The mid range shot is almost always there and we have not had anyone consistently make it. Zyanna appears that she could do that. With another lockdown defender around the perimeter and a better rim protector on the back end, I think we could have an excellent defense if we picked her up. I am all for adding someone who can consistently create and make a mid range shot.

That's why I'm wondering if she would consider a back up position? We tried for three bigs last year, but lost out on Dauda late and certainly we could've used her.

Dcheetah said:

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That's why I'm wondering if she would consider a back up position? We tried for three bigs last year, but lost out on Dauda late and certainly we could've used her.

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Good point. I think we would benefit from having bigs who run can rim run, rim protect, and rebound. A good low post game and the shooting 30+% from three would be even better but doesn't everyone want those skills in their posts!

Basham is enticing because of the 6'7" size, and she's an outstanding shot blocker, but has not turned into an all around dominant player. Her shooting % was only 42% last year, and she doesn't have the strength and mobility to be a dominant rebounder. I"d be thrilled to have her as a role player to match against certain opponents or give us a rim protecting presence if needed, but I wouldn't be excited about her as a 28 minute per game starter. I suspect we're focusing our efforts on the elite level Post players first (Koval, Williams, Cunningham, perhaps Weimar).

Do we know where Kennedy Basham landed?

Scottdye said:

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Do we know where Kennedy Basham landed?

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Has not landed with anyone yet.

Mississippi State’s Madina Okot has entered the transfer portal, sources told @On3sports.

The 6-6 junior averaged 11.3 ppg and 9.6 rpg this season.

TRACKER: https://t.co/StsxDxjlYl pic.twitter.com/Abs1qCzgw4

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) April 4, 2025

Only downside I see here is 1 year left.

Kalani vibes from this one.