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2023 women’s basketball transfer portal tracker: Where will Aneesah Morrow go? – The Athletic
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The NCAA waiver allowing first-time transfers immediate eligibility created one of the biggest shifts in college sports in the last decade. Players now have significantly more freedom to move between schools, making it sometimes seem like an exodus of players from one program to the next.
After the 2019-20 season, just more than 600 women’s basketball players ended up in the portal. Last year, that number nearly doubled to 1,197 players in the transfer portal. Since January 1, nearly 1,000 Division I players have entered the portal. Coaches sometimes bemoan portal-induced roster turnover of both starters and reserves, but they also know the portal is a key means to building their own programs for the upcoming season and beyond.
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Here’s a ranking of the top prospects who are available in the transfer portal:
Her ability to score, clean up the glass and be a defensive stopper makes her a top transfer portal prospect. Whatever team adds Morrow — she has narrowed her choices to LSU, South Carolina and USC — is getting an absolute gold mine with two seasons left to play. Morrow was a second-team All-American this season after leading the Blue Demons with 25.7 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. She started 66 games during her two seasons with DePaul and during this past season, she showed an expanded range, stepping out and attempting 209 3-pointers (roughly one-quarter of her shot attempts).
TOP 3⭐️ pic.twitter.com/4ht3P9EBgJ
— Aneesah Morrow (@AneesahMorrow24) April 21, 2023
Rogers spent the first two years of her career as a full-time starter at USC, averaging 13.8 points and leading the team in 3-point shooting. She transferred to Oregon in 2021, where her success continued. As a Duck, she was twice named to the All-Pac-12 first team while starting 57 games. This past season, she averaged 15.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 39 percent from long range. Rogers has one season of eligibility remaining, but she would be a huge add for any team looking to fill a starting spot with someone who has experience as a scorer and playmaker. Could we potentially see the Dallas native head closer to home? Or after being spotted in Tik Tok videos with Angel Reese during the Final Four, could she be headed to the SEC?
Ware missed this season as she recovered from knee surgery, but after her impressive sophomore season — 5.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in just less than 22 minutes per game — she was expected to be one of the best bigs in the Pac-12. With a medical redshirt from this season and her COVID-19 bonus year, Ware has up to three more seasons to play. There aren’t a ton of 6-foot-5 post players with 52 appearances, 24 starts and three seasons of eligibility on the board; she’ll earn a ton of interest.
Gustin, who averaged 16 points and 17 rebounds a game for the Cougars this past season, could be a good pick up for teams looking to add depth to their interior. Of her nearly 500 field-goal attempts last season, 83 percent came at the rim, so it’ll be interesting to see whether she’s able to have the same kind of efficacy playing game-in and game-out at the power conference level, especially considering she’s only 6-1. Former BYU teammate Shaylee Gonzalez made the jump to a power conference last season when she transferred to Texas, and that has worked out well for the Longhorns and Gonzalez. She started 36 games for Texas and led the team in scoring (12.7 PPG), so there is recent history of this being a successful move and potential coaches will like that.
With two years of eligibility remaining, Rogers will be an intriguing transfer. She has proven herself as a scorer and playmaker — she averaged 16.8 points, 5.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds a game this season. However, she wasn’t always the most consistent of scorers and while she had some huge games against big opponents (36 points against Miami on 86 percent shooting) she also had some slumps (going 6-of-37 from range over a three-week stretch earlier this year). However, she was a consistently solid distributor and for any team that’s looking for a guard who can both score and create for her teammates, Rogers could be a nice pickup.
With three seasons ahead of her, it’s fair to assume the reigning unanimous Big East freshman of the year will receive a lot of interest. She’s a former top-100 recruit who adjusted well to college competition and filled out her entire stat line, averaging 10.9 points, 2.4 steals, 2.9 assists and 3.9 rebounds per game this season. There’s room in her game to grow, but with time to develop in another program, coaches will be excited about the Maryland native.
A role player during her first three seasons with the Razorbacks, Barnum had a breakout season this past year. She started 37 games and averaged 15 points and 6.5 rebounds an outing. She did the majority of her work in the paint — 85 percent of her shots came at the rim, and she scored on 61 percent of those looks.
Coulibaly, a second-team All-SEC selection, is a big guard who knows how to get to the basket. She averaged 16.5 points a game this season, with the majority of those looks coming at the rim (70 percent, per Pivot Analysis). She’s a player who can score and get second-chance opportunities for her team as a strong rebounder. (She averaged 6.5 per game this season.)
With one year of eligibility remaining, Hyman is likely looking for a place to take on a larger role than the one she played in Felisha Legette-Jack’s first season at Syracuse. In Hyman’s redshirt sophomore year, she led the team in scoring (16.2 PPG) and played 34 minutes a game. This past season, she averaged 10.4 points on four fewer shots per game and only started in 22 of the Orange’s 31 games. Hyman has four years of college hoops experience (one season as a medical redshirt) and has a good midrange game — she shot 42 percent from the midrange this season, per Pivot Analysis. Her 3-point range needs some work, but she can be relied upon to dish out three to four assists per game and grab four to six rebounds per game. She’s a solid add to another power conference’s guard depth.
After being named first-team all-conference this year and Summit League freshman of the year last year, Moore likely is looking to jump to the power conference level. It’s fair to assume power conference coaches will consider her. At 6 feet, she doesn’t have a lot of size, but she’s a 58 percent shooter who finishes well at the rim. She averaged 12.9 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game this season.
For teams looking to fill a gap or add depth at point guard, Johnson could be a smart add. She started 97 games during her BU career and was twice an all-conference first-team selection. She averaged 12.8 points and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 42 percent on 3-pointers this season.
Nolan is a career 37 percent 3-point shooter, but she had her best season as a junior when she knocked down 41 percent of her attempts. She’s good for two to three 3s a game, as well as three to four rebounds a game and could be an asset for power conference teams who want to add experience (75 starts), energy and a player with a quick release. Teammate Emily Kiser, who used her COVID-19 year at Michigan, had also entered her name into the portal a season ago, but she ended up returning to Michigan, so this could be Nolan just testing the waters and seeing what else is out there. Or could the Indiana native be headed closer to home?
A 52 percent shooter, Durant would be a solid pickup for any team looking to secure the middle of the floor. But she’ll also bring a lot of value defensively. She has 86 career starts and averaged 7.7 rebounds over the last four seasons, including eight rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game this year. She was named to the Patriot League’s all-defensive team this past year.
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Transfers who have found new programs: Lauren Betts (UCLA), Jakia Brown-Turner (Maryland), Paris Clark (Virginia), Taylen Collins (Auburn), Jayda Curry (Louisville), Shayeann Day Wilson (Miami), Matilda Ekh (Virginia Tech), Lexi Donarski (UNC), Te-Hina Paopao (South Carolina), Camille Hobby (Illinois), Frannie Hottinger (Marquette), Kiki Jefferson (Louisville), Mackenzie Kramer (Clemson), Laruen Park-Lane (Mississippi State), Alanna Micheaux (Virginia Tech), JaMya Mingo-Young (Auburn), Celeste Taylor (Ohio State), Hailey Van Lith (LSU), Jada Walker (Baylor), Kennedy Todd-Williams (Ole Miss), Destinee Wells (Tennessee).
(Photo of Aneesah Morrow: David Butler II / USA Today)
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Chantel Jennings is The Athletic’s senior writer for the WNBA and women’s college basketball. She covered college sports for the past decade at ESPN.com and The Athletic and spent the 2019-20 academic year in residence at the University of Michigan’s Knight-Wallace Fellowship for Journalists. Follow Chantel on Twitter @chanteljennings