← No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
No Offseason: The Athletic Women's Basketball Show
Transfer portal winner and losers: Iowa, Stanford, Maryland and more
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- [00:01]
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- [01:18]
Ben
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- [03:23]
Chantel
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- [04:57]
Zena
For.
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E
The Athletic I'm Zena Keda and this is the Athletic Women's Basketball Show. Welcome back to the Athletic Women's Basketball show where we are here to talk all things women's hoops. Whether you're a die hard fan that eats, sleeps and breathes basketball or just a casual Fan looking to learn more as we transition from NCAA season to W. Make sure to subscribe to this pod wherever you get your pods to stay up to date with us. And also subscribe to the Athletic. There's so much content on the site of year round in depth coverage of the game you love you do not want to miss. Today I am joined by the Athletic women's basketball writers Ben Pickman and Shantelle Jennings and let's go through what we're gonna cover today. I know W season is right around the corner and that draft got us very, very excited, but there's a thing called the transfer portal, guys, and I don't know if you know, but it's about to close very soon. One of the things we're gonna talk about today about some of the big winner schools that have gotten some big time transfers as well as some of the schools that are not on the don't want to say they're holding that L, but they're low key holding that L. We're going to talk about who's not doing so well in the transfer game and then also who are the big players still out there. Then got a debate going up between Ben and Shantelle. I want to know who are the big five schools heading into next year. Sounds like they might be on a little bit on the same page, but we'll see. And then last but not least, of course I know W is starting up and training camps are happening. Going to ask Ben about his recent experience at a training camp and give you guys a little bit more insight into what happens when a player goes from the draft and then as they're trying to make a roster, let's get into it. Number one, Chantel, I need you to explain to me the transfer portal, when did it open and when is it closing?
- [07:12]
F
So it opened right after the bracket was announced. Coaches like to refer to it as selection Sunday and transfer portal Monday and it is open until next Wednesday. So players have roughly 6, 7 weeks to jump into the portal and be available to other teams. And so we're seeing right now, I mean we're recording this on Tuesday. By Friday it could be out of date because everything just moves so quickly in the portal. It's just this magical land where players can jump in, coaches can jump in and you can transform your roster in minutes basically by finding people and getting them onto your campus. And so it's, you know, as I look at sort of the landscape of women's college basketball, it's the biggest thing that has changed how we look at the game in the last few years simply because it's, it's changed how recruiting happens. And I guess that in conjunction with players being able to transfer without sitting out a year, it's just totally transformed the college game.
- [08:12]
E
Okay. I mean, May 1st is coming up super fast. And it's also interesting that you said that the transfer portal has changed women's basketball. Really, it's changed the NCAA college sports landscape, but particularly women's basketball. And I'm also fascinated by the parallel between the WNBA and NCAA game because when you think about what's changed the WNBA game last year, big time trade or the equivalent, the professional equivalent of a transfer. Right. Briana Stewart going over to the New York Liberty, Jonquill Jones going over to the Liberty. Big time trades being made. But let's stick to the college game because right now there's some super teams trying to be made. All right. And I want to talk about some of the big winners. Let's start down in the SEC with Auburn. Auburn finished last year 20 and 12 of their record, 8 and 8 in conference, but they had some big time wins, including one that I remember, honestly, Scott Grayson went off against lsu that was a fun game to watch, but they ended up losing in the second round of the conference tournament to lsu and they finished a year in the the first four with a loss against Arizona. So they've got some room to grow and they definitely want to do that. Tell me a little bit about their off season pickups.
- [09:31]
Zena
I mean the big transaction or the big player that they added is Talia Scott, who was a star freshman at Arkansas last year. She was, I think a 22 point per game scorer last year. Really efficient from 2 point, more than 50% overall. And she was one of these freshmen who I think on the whole snuck under the radar compared to a lot of other players both in the conference and nationally. You know, my leisure full Wiley, Juju Watkins, Maddie Booker. Out in Texas there were a number of freshmen who kind of dominated headlines. Talia Scott on an Arkansas team that as you mentioned, was not as prolific as those. They were just 18 and 15 last year was really key to their, you know, the success that they had. And so she throws her name in the portal and she ends up in Auburn as you're mentioning Xena, a program that you know, is looking to reestablish itself or establish itself in the sec. The sec again, a conference that is becoming increasingly crowded. But she switches within the same conference and she becomes now the headliner at Auburn, a team that as you mentioned, first for last year. And we'll look to build on the success of a 20 win season in 24, 25.
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F
I think we also need to talk about Diana Gaston here simply because you know, Auburn is adding with her a veteran presence. Big 12 sixth woman of the year, former all Big 12 first team member, someone who can average 12 plus points per game. But I think when you're looking at this team like Talia Scott is clearly the future of this program. As you bring in a sophomore, you're not in a second year player to not be the future of your program in the transfer portal, but to bring in someone like Gaston who comes in sort of seasoned veteran. You know, she'll now be within the SEC with Texas, which is just a little bit weird because of how all of the conferences are changing right now. But I think she's also someone when you talk to coaches about what they're looking for in the portal, everyone has different, you know, ways to go about this. If it's like a one player stop over hold, like stopgap type player, like I'm sure we'll get to this. But Iowa with Lucy Olsen like that to me speaks like stopgap player. But you also bring in someone like Deanna Gaston, like maybe she's not going to light you up for 30 a night like Talia honestly could, but she's going to bring in that veteran seasoned leadership, cool head to sort of make sure everyone is on the same page. And I think that is so valuable especially for a team that's trying to build like Auburn.
- [11:50]
E
That's cool because that's one thing you notice about the transfer portal. These teams, these coaches go in either looking to build their future or to get a win now. And you kind of see Auburn kind of setting themselves up for a little bit of both here. But Chantelle, you mentioned Iowa and I say if you listen to this show, our writers are just so much smarter than me and they always set me up beautifully. And Chantel, that's why I'm going and go right back to you because I know you spent a lot of time with the Iowa Hawkeyes girl. Ooh, you almost had. Did you have a built in hotel room like they were set for you every time you came to town? I'm sure 34 and 5 record ending the year obviously in the national championship. Huge game. Everyone, everyone should have been watching it. If you're listening to this, I hope you got it, got a chance to see it. I'm sure you heard about it. Fifteen and three in their conference though won the Big Ten Conference championship versus Nebraska and they lost some, you know, some players you may have heard about, may have heard about one Caitlin Clark, also a Kate Martin as well. So they're looking for some senior leadership. They're looking for floor spacing, they're looking for scoring, they're looking for a lot. And it sounds like they might have found what they were looking for in a Lucy Olsen. What does she bring to the table for them?
- [13:12]
F
She's obviously a really good fit for them in terms of being a scorer. Last season she was averaging almost 24 points a game up from I believe 12 as her during her sophomore season. And I think that's when most people saw Lucy for the first time. She was playing with Maddie Segrest at Villanova and this was a player who's a future WNBA draft pick for the Wings. Like everyone was kind of tuning into Nova to watch Maddie and then you were like, oh, Lucy Olson is actually very good as well. And in Maddie's absence this year she really blossomed into this great scorer. So after three years at Villanova, she's headed to Iowa. She's not like a pure point guard. I would say she's definitely an off ball shooting guard type player. But they have enough players there that can sort of fill that point guard ish situation for Iowa. You've got someone like Sydney, a falter, you have someone like Taylor McCabe. You have enough ball handlers on that roster, you just need to fill it out with shooters and scores. And I think that's what they do with Lucy. Her three point shooting percentage wasn't great last season. It was under 30%, the worst of her three year career at Villanova. But that also might be a product of her getting more attention in the Big east from defenders. And on a team like Iowa where you have so many different players who can shoot and score, you know she's not going to have that kind of a matchup every night. And so I think she'll be a really good fit at Iowa for what they want to do until they get addy deal on campus.
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Zena
I would just add to that. I think the significance though is bigger than just this one year stop gap. Like you mentioned that it's not a long term play like Talia Scott. But I do think there is a strong message that is reinforced here and I would use reinforced and not set intentionally that you know Iowa isn't going to go away suddenly that Caitlin Clark has gone away. Right? This is a Program that has had a lot of success historically. We should mention they haven't had a losing season since 2006, 2007. They make the tournament almost every year. I believe the last time they missed it was the mid 2010s when they missed it for two consecutive years. But they had, you know, a 19 and 20 win season in that stretch. So this is a really good program. Megan Gustafson, obviously a player of the year before Caitlin Clark, but I do think it's important just kind of optically to show that like we're still going to be relevant in getting high profile transfers, that we're still going to be relevant in the national conversation even for, you know, the short term of the transfer portal. And I would add, as you mentioned, you mentioned the key name also Chantel is Addie Dio who is a top 15 recruit from the class of 2025, a six foot guard coming out of the state of California. Not even the state of Iowa, who is set to join them not this year but the following season. And that was a really significant signing for a lot of people in a lot of people's eyes because again, this is a high profile recruit who's not in state. Right. This is someone they had to go out and get who clearly was, you know, interested to join the kind of system that Lisa Bluder and her staff plays to kind of be take part in the program that has been building, you know, since Lisa Bluder got there. So you know, I think I was one of the big winners of the portal long term because they continue to show that like they're not going anywhere. And I think that's a really important statement to make at this time of the year and heading into next fall with Caitlin Clark heading into the wnba.
- [16:17]
E
It's so true. Players usually were born in Iowa and wanted to go play elsewhere. So them having big time recruits coming out of a state like California that is stacked with former Pac 12 schools right now, being able to have players like that decide I'm going to go to the Big Ten instead in the Midwest, get my name on in the lights under the Iowa Hawkeyes. Huge, huge deal.
- [16:41]
F
Yeah. Just to add on to both of those points, I think Iowa in terms of we'll be able to debate this for the next few years, like is the Caitlin Clark success sustainable? You know, is Iowa going to continue to be a final four elite eight team without a player like Caitlin Clark on it? And I think Lucy Olsen, Addie Deal. They kind of show this, that there is a national appeal and I think part of that is what they showed on the floor. Like if you're a basketball player, you saw that offense, how it's free flowing and fun and everyone sort of gets to have theirs. Like why wouldn't you want to play in that, especially if you're a three point shooter. And I think the other part of this too is sort of the nationalization, if we can call it that, of youth grassroots basketball. They're always going to be able to pull from that all Iowa attack, EYBL team. And that team isn't just Iowa girls. They can take players from any, any state that touches Iowa, if I understand the rules correctly. And so you're going to have a base of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, the Dakotas. Right. That program alone. But the fact that you can then, like Ben said, go into California and team players and SoCal like that is not something that would have happened before players saw that offense on tv, before players sort of saw everything that this Iowa program can offer, I guess in terms of the fans, you know, like who doesn't want to play in front of a sold out crowd every night, who doesn't want to sort of play in that environment. So I think the TV attention also.
- [18:05]
E
Helps that as well, that visibility is huge and not only for recruits choosing where they want to end up at school, but of course for these players as they look towards the transfer portal, they can now see some of these other programs, these other sorts of offenses, defenses, different schemes, different rotational strategies, all these different things are now here for them to watch a lot easier than in the past. I want to get to and stay in the Big Ten because the one school that I've been fascinated in their pickups has been Maryland. Maryland being able to get some big names, which I'm about to ask you all about, but they lose to Nebraska in the Big Ten semifinals, they fall to Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But they, they had some great showings. I mean that Iowa State, Maryland game was back and forth till the end. And you're seeing Maryland under Brenda Freese, like kind of regain some of the notoriety and appeal that they had in the early 2000s that I remember back in the day wanting to be a Terrapin, wanting to be Crystal Langhorn back in the day. So it's a thing that they're, they're coming back to more relevance and now they're adding some of these players. Ben, who sticks out to you in terms of who they were able to pull out in the transfer portal to start?
- [19:27]
Zena
Yeah, it's been a busy stretch for Maryland. As you mentioned. This is a program that is a perennial NCAA tournament team. They've missed it just twice in Brenda Freeze's tenure in years in which the tournament has occurred. But they were kind of one of these under the radar teams this past year making the tournament as only a 10 seed. They've been one of the most the busiest teams rather this NCAA tournament period. The big addition for me is a guard from Arkansas named Sailor Poffenbarger, who again was a really productive player for the Razorbacks in her career. She was an All SEC freshman team in 2023, a redshirt sophomore this past season. You know, a very good defensive rebounder, someone who is very available, a good rebounder overall. She is 6 foot 2, she can shoot it a little bit and she is someone who can come in and should be able to make an instant impact for the Maryland team. As I mentioned, this is a team that has had a ton of success. You know, she's transferred a little bit in the past. She initially started her career at UConn, moved from there to Arkansas and is now onto her third team. So, you know, we'll see how she fits there and re acclimates to another system. But she is one of the biggest names again for the Terrapins and I know that's not all they've made. Chantelle, do you want to discuss some of the others?
- [20:37]
F
Well, even before we get to the others, Ben, you have described me as not being a very online person. I was curious if you've seen the videos of Brenda Freeze, like AI dancing and if you can explain what this is.
- [20:51]
Zena
I have seen the videos, but I would actually urge people to check them out themselves. It is like, I think a kind of trend we're seeing around college sports where a lot of these programs, when they get some of these transfers put out like bat signals, I guess is the easiest equivalent. And I take it that like this is really their equivalent of the bat signal to be like we are coming or we are adding a a really big player that you should flag. That would be the, the easiest equivalent that I would say. And you know, Brenda Freese creeps talking about how phenomenal it is to be a terp again and her dancing. It is worth a watch yourself. I would recommend for all those on Twitter. Just search her on Twitter and you'll find out exactly what Chantal is alluding to.
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E
I'll tell you right now, some of these social media accounts are getting loose with some of the content they're putting out there. The NCAA account was wild during the tournament. The memes were insane. They were hilarious. I was like, where is this coming from? Some of them were really on point and then some of them were like, okay, you really have free reign here. I can tell someone is like risking it all here. Anywho, let's get back to Maryland because outside of Sailor Poffenbarger there are some, some other additions joining the Terps. Chantel, do you mind indulging us?
- [22:04]
F
Honestly, I think you kind of look at the players that Brenda Freeze went out outside of Sailor, outside of, you know, Cheyenne sellers and Bri McDaniel who she already had in College park and she went into the mid major ranks and really just tried to pull in scores. Double digit scores from VCU like Sarah Tabiasu, from Rhode island like Mae Torre, and from Rutgers, Kayleen Smichel. And so these are all players who can score the ball. I think we look at this Terrapin team as one that is going to be near the top of the Big Ten and scoring next season just because of all of the different players they're going to be able to put on the floor. I don't know how deep this rotation is going to be. I think they could add one more if they want. But right now I look at it and I think, okay, this is a group that's going to rebound the ball quite well and is going to be able to score really well.
- [22:49]
E
Oh yeah, and they're super long too. The my toy girl, she plays for the U20 France team and now that I'm like kind of looking at some of her highlights, I'm like, oh, I absolutely remember this girl she had played with. There's another recruit coming out of France that's only 16, but she had played on their team and I remember her just being a super long slasher. This is Maya Torre I'm talking about. So very exciting for Maryland trying to make themselves a little bit more relevant in the Big Ten and seed themselves higher. It's interesting because Maryland always finds a way to the tournament, but as of late has struggled to kind of get past that first and second round. All right, let's finish out with the Big 12 TCU which as of the morning that we're recording may or may not have Haley Van Lith. I'm not sure. I know they had a Cavender twin at one point and then she went back to Miami to join her twin, Haley Cavender. And then of course Sedona Prince coming back and, and being back after having A big gap of the year out with her thumb injury. They had Jaden Owens, who of course suffered an injury as well at the top of the year, 2024. I'm not sure if she'll be back in time for the season, but they've got a lot of things in the works at tcu. Could be a revival season for them who started out undefeated until conference play. Ben, thoughts on where TCU is winning?
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Zena
I mean, I think the first thing we should say is that it seems like it's going to be an annual tradition to pencil TCU into this kind of segment year after year, that when it's transfer season, you might as well look to the Horned Frogs and look at Texas Christian as a center of attention because they were super, super active, as you mentioned, Xena, in last year's Portal. And it seems like they are going, they are and might continue to be super active in this year's Portal as well. The two big names that they have added so far, Matty Shearer who comes from Kentucky and Taylor Bigby who comes from usc. But, but really the connection between both of them stems further from that because both of them initially started their careers at the University of Oregon. An assistant coach at the University of Oregon prior to his time at tcu, and also Sacramento State who was involved in the recruiting process of both of them is Mark Campbell, the current coach of tcu. So there is a lot of familiarity there and I think that I'm sure, as we'll learn, is a big reason why both of them ended up at that school. Shearer in particular, I think, is set to be a really impactful player on this team. You know, she's been a double digit scorer her past two seasons with Kentucky, a program that, you know, struggled relatively. And she set up in a position, as you mentioned, with Sedona Prince coming back where she has a post player who she can certainly play off of and will be able to make her even more effective than she has been with the Wildcats. But overall, I mean tcu, we'll see what comes next. If Haley Van Lyth does in fact go there, as has been some initial reporting, they're poised to be super active, big picture. And there's no reason to suggest that will stop maybe this year and also in future years.
- [25:47]
E
Now remember, this is the TCU team that suffered so many injuries and also had players needing to go home for personal reasons and different situations happening that they at one point didn't have enough players to roster a game and ultimately had to forfeit two games and then have open tryouts at a Division 1 women's basketball program, folks. So, of course, they're trying to bounce back this year in a big way. And so donor Prince coming back, obviously, is huge. But also potentially adding a Haley Van Lith on top of a shear and a Big B could be a really dominant, dominant team now with all these winners, of course, there's some losers, unfortunately. And what's sad is it makes sense that the PAC 12 going all the way across the country for some schools is part of the reason that people are losing teams, right? They're losing players. But let's start with Stanford, who's had some really big losses, of course, with Tara Van Der Veer stepping down. And then another big name entered the transfer portal. Shantel, tell us more.
- [26:54]
F
Yeah, so Kiki Erie often goes into the transfer portal after Tara announces her retirement. She was actually asked at Tara's retirement press conference by a few members of the media then, are you going to stay at Stanford? And to her credit, she was honest. She said, I just don't know yet. And not long after she was in the portal. This is a player who could be foundational for, I think, basically any roster in the country. And the only teams that she wouldn't be foundational for are the teams that sort of already have such a clear set foundation. But even like, those teams would want her if they had roster spots available, and so she'll have her pick of where she wants to go. I think it's notable to say that she had a do not contact tag on herself in the transfer portal, which means players can put that on their entrance into the portal, basically to mean that not anyone can just reach out to them. They have to be the first to reach out. And so when players do that, it usually means that they know where they want to go or they know, at least, you know, their top three already. Some players enter the portal and sort of want that. Second, recruitment. Other players, like Kiki, who has one year to go, probably has a pretty good idea of where she wants to be. She is a Southern California native, so maybe we're going to see her end up at USC or UCLA perhaps. When it is someone like that. I think putting the do not contact tag on there gives you a pretty good idea that they know at least their top three to five and that they're gonna take their visits and commit shortly after.
- [28:18]
E
Okay, first of all, I did not know there were levels to this in the transfer portal. So you can go into the transfer portal, get everybody Excited. And then apparently put the do not contact and it's like, oh, herd of recruitment is exclusive. Okay, good to know. Good to know. All right, so we'll probably figure out where she's going very soon. I mean, I saw kiki drop like 40 points against Oregon State. This girl has it all in terms of a post game, but also her defensive game, especially alongside Cameron Brink. They were monstrous. Whoever gets her, definitely, definitely going to be set up around her, I would imagine. Then speaking of Oregon State, yikes. We ended their season last year in this tournament being like, guys, they're sophomores. They're all going to be back. The game's in good hands. Don't you worry. They ain't going nowhere. And then, quote, unquote, America's team or who was putting in their bid to become America's team all went in the transfer portal. I was devastated to see this. Ben, what happened?
- [29:22]
Zena
Well, what happened is, as you mentioned, everybody left as everyone is leaving Oregon State. Everyone left them in the PAC 12. They were one of two schools who did not initially get reshuffled in the realignment dance. And everyone has left their roster, or almost everyone, I should say. Eight players have left the Beavers so far in the transfer portal as they set to play in the West Coast Conference next year. It's, I would frankly, like an unfortunate situation for a team that, as you mentioned, Zena, captivated so many hearts and minds, as they say, during the NCAA tournament. It became a real favorite for a lot of people. I mean, you go down the roster. Regan Beer's, transfer portal. Talia von Olhofen, transfer portal. Tamiya Gardner, transfer portal. Donovan Hunter, transfer portal. Role players like Lily Hansford, transfer portal. I mean, you could keep going. Eight players in the portal, and just an overall unfortunate situation for Oregon State. To me, they're two big losers in the portal right now. You touched on one. I think Stanford is one because they lose a player like Kiki Area often who, you know is set up to be not only one of the best players in college next year, but an instant impact player in the WNBA who a lot of executives are really, really high on. And we're excited to see play for Stanford next year. And the other is Oregon State because of just the amount of talent that is walking out the door. I think by far the most of any singular program in the country and especially unfortunate for a program that was as close to making the Final Four as the Beavers were this past March.
- [30:50]
F
Yeah, I mean, America's team truly is becoming like America's team as they all, like, shuffle out through the rest of the country. But like, I think to go back to what we were saying with, you know, the reason why so many people were excited about Oregon State was the, this was a young group. It was a young core that was going to be able to play together for the next two years. And so because of their move into the West Coast Conference, you know, all of these players want to continue playing in power conferences. And so they go into the portal. Teams are getting sophomores who've have tournament experience, who've learned what it's like to build a program, but also just to, you know, have two or three years. If we're talking about Donovan Hunter, you know, three more years of experience. Like, there are these players who, who are going to be able to not only bring tournament readiness to a team, but also that experience of tournament readiness and being able to help build programs over the next two to three years. It's unfortunate for Oregon State. These players are going to end up on rosters where I think all of them are going to be starters or at least huge contributors.
- [31:49]
E
Hey, listen, I don't, I don't blame them. When they got recruited, when they thought about the college dream, West Coast Conference probably wasn't what they were thinking of. And so as much as it breaks my heart, I get it, ladies. I get it. All right? I know we've talked a lot about Arkansas losing Talia Scott and Sailor Poppenberger and also Jersey Wolfenbacher, which I am fascinated. I did not know that both of these last names were on one roster. I'm just wondering if there's a town where Barger is there and maybe the like the Puffin and the Wolfen is like related to family names. I'm fascinated. I gotta know more about this. Eventually I will. But for now, Arkansas obviously losing them and their teams. But then there's Colorado. Colorado losing a lot of youth. Ben, what can you tell me about Colorado?
- [32:35]
Zena
Yeah, Colorado is another team that was kind of on the precipice of, you know, had a very successful season this past March and April, heading back to the NCAA Tournament where yet again they lost to Iowa in the Sweet 16. They lose Aaron at Vonlay in the transfer portal. They have five freshmen and sophomores who are also transferring out. They also, you know, Jaylen Sherrod, their star guard, is also moving on to the W. So Colorado is poised to look very different next year as well. And they are also shifting conferences. So, you know, not only like Oregon State are they losing out on players or players are leaving the program. But it also comes at just an overall transitional moment for the program more broadly.
- [33:11]
E
Man, it's going to be pretty empty out here on the west coast, but there's still some players out there. And Chantel, you mentioned, I mean talking about Reagan Beers, we talked about Kiki Irofin, who are some other names that are still out there that haven't chosen a school yet.
- [33:27]
F
I think you look across the rest of that Oregon State roster, Talia Von Olhoff and released her top four. Tamiya Gardner, Donovan Hunter, I think those players, I'm very curious to see where they land. Corvallis is sort of this small town college feel. I'm curious if all of these players end up in similar like environments as well or if they're looking for something totally different. Do you go from something like a Corvallis to a Westwood? Do you go from something like a Corvallis to a Austin, Texas? You know, those sort of moves. We should note that there are scholarship caps on all of these teams. And so there are teams across the country that maybe aren't as active in the portal simply because they've hit their 13 player maximum. There is still some time left. Players could still enter the portal, spots could still open up. But there are teams, you know, South Carolina is one that I believe is full right now. We don't know what Sakima Walker's decision is, if she's coming back for another year or not. If she comes back, they don't have any room on their roster to add a scholarship player. And so that's why we're not seeing maybe sort of the movement of another team like a TCU or an LSU where there's just more scholarship availability for those teams. But just looking across the board, USC has some space open to Leavon Olhofen named them in her top four. As I said earlier, I think Kiki Eriofan would also be a great fit there. Stanford, obviously losing, losing Cameron Brink, losing Hannah Jump, losing Kiki Yuri off into the portal. They've got some space on their roster. Yukon, as I look at it right now, does not have any space unless there is some movement in the next few days here. Texas, I believe, can still add one. And so you have these contenders that maybe are sort of looking for that perfect player or maybe there's a few different players that they're looking at or they're even looking further ahead in terms of do we sort of sit right now and add another player to their 2025 recruiting class. So there's a lot of math that goes into this as well.
- [35:15]
Zena
I think Chantal, it should mention. And as we wrap up the kind of big winners and losers of the transfer portal part of this conversation, Chantel mentioned the key team that is important to anchor in this conversation, and that is South Carolina. And I want to draw it back to what you said, also Xena at the very top, because you compared this, you know, a little bit of the transfer portal to WNBA free agency and the Las Vegas Aces being two time defending champions. And I think about them in much the same way that, you know, all the transfer portal chatter is really, really fun and it's great off season conjecture, but let's remember that the goal of all this, you know, for these programs is to win basketball games and to win championships. That's like why central to a lot of these changes that are going on. And you know, South Carolina, it is okay that we haven't talked about them. They're probably okay that we haven't talked about them because they just had an undefeated season. They're returning their roster, their players are only getting better. They're only adding more talent in. And so it is okay that South Carolina is not a part of this conversation because they are the team to beat. You know, we saw them benefit from the transfer portal last year, adding to hina powpow, obviously. So that's not to say they're not going to play the game and be involved in future years. But, you know, for them, I think they're pretty happy to sit it out because the goal is to win basketball games. And as they showed last season, they are pretty dang good at doing just that.
- [36:31]
E
Ooh, that is a perfect closeout. That parallel is exactly right. Aces are South Carolina. They are the standard. They're the team to beat. All the moves you're making are to match up against a team like that, man. Perfect parallel. All right, well, now let's think about next year. Of course, South Carolina is sitting at number one, but top five teams, super teams. Now, Chantelle, I'm gonna read out what you have said. You think the super teams are going into next year? South Carolina at number one, UConn at number two, Notre Dame at number three, number four, USC, number five, Texas. Ben, would you agree with this list and the order in which they're in?
- [37:17]
Zena
I think it's a pretty good list, honestly. I mean, obviously what happens with the transfer portal, some things are going to shake out, but South Carolina, the clear number one. I think UConn deserving of being number two. They get a ton of players back and you got to hope and kind of assume good health. Similar with Notre Dame, right? Olivia Miles returns. We saw the success that they had this past season without her getting her back. Adding in Hannah Hidalgo next to her, you know, forming perhaps if not the very best backcourt in the country. Texas again. Layla Philia, a Michigan transfer joining the Longhorns this year, bolsters that team in usc. A one seed in juju Watkins first year, she's set to only improve. I guess the only qualms the two schools I would throw out, one, ucla, you know, a program that I spent a lot of time on this podcast going to bat for. They did not advance into the Final Four or win the championship like I predicted. I should, you know, hold myself accountable, at least on that front. But you know, Lauren Betts, I think for me, if she continues to take another step forward, they could very well be a top five team heading into the season and be another one seed or two seed entering next year's tournament. I know a long ways away. The other program is Iowa State and we talked a lot about them on this show as well. Just the youth of their roster. I believe in Sabrina Merchant, her colleagues way too early top 25 that she published right after the tournament ended. They were number nine. They're the kind of team we haven't talked about in this transfer portal conversation. But you know, for a roster that was built around freshmen, they're all going to age up and be sophomores. And Emily Ryan, who was one of their veterans last year, she's coming back to school. So that is another team that if you said, you know, week one, week two, week three of the season and already found themselves in the top five, I think Iowa State, the Cyclones would be another option to be a part of that conversation.
- [38:55]
E
Chantel, were there any schools that as you were making your list, you struggled to be like, oof, I don't know. I feel like they could edge in. I feel like ucla, especially if Corey Close can get her guards to remember that Lauren Betts is 6, 7, absolutely could be a solid contender in that top five arena. But then also Iowa State. I mean, Audie, Audi, Audi, Artie. I love Audie and I love the performance from Emily Ryan as well. Such a leader in that last game, not only on the floor but just in general. What was a school that you were like, ah, I might have to push him up.
- [39:29]
F
Ben would be surprised to hear this because I am not someone that was super high on UCLA all the time last year. But I would say the ucla, usc. For me, I'm like USC is in my top five right now. But this is also a team that has, has. It's going to have six freshmen on their roster next season. They're all four and five star players. Five of them are top 52 recruits. So like this is like creme de la creme in terms of recruits, but like they're still freshmen. Like let's remember that. And not every freshman is going to be a juju Watkins freshman. And so you're going to have this incredible core of juju and Ray Marshall sort of to build around. And again I think they add they have spot for one more player that they can bring in out of the transfer portal. Whether they decide to go with, you know, a guard, ball handler, someone like to have on Olhoffen or, or someone like Kiki. To me those make the most sense. In terms of fit around those players though, then they're going to have a lot of youth, a lot of freshmen and typically what that means are high highs and low lows. Right. Like there's going to be some really incredible moments and there's also going to be some sort of very obvious freshman moments for usc. So putting them in the top five for me right now is sort of like this is gonna make me look silly at some point in the first three weeks of the season because there's going to be a time when three freshmen might be on the floor and people are going to be like, what is Chantel thinking? This team is not good because there's three 18 year olds on the floor who, you know, started college basketball two weeks ago. That said, I think by the end of the season when they've gelled together and sort of learned to play and again, when your foundation is juju Watkins and Raya Marshall and potentially a third in Kiki area, often like you'll be fine. You can weather those bumps and that'll be, you know, those three would take the majority of the minutes. But yeah, I think USC was the one that I was like, I believe in them. But this is definitely a March belief and less of a November belief, let me say.
- [41:11]
E
Sure, no, I get that. And of course, you know, when you also have Lindsey Gottlieb as a coach, she definitely is someone that helps develop players and also gets you to believe in yourself, which you definitely saw that with her coaching of juju Watkins in her first year. Okay, all right, so I feel like we're all pretty much around the same Page there's gonna be a lot of fun going into next year, but right now it's about to be WNBA season. Okay, so that's a very long ways away. But of course, remember May 1st transfer portal closing out. Start looking at how these teams are going to start shaping up because this off season is going to be all about some teams, a revenge tour. How can they get deeper in the NCAA tournament? How can they go up against those that broke their hearts in their conference tournaments? How can some people make a stand camp in their new conferences? This is, that's what they're the conversations are and the work being put in is going to be all about over this offseason. But right now a whole group of folks are going into training camp trying to make a WNBA roster. And if I don't know if you guys have heard, but it's like the hardest thing in the world to do. It's not easy, especially considering the limit limited spots. Ben, you got the chance to be in market as a team prepares for training camp, got to have their new players come on on board and get welcomed into the city by the team, by the personnel. Tell us a little bit about where you went and what that process was like.
- [42:40]
Zena
Yeah, I mean I spent the last couple days in Seattle visiting the Storm and I'll have more stories coming out of that trip on the site. And so what I would say now is, you know, you could sense the excitement, big picture for the season from members of that organization. You could see the intensity of Jewel Lloyd for instance, who had just gotten back into market. It was really interesting just to see players shuffle back in. Different players of different experience levels were coming back in for their arrivals and just getting re acclimated both to coaches and saying hi to old friends and practice players and former teammates and new teammates. And so it was kind of cool to see the initial introductions, the like pre introductions really start to take shape. Training camps for those out there begin April 28th, that is this coming Sunday. And things happen really quickly from there on out. Preseason games begin May 3. The last possible day for preseason games is May 12. Roster cut downs, final decisions are due May 13. And by May 14, this season is going to start for real. These games will count. So things really are going to happen very quickly, you know, from this point forward in the WNBA and you mentioned it, Zena, training camps are really hard and this year I think there's some extra purposes to them. A lot of teams, as you mentioned, not only do they not roster 12 players, most are going to roster 11 this year because of salary cap reasons. And that's something we've seen in past year. So it's not even the top 144 usually. It's closer to say like 138, 137 at any given time. The other thing that should be noted is this is an Olympic year. And so, you know, we'll see what happens in terms of injuries and in terms of players being, you know, having to maybe to leave early or coming back or just dealing with some time away. And so the added familiarity of having players in camp could make a big difference this year in terms of just having hardship players be signed to short term deals and just having some familiarity with the system. So that's one big picture thought. And because of the prioritization rule coming into effect, everyone is kind of starting camp at the same time, jumping right in. And so camps are really crowded this year. You know, a lot of camps, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 players heading in with not a lot of open spaces as camps get underway.
- [44:42]
E
Exactly. There's definitely a lot of competition. It's insane to think that some of these players that were overseas, that are still incredibly capable players are going to come back and have to go up against these youngins in this rookie class that have something to prove. Right. Especially considering how much hype has been built around them. It's been a lot of fun watching these WNBA commercials. Everyone's getting ready for this crazy rookie class with Brianna Stewart with those eating rookies for cereal and then Arike and Gumiwale making sure they're, they got their SPF on for the shade they're undoubtedly going to get. But as we go into training camp, any particular camps that are going to be the most interesting to watch?
- [45:19]
Zena
Yeah, the camp that I have my eye on the most is the Phoenix Mercury camp. This is a franchise that has a lot of players whose names you might know. Diana Taurasi, Brittney Griner, Kalia Copper coming over in an offseason trade, Natasha Cloud signing via free agency, Sophie Cunningham and Rebecca Allen, kind of. That is their top six. All big names, well established WNBA players and stars in this league. But from there on out, this is a team that really has a lot of questions. They probably have the most open number of spots of any roster. There's really six open spots on this team overall. So that is really the team for me that I have my eye on. Just to see how they build out the core around the first six that I mentioned. As I said, have a ton of talent, high price talent to you know, is veterans and a team with expectation like that is a core that that could win if everything clicks this year and everything goes to plan. But behind those names that I mentioned, it's a roster, you know, Charisma Osborne, she fell to the third round out of ucla. She's someone well she what she can do. Maya Hollingshed was a player a first round pick at the Las Vegas Aces a few years back. Someone who could be looking for an opportunity. Natasha Mack, someone else that college fan. She was a shot blocking force in Oklahoma State a few years back in college. She was a second round pick at the Sky a couple years back. Like these are players who could be looking for an opportunity. Jazz Shelley, another draft pick from this past year. You know, a name to watch because she had a really good NCAA tournament coming out of Nebraska. A lot of people liked her in terms of executive. So there's just a lot of options with Phoenix and how this roster shakes out. So they're really the team that I've circled to see how did these battles shake out? Who's going to end up making the final 11 or 12 on that team?
- [46:56]
E
I wasn't even thinking about Phoenix. But yes, now when you, when you lay it out like that is going to be cutthroat. The one that came to mind for me was the Aces only because they've got like 18 people trying to make a championship two time team. But I feel like Phoenix is going to be way more entertaining trying to make that roster. There's been a lot of rumors about people thinking that this year might be the year that the older players in the WNBA may not have their spots. So let's just say certain. So it'll be very interesting to see how these things kind of shake out and and what GMs look to do, you know, go up against the Las Vegas Aces. Chantel, any last things that you wanted to add on that?
- [47:37]
F
Well, just for all of our loyal listeners, I think we should note that we're going to have a change to our publishing schedule of the POD from here on out. We'll be coming to you every Tuesday, once a week. So we'll no longer be Tuesday Friday. We'll be compressing all of our great info into once a week. So prepare your ears for all that is our WNBA and off season women's college basketball coverage coming from all of us at the Athletic.
- [47:59]
Zena
And if there are any guests that you want to hear from or want us to reach out to, please let us know in the comments. Tweet at us. Reply I don't know where people communicate these things. Comment on our stories on TheAthletic.com that you want to hear from certain guests. We'll again have guests on the podcast. We don't plan to have that stop. That was a really fun part of the second half of the college season and it's something we plan to continue to do. So let us know who you want us to you bring on the show because we welcome all perspectives there too.
- [48:27]
E
Love it and love you guys doing my job for me. Thank you for everyone tuning in today. As Ben and Chantel said, we are changing our schedule. We still will keep you up to date on everything women's basketball and please join the conversation. Let us know what you want to hear from. But on behalf of Ben, on behalf of Chantelle, on behalf of all of us at the Narrative Athletic, I'm Zena Kada thanking you for your ear and encouraging you to keep listening, keep learning and keep loving the game because that's the only way we're going to keep growing it until next time.
- [49:07]
G
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H
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E
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Chantel
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I
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H
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E
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