Big Ten's Early Winners, Losers From The Portal
There have been some Ohio State's, but also some Wisconsin's
Hello everyone, I am back and well rested from the Hoopla break. I missed you all, and some things have certainly happened since I’ve last written about Big Ten women’s basketball.
Those things, unfortunately, did not include Hailey Van Lith or Anessah Morrow, who both ultimately chose to go to the dark side and join LSU. Still, there have been some big additions made by the 14 teams we all love, as well as some tough departures.
Here are my current winners and losers strictly from what’s happened through the portal as of May 8. Some notes:
This will not have every single addition and departure from every team in here. If you’d like to see that, go over to Raoul’s blog that has the best up-to-date information of every team’s portal moves. Talia Goodman’s website is also a good resource to sort by conference.
It is only May 8 and plenty can change from now until October. This is more of a snapshot of where things stand in the early goings, and with many of the big names having chosen a destination.
Based on the names listed on Raoul’s website, there have been 20 additions made by Big Ten teams in the transfer portal thus far. That is compared to 47 departures, so there’s been a lot more leaving than coming in to this point. This will even itself out over time, as not all 47 players have found new destinations, and three have even found new landing spots within the conference. But for now, more than double of the moves have been exits.
Winners
Even with less incoming moves than outgoing, there have been some very solid players that have joined Big Ten teams.
Ohio State
No Big Ten team has improved more in the portal than Ohio State, who has picked up two excellent additions that will help the Buckeyes capitalize on their Elite Eight run from this past year.
Celeste Taylor is the No. 1 get in the entire conference at this stage, not just in talent, but in fit. Taylor was an excellent player at Duke, averaging 11.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 2.5 APG. But her biggest strength was on defense, where she was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year and averaged 2.2 steals per game. Adding that type of player to Ohio State’s relentless press defense should make the Buckeyes one of the most annoying teams to play in the country, and I mean that in all the best ways.
Not only that, but Ohio State also added Taiyier Parks, a 6-3 forward with much needed size to give the Buckeyes more of a paint presence on both sides of the floor. Parks averaged 8.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 1.2 SPG last season, doing it with just 18.5 minutes per contest. She was underutilized at Michigan State, and should see an expanded role here.
For the Buckeyes to add this talent to a team with so much of it already makes Ohio State a contender to win the Big Ten and possibly much more.
Illinois
If Illinois didn’t capitalize on Shauna Green’s outstanding first season, I would have been upset.
So far, so good. The Illini have lost two depth pieces in Jayla Oden (to Penn State) and Liisa Taponen (Akron), but have gained back two solid ACC talents that should make more of an impact.
First up is Shay Bollin, a 6-3 forward from Duke who didn’t see much time as a freshman, but came in as a high four-star with loads of potential. She should give the Illini important size behind Kendall Bostic, and Green has already proven more than capable of bringing out previous untapped potential.
The other name, Camille Hobby, is a more known factor. Another 6-3 forward, Hobby started all 32 games for NC State last season, averaging 8.8 PPG and 4.2 RPG while shooting 51.8 percent from the field. With 113 total games of experience, Hobby should be an instant-impact player who could make for a fantastic interior duo with Bostic.
Illinois’ last add from NC State — Genesis Bryant — made a bit of a leap, some would say.
Rutgers
Yeah, I’m starting to buy in to what the Scarlet Knights are doing.
After getting away with murder last year — if you haven’t heard, Rutgers had eight total players on a roster, and that eight-player roster missed a combined one game all season — head coach Coquese Washington was able to see what she had there, and can move forward with a more clear plan.
So far, I like what I’m seeing. Kai Carter, the only player in the Big Ten with a win share total under -0.2, is the lone departure. The additions, North Carolina’s Destiny Adams and Texas A&M’s Mya Petticord, add more options for players with high potential.
Adams averaged 4.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 0.8 BPG for the Tar Heels, showing real flashes of defensive excellence. She’s also a former top 20 prospect who should shine in a larger role.
Petticord is more of a gamble: Another former four-star, her first collegiate season was…. well it wasn’t very good. But Washington and Rutgers are still in a place where that gamble is worth taking to see if they can bring out some of that top 100 potential she showed in high school.
These aren’t seismic, conference-shifting moves, but they are the right moves for Rutgers to be making in this position to build around the current foundation. To do that, without any key losses to the portal, is a big success.
Losers
With 47 (current) players gone, there were sure to be some big names moving on. While the superstars of the conference have stayed put, some team have done better than others at keeping their cores together.
Wisconsin
We saw marginal improvement from the Badgers in Marisa Moseley’s second season at the helm, moving from eight wins to 11 in 2022-23. Two of the key players in that move up were freshman Serah Williams and redshirt freshman Maty Wilke, the latter of which I had in my end-of-season Hoopla 40.
Williams remains, but Wilke is off to Utah, joining an impressively deep Utes squad that was seconds away from taking down the eventual national champions in the Sweet 16. That’s a big, big, big loss for a team that really needs to keep its young core together.
Along with Wilke, three more players have left, all of which were underclassmen: Krystyna Ellew (UIC), Mary Ferrito (UNC Wilmington) and Savannah White, the latter of which left in the middle of the season. Thus far, the Badgers have not made an addition through the portal.
These losses, plus the loss of Sydney Hilliard in the middle of the season to personal reasons, is enough reason for concern. Hopefully Wisconsin can make some solid adds as we move through the offseason, and there is a four-player freshman class coming, but losing players like Wilke is extremely unfortunate.
Michigan State
When Suzy Merchant was forced to step down as head coach for health reasons, there was likely to be some key departures from this deep Spartans roster, so this isn’t necessarily anyone’s fault more than it is a bad circumstance.
Michigan State is down six players from last year’s team, tied with Penn State for the most in the Big Ten at this point. Unlike the Nittany Lions, the Spartans have lost some of their most important pieces, starting with guard Matilda Ekh. Ekh, one of the best shooters in the conference in her two seasons with Michigan State, is off to Virginia Tech. The previously mentioned Parks is also joining the Buckeyes.
Jayla James, Olivia Porter, Brooklyn Ewers and Maddy Skorupski are the four other losses for the Spartans for now, but it hasn’t all been doom and gloom in East Lansing. Michigan State has gotten two incoming players with new head coach Robyn Fralick, both from the MAC where Fralick coached.
One is Jocelyn Tate, who played under Fralick at Bowling Green. The other is Lauren Ross, a big-time scorer out of Western Michigan. Ross was eighth nationally with 22.1 PPG, and did so shooting 46.2 percent from the field. It’s still been a net negative for Michigan State, but there’s plenty of hope, and Ross should continue her scoring ways in the Big Ten.
Waiting and Seeing
There are other teams off to not-so-good starts in the portal: Penn State is down six players as stated and Northwestern, like Wisconsin, is down four without a single addition, but those losses felt less consequential and more fixable down the line.
Here, I wanted to talk quickly about some of the Big Ten’s top teams from last season who could still end up leaning one way or another as we move forward into the offseason.
Iowa is fresh off a finals run, and has only lost one player — Shateah Wattering — to the portal. That’s obviously good, but the Hawkeyes have not made an addition, specifically one that could replace either McKenna Warnock or Monika Czinano. I think a Warnock replacement is needed to keep Iowa at the top, and I’m curious where the Hawkeyes look to make that happen.
Indiana is down three players without making an add, and I nearly had them in the “losers” category for it. Kiandra Browne, Kaitlin Peterson and Mona Zaric aren’t massive losses, but Grace Berger (to the WNBA) was, and the Hoosiers seemed close to getting Iowa State’s Lexi Donarski, but that ultimately fell through. The Hoosiers could really use some bench depth at the very least through the portal.
Maryland has lost three players, including star prospect Mila Reynolds, who is joining her sister Amiyah in Purdue. But the Terps also bring in a great add with NC State’s Jakia Brown-Turner. I’m looking for one more big name to join this roster before I get excited, because Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller is a lot of scoring to make up.
Those three teams have been quiet, Michigan has not. With three adds and five losses, the Wolverines have had plenty of movement to go along with losing Leigha Brown and Emily Kiser. Maddie Nolan being on that departure list was a real surprise, and her three-and-D expertise is a tough loss to take. But the Wolverines have also earned some great gets, specifically Lauren Hansen out of Missouri. Elissa Brett (Bowling Green) and Taylor Williams (Western Michigan) should also play a role, but Hansen has shown great shooting ability and is a pesky defender. I love that fit, and it makes Michigan’s bust offseason a net neutral in my eyes.
The portal will continue to portal, but it won’t be all we talk about this offseason I swear. Either way, glad to be back and Hoopla will now continue churning out the content for you every Monday (and some Thursdays).
Feature Photo Credit: Courtesy of Duke Athletics
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