Transfer Portal Buzzing: Olivia Miles & Avery Howell Stun Fans With Shocking Moves
On Sunday night minutes before the start of the Spokane Regional championship match between UConn and USC the stadium was not only buzzing with anticipation of the game but the news that hit social media: graduate guard Olivia Miles had entered the transfer portal. Miles, projected to be the number two pick in the 2025 WNBA draft had not only decided to forgo the draft but had also decided to leave Notre Dame who had recently lost to TCU in the Sweet 16 in the Birmingham Regional.
However, Notre Dame has continued to make headlines over the last several days as Kate Koval, Kylee Watson, and Emma Risch have all announced they have entered the portal. Koval a 6'5' freshman center averaged 5.3 points per game, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.7 blocks this season in her 10 starts. Watson, a 6'4' senior forward sat out this season due to injury/rehab, but in the 2023-2024 season she averaged 6.2 points per game, five rebounds, , 1.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks. Risch rounds out the list, the sophomore guard averaged 5.7 points per game, 1.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 13 games this season but a hip injury cut her season short.
Irish head coach Niele Ivey is currently left with four players as she also graduated five players, with four of them declaring for the 2025 WNBA draft in Sonia Cintron, Liatu King, Liza Karlen, and Maddy Westbeld. Out of those four players remaining on the team, only Hannah Hidalgo has had substantial minutes and experience, as the team's point leader and the 2024-2025 ACC Player and Defensive Player of the Year. With this mass exodus, is there concern for Ivey's recruiting class? The Irish have the #19 recruit in the country coming in next season in five star forward Leah Macy.
According to EJ Arocho, a national and international women's basketball scout, evaluator, and women's hoops writer, the biggest players in the portal right now are LSU's Sa'Myah Smith, Georgia Tech's Kara Dunn, Indiana's Yarden Garzon, Notre Dame's Koval (mentioned above), Bethune Cookman's Asianae Nicholson and the late addition of USC's Avery Howell.
Losing sophomore forward Sa'Myah Smith is a large blow for LSU. Smith had a breakout NCAA tournament. In LSU's second round game against No. 14 San Diego State, Smith scored 10 points and had eight rebounds. In the Sweet 16 game against No. 6 Florida State, Smith had a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds shooting an impressive 100% from the floor. In the Elite Eight game against No. 2 NC State, Smith again, had a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. However, what makes Smith's loss more significant is LSU is graduating their other post player in Aneesah Morrow who led the nation in double-doubles. Plus, LSU's 2026 recruiting class is made up of top 100 recruits but mainly guards.
Junior guard Kara Dunn is looking to the portal for a new opportunity. Dunn was an impact player for head coach Nell Fortner's squad as she averaged 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds this season, shooting 49% from the field and 35.4% from beyond the arc. In the post season, Dunn was a key component in the Yellow Jackets defeat of Virginia Tech in the second round of the Ally ACC tournament where she had 21 points. Even in the loss to NC State in the ACC quarterfinals, Dunn had 21 points on 50% shooting. Georgia Tech was a quiet but mighty contender throughout the year this season as they were undefeated until January 9 and ranked within the top 25. For Tech, losing Dunn and her consistent production will leave a gap that Tech will need to replace with their incoming recruiting class or portal transfers. Dunn was awarded First Team All-ACC honors for her performance in the regular season.
International guard Yarden Garzon is looking at exploring her options outside of Indiana after three seasons with the Hoosiers. The junior from Ra'anana, Israel averaged 14.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, on 43.1% shooting this season. In the Hoosiers game against the No. 1 seeded South Carolina Gamecocks that saw the contest come down the last minutes of play, Garzon had 10 points and eight rebounds. However, for coaches looking at guards in the portal, Garzon's play in the Big 10 and NCAA tournaments demonstrates her ability to score. In the Big 10 second round, Garzon scored 15 points and had seven rebounds against Purdue in their 77-57 win, as well as 18 points in their 78-62 win against Oregon. Although the Hoosiers lost to USC in the Big 10 quarterfinals, Garzon put up 23 points in the loss, and in their second round win against No. 8 Utah, she scored 17 points, contributed seven rebounds, and shot 50% from the floor. Garzon was awarded Big 10 Second Team honors for the regular season.
After a breakout year for Asianae Nicholson who saw her stat lines drastically improve at Bethune Cookman, she has entered the portal. Nicholson averaged 12.7 points, 11.8 rebounds while shooting 44.5% from the field this year which was a huge increase from 2.4 points and 3.6 rebounds the year prior. Nicholson also saw her time on the floor this season double. As a HBCU player, Nicholson has largely flown under the radar, but in her last five games of the season she had five straight double-doubles. Nicholson was named to the All-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Second Team and to the HBCU Women's Basketball Division I All-American Team.
However, late on April 2, USC's freshman guard Avery Howell entered the portal. This one shocked basketball writers and fans alike on Wednesday night. Howell played in 35 games for the Trojans, averaged 20.8 minutes, 7.5 points, 3 rebounds, and 39.9% from beyond the arc. Howell was crucial in the success of the Trojans without superstar JuJu Watkins who tore her ACL in the second round of the tournament. In the Sweet 16 matchup against No. 9 Mississippi State that would see Watkins carried off the floor, Howell had 18 points in the team win. Howell would have 18 points again in the Elite Eight game against no. 5 Kansas State to elevate USC to their matchup against UConn for a spot in the Final Four. This is a particularly tough blow for head coach Lindsay Gottlieb and her staff as the freshman was shooting 44.4 and 50% beyond the arc in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games.
Arocho stated and ranked that some programs have already scored big commits out of the portal. First, and foremost, Jada Williams, the highly sought after guard from Arizona has decided to transfer to Iowa State. In the past couple weeks, it seemed to come down to Iowa or Iowa State, with the Cyclones winning the contest. Williams is a savvy guard able to score (12.7 points per game) and distribute the ball (2.9 assists).
University of South Florida picked up IU Indianapolis' senior guard Katie Davidson. Davidson averaged 19.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists and was shooting 50.2% from the floor this season. Davidson played her first two years of college in the Mid-American conference before transferring to IU Indy.
Cincinnati picked up Florida Atlantic University's junior guard Mya Perry. Perry averaged 15.5 points per game, 3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists. Before playing at FAU, Perry played one season at Ohio State, however, Perry had very few minutes for the Buckeyes, in comparison to the Owls, where she was a consistent starter. For her play this season, Perry was named to the American Athletic All-Conference Second Team.
Baylor might be losing seniors that helped carry them far in the Big 12 tournament and March Madness but found a key element in Auburn's Taliah Scott. Scott, a sophomore guard averaged 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and two assists this year. Scott has proven she can compete at the highest level as she played at Arkansas during 2023-2024 season averaging 22.1 points per game and 3.3 rebounds.
Oklahoma State acquired Haleigh Timmer from South Dakota State. Timmer as a sophomore led her team to a 2023 Summit League Tournament title and was the MVP but missed the next season due to injury. This season, Timmer, a junior averaged 12.8 points per game, with four rebounds, shooting 48.4%, and was named to the All-Summit League Honorable Mention team. South Dakota State won their 12th Summit League tournament title this season taking them to the NCAA tournament where they shocked No. 7 Oklahoma State winning as a 10 seed. Clearly, Oklahoma State head coach Jacie Hoyt had the opportunity to watch Timmer play up close in their match up as Timmer had 11 points and five rebounds in their matchup.
Although TCU is losing their height and inside the paint game with center Sedona Prince graduating and exhausting her eligibility, they have gained an asset out of the portal in 6-foot-7 center Clara Silva from Kentucky. Silva appeared in 31 games averaging four points and 2.6 rebounds for Kenny Brooks Wildcat program and still has three years of eligibility remaining.
After losing recently in the tournament to No. 1 overall seed and Final Four bound UCLA in the Sweet 16, it seems Coach Yolett 'Yo' McPhee-McCuin and her staff at Ole Miss have been extremely busy as they picked up Virginia's Latasha Lattimore, University of Central Florida's Kaitlin Peterson, and Wichita State's Jayla Murray. Lattimore a 6'4' senior forward averaged 14.3 points and 8.2 rebounds this year for the Wahoos. Lattimore had previously played at Texas her freshman season where she played in 32 games but only saw an average of 10 minutes. She transferred and played at the University of Miami for two season seeing her minutes increase. However, Lattimore still transferred and had her most productive season yet at Virginia this year. Needless to say with Coach Yo losing size with her graduating class she is most likely hoping Lattimore will help replace that front court presence.
Ole Miss also secured UCF's senior guard Kaitlin Peterson who averaged 21.4 points per game this season. Peterson's last two years at UCF she has averaged more than 20 points per game. Before coming to UCF, Peterson played her first two seasons at Indiana but did not see an enormous amount of playing time. In addition to Peterson's scoring ability, Coach Yo added Jayla Murray, a junior forward from Wichita State to her roster. Murray averaged 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, shooting 49% from the floor, nearly doubling her production from the previous year. Murray's improvement was noticed this season as she was named to the American All-Second Conference Team.
As of April 2, On3.com (which has a live tracker run by women's basketball report Talia Goodman), reports that there are 1,162 active Division I basketball players in the women's basketball transfer portal with only 57 committed to new teams.
You can find more of Arocho and Goodman's breaking news related to the transfer portal and women's basketball on X: @EJayArrow & @TaliaGoodmanWBB.
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