Latest news with #AveryHowell
USA Today
09-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USC freshman standout Avery Howell commits to Washington
USC freshman standout Avery Howell commits to Washington Avery Howell goes to Seattle to get extended minutes for Washington Last week, USC women's basketball freshman standout Avery Howell made headlines when she surprisingly announced that she would be entering the transfer portal. Now, Howell officially has a new home, as on Tuesday, she committed to Washington. Howell served as the Trojans' sixth player for the majority of the season. She started the team's final two games following the season-ending injury to Juju Watkins and played well, racking up 18 points, eight rebounds, and four steals in USC's Sweet 16 victory over Kansas State. Here is what Huskies Wire had to say about the addition of Howell: "[Howell will] reunite with a familiar face in five-star forward Brynn McGaughy, as the two were club teammates with META Hoops, Howell is expected to be a key part of Langley's backcourt. Headlined by All-Big Ten Second Team honoree Elle Ladine and honorable mention Sayvia Sellers, and supplemented by Hanah Stines and Chloe Briggs, along with four-star freshmen Bryn Martin and Sienna Harvey, the Huskies are expected to harbor one of the best guard rotations in the Big Ten. Bringing Howell into the mix gives Langley another sharpshooter as she looks to take her team beyond the first round of the NCAA Tournament next season." With Watkins likely to be unavailable for a good chunk of next season and both Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall graduating, Howell was expected to play a major role for next year's team. Her departure leaves a major void in the Trojans' lineup, one that head coach Lindsay Gottlieb will likely be forced to look outside to fill.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USC women's basketball loses Kayleigh Heckel to transfer portal as roster churn continues
USC women's basketball loses Kayleigh Heckel to transfer portal as roster churn continues Kayleigh Heckel joins Avery Howell in hitting the transfer portal. The next few weeks will be very busy. Less than 48 hours after USC women's basketball's season came to an end with a loss to UConn in the Elite Eight, freshman Avery Howell announced that she will be entering the transfer portal. As it turns out, however, Howell will not be the only Trojan departing the program, as she was quickly joined in the portal by Kayleigh Heckel and Aaliyah Gales. Gales was a relatively unsurprising departure. After redshirting as a true freshman, she has averaged under 7 minutes per game each of the past two years, appearing in just 24 total contests. It seemed as though Gales was never truly able to carve out a role for herself in head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's program, so it makes sense that she is choosing to look elsewhere. Heckel, however, is a much more surprising entrant. As a true freshman this year, she averaged 16.9 minutes and 6.1 points per game. With the Trojans graduating three of their five starters and superstar Juju Watkins likely set to miss significant time with an ACL injury, Heckel, like Howell, appeared poised to player a major role next season. With both players gone, however, USC's roster is now full of question marks heading into the offseason. Assuming Watkins is not healthy to start the year, the Trojans will return just one player who averaged more than three points per game in 2024-2025: Kennedy Smith. Expect Gottlieb to attack the portal hard this offseason as she looks to add players who can keep the program competitive while Watkins recovers from her injury.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Freshman Avery Howell is 1 of 3 USC guards entering transfer portal. Drake's Bennett Stirtz to Iowa
Drake guard Bennett Stirtz (14) drives under pressure from Texas Tech guard Elijah Hawkins, left, during the first half of the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Southern California guard Avery Howell (23) reaches out to head coach Lindsay Gottlieb during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Kansas State, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Southern California guard Avery Howell (23) grabs a rebound during the first half against UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 31, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) Southern California guard Avery Howell (23) grabs a rebound during the first half against UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 31, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) Drake guard Bennett Stirtz (14) drives under pressure from Texas Tech guard Elijah Hawkins, left, during the first half of the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Southern California guard Avery Howell (23) reaches out to head coach Lindsay Gottlieb during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Kansas State, Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Southern California guard Avery Howell (23) grabs a rebound during the first half against UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, March 31, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak) Freshman Avery Howell is leaving Southern California and entering the transfer portal, along with two other Trojans guards. Howell announced her decision on her Instagram account. The 6-foot guard from Boise, Idaho, averaged 7.5 points and shot 43% from the field, including a team-high 40% from 3-point range, and 83% from the free-throw line. Advertisement Howell averaged nearly 21 minutes off the bench. She started USC's last two games in the NCAA Tournament after star guard JuJu Watkins went down with an ACL tear in the second round. Howell, an alternate on Canada's 2024 Olympic team, had been expected to play more next season while Watkins recovers. 'After much reflection, I have decided to enter the transfer portal in search of the best fit for the future,' she posted Wednesday. 'This was not an easy decision, but I believe it is the right step for my journey. Thank you, USC, for everything — you will always hold a special place in my heart.' Howell was joined in the portal by redshirt sophomore Aaliyah Gayles and redshirt junior Dominique Darius. Gayles appeared in 15 games totaling 69 minutes, with 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and six steals. She signed a national letter of intent with USC from a hospital bed after being shot numerous times at a North Las Vegas house party in April 2022. She called USC 'the best thing I ever committed to.' Advertisement Darius didn't play this season after appearing in 19 games last year. She sat out the 2022-23 season after transferring from UCLA. On the men's side, new Iowa coach Ben McCollum announced that Missouri Valley Conference player of the year Bennett Stirtz and two other players from Drake are following him to Iowa City. Stirtz, Kael Combs and Cam Manyawu helped lead McCollum's Bulldogs to a 31-win season, Missouri Valley regular-season and tournament titles and a win over Missouri in the NCAA Tournament. Stirtz played two seasons for McCollum at Division II Northwest Missouri State and then went with him to Drake for one season. He led the Valley in scoring, steals and assist-to-turnover ratio and ranked second in assists. He led the nation in minutes played. Advertisement ___ AP March Madness brackets: and and coverage: Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here.
USA Today
03-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USC women's basketball suffers surprising loss -- Avery Howell enters transfer portal
USC women's basketball suffers surprising loss -- Avery Howell enters transfer portal Avery Howell leaves as transfer portal intrigue deepens for USC basketball On Monday, USC women's basketball fell to UConn in the Elite Eight, ending the Trojans' 2024-2025 season. On Wednesday, USC suffered another loss when freshman Avery Howell made the surprising announcement that she will be entering the transfer portal. Howell served as the Trojans' sixth player for the majority of the season. She started the team's final two games following the season-ending injury to Juju Watkins and played well, racking up 18 points, eight rebounds, and four steals in USC's Sweet 16 victory over Kansas State. With Watkins likely to be unavailable for a good chunk of next season and both Kiki Iriafen and Rayah Marshall graduating, Howell was expected to play a major role for next year's team. Her departure leaves a major void in the Trojans' lineup, one that head coach Lindsay Gottlieb will likely be forced to look outside to fill. Assuming Watkins is unavailable at the start of next season, Kennedy Smith will be USC's only returner who averaged more than 17 minutes per game this season. In addition to turning to the transfer portal, the Trojans will likely be looking for bigger roles out of Kayleigh Heckel and Malia Samuels.
USA Today
30-03-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
After stepping up vs Kansas State, USC freshmen will need to do so again against UConn
After stepping up vs Kansas State, USC freshmen will need to do so again against UConn Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell try to lift USC one more time After losing superstar Juju Watkins for the season last week, USC women's basketball knew it needed other players to step up if the Trojans still wanted to make a deep tournament run. On Saturday against Kansas State, the Trojans got just that from freshmen Kennedy Smith and Avery Howell. With Watkins out, the Trojans' freshmen had their coming-of-age moment against the Wildcats. Smith led USC in scoring, putting up 19 points on 50% shooting from the field. Howell, meanwhile, had 18 points and eight rebounds, going four-of-eight from behind the three-point line. Now, the Trojans will turn their focus to tomorrow night's Elite Eight matchup against UConn. USC knows that if they want to have any chance of knocking off the sport's most successful program of all-time, they will once again need their freshmen to step up. "They're winners above everything else," head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said of her freshmen following Saturday's victory. "We've been stepping up all season in different ways, so I think we were really ready for the moment today." Taking down UConn without Watkins will be a massive challenge. But if Saturday showed up anything, it is that Smith and Howell will be ready for the moment.
