During USC’s upset win against Iowa on Jan. 29, Lindsay Gottlieb called out a play that she first used two years ago. She changed the name of the play, and immediately, junior guard Malia Samuels, one of the longest tenured players on the team, jumped up off the bench and recognized it.
“I called it ‘Ohio’, and she’s like, ‘It’s ‘Flyer,'” Gottlieb said following the win. “Malia’s on it, because she knows, she’s been here.”
In a season where growing pains have been evident, Samuels has represented stability for Gottlieb and the Trojans. The year Samuels arrived at USC was also the year JuJu Watkins got there. They were the only two freshmen in the Trojans’ 2023 class.
The following year, USC brought in seven freshmen. Two of those seven, Avery Howell and Kayleigh Heckel, both transferred out after one year despite playing crucial roles on a team that reached the Elite Eight.
Samuels, on the other hand, played a relatively small role as a freshman. That role gradually increased as a sophomore, and this season she’s been an invaluable player for the Trojans.
“I think to have someone grow and develop, it’s been great for her; she’s become a better player,” Gottlieb said. “She’s become super involved in everything we’re doing, and she’s been really active on campus and has all these other things going forward. For the team, it’s been really nice. You have people who know what you want, who have been in the battles.”
It highlights one of the major dilemmas coaches face in today’s evolving college basketball landscape. Amid the explosion of the transfer portal and the introduction of NIL money, the days when teams brought in a whole freshman class and developed them for four years seem to be disappearing.
USC is no stranger to the transfer portal. Two years ago, Gottlieb secured the commitments of three Ivy League standouts in McKenzie Forbes, Kayla Padilla and Kaitlyn Davis. Their arrival powered an Elite Eight run. After their departure, the Trojans reloaded with Kiki Iriafen and Talia von Oelhoffen and made another Elite Eight tournament run.
For Gottlieb, the key to navigating the evolving landscape is to balance both in terms of recruiting. Bringing in freshmen whom you can grow and develop is key to establishing a culture of success. Being able to add to that core with veteran transfers who fit is also necessary to construct a team that can contend.
“I think the trick now for coaches is to integrate both. The more players you can have kind of developing through the program, great,” Gottlieb said. “You add veteran stuff in the portal if you need to. But I think it’s great when someone can be like Malia and be a success story of growth. Not everyone gets what they want all at once, but I think that life benefits come from growing through some adversity.”
Going across the city to the Trojans’ crosstown rival, the UCLA Bruins, Cori Close faces a similar dilemma. Last season, the Bruins reached their first-ever NCAA Final Four in program history. What resulted was six players entering the transfer portal, including UCLA’s entire 2024 freshman class.
Perhaps part of the reason so many players hit the portal following such a successful season was the pending return of two major transfers, both of whom would have affected playing time. Charlisse Leger-Walker, who missed the entire 2024-25 season due to injury rehab, was slated to finally make her UCLA debut after transferring from Washington State. Angela Dugalic, who has become such an important piece for the team since transferring from Oregon, was slated to return for a final year of eligibility.
This season, UCLA added three freshmen in Sienna Betts, Lena Bilic and Christina Karamouzi. Betts and Bilic have both been key contributors this season, and while Close has been ecstatic with their development, she offers a more subdued outlook in terms of the future of recruiting.
“I think there’s a reality to the landscape that we have now. We are not going to have as many four-year players as we used to,” Close said following a recent UCLA practice. “I don’t think I can build only from the freshmen out anymore. I don’t like that. I actually would not prefer that. But it doesn’t really matter what I think. My job is to lead in the landscape I’ve been given.”
And it’s not just the transfer portal that’s affected recruiting. The introduction of NIL money has played a major role in how recruits are now choosing schools. To top that off, the lure of NIL money has helped high-major schools lure impact players from mid-major programs.
Earlier this season, Close likened college basketball programs to professional sports teams, complete with a front office and proper financial backing. In addition to her duties as coach, she said she has felt like a CEO at times as well. It’s been a challenge for her to adapt to the changing landscape. And she feels the way she can best deal with it is her style of coaching.
”It’s a reality in how we recruit and NIL money and everything, instant gratification is something you’re always trying to battle,” Close said. “The way we have chosen to attack entitlement and instant gratification is to practice gratitude and to serve selflessly. I think if we can plant those seeds of gratitude and selflessness and servant-mindedness, then that can sometimes find a healthy tension. I want them to maximize their opportunities; I don’t begrudge anyone for that. But at the same time, there needs to be a little perspective. There’s a lot of value in having to work long and hard for what you want.”
While UCLA has benefitted from the portal with Leger-Walker, Lauren Betts and Gianna Kneepkens all playing major roles on a national championship-contending team, players like Kiki Rice and Gabriela Jaquez have stayed the course. They arrived as freshmen four years ago and are set to leave having played their entire college tenure with the Bruins.
In a way, building from the ground up is something the transfers did as well, from Close’s point of view. Take Leger-Walker, for example. She spent four years at Washington State before transferring to UCLA. It’s not uncommon to see players make more than two stops via the portal in today’s landscape. For Close, it’s a similar path to the one her backcourt teammate Rice took.
”We may have had them for different levels of time, but both of them are absolutely committed to work ethic, growth and other synergies. I do shine a light on someone like Kiki who stayed four years and really paid her dues,” Close said. “So did Charlisse. Charlisse stayed four years, then happened to have a COVID year, plus an injury situation. You’re talking about two kids that were committed and loyal and stayed the course. I want to honor them for that because less and less people are doing that.”
And as fewer players are staying committed for a full four years, the Iowa Hawkeyes remain a bit of an anomaly in the present landscape. The majority of their current roster, while young, were all recruited as freshmen. The Hawkeyes have only three transfers on the team in Chit Chat Wright, Emely Rodriguez and Kylie Feuerbach. And in the case of Feuerbach, she has now been on the roster for five years.
Constructing a team of homegrown talents is what Jan Jensen is used to. The core of the Hawkeye teams that reached back-to-back national championship games were all Iowa recruits. Last season, Jensen’s first as head coach, the team brought in Lucy Olsen from Villanova due to necessity. This year, Wright was the primary necessity.
And that’s how Jensen believes recruiting should be. The portal exists as a tool to enhance what you already have.
”Some of my colleagues, they’re not really paying as much attention to high school anymore, they’re doing it all [with the] portal. Some people are trying to hold onto the old guard,” Jensen said following Iowa’s loss to UCLA on Feb 1. “I just think you have to navigate it as best you can, and what feels right to you. I tend to do the portal based on need … but I tend not to go to the portal to instantly get better. I’d rather develop our players.”
As an observer and peer, Jensen was a bit shocked when UCLA’s entire freshman class entered the portal following the Bruins’ Final Four run. In addition to veterans Londynn Jones and Janiah Barker, UCLA lost Elina Aarnisalo, Kendall Dudley, Zania Socka-Nguemen and Avary Cain.
But she was also impressed with the way Close responded to those losses through the portal, even if that wouldn’t have been Jensen’s first option. What struck her the most was a player like Dugalic, a starter last season, buying into coming off the bench and not opting for the portal, if it meant getting Kneepkens and contending for a national championship.
”I immensely respect Cori. After that Final Four run, the team leaves, it’s crazy. But credit to her. She got [Gianna] Kneepkens; she does a great job,” Jensen said. “I recruited the heck out of Angela. I loved her. That kid is quality. She probably said, ‘Yeah, I’m good coming off the bench if we can get Kneepkens and go win the title.’”
In Jensen’s first year at the helm, Iowa brought in four freshmen in Ava Heiden, Aaliyah Guyton, Teagan Mallegni and Taylor Stremlow. Guyton transferred to Illinois, but the rest stayed. This season, the Hawkeyes brought in three freshmen in Addie Deal, Layla Hays and Journey Houston.
Jensen is not oblivious to the challenges and roadblocks that come with trying to retain and grow a group of young players. Finding that healthy balance is going to be key moving forward.
”It’s going to be interesting to see, can you survive trying to really recruit the high school kid? I do believe you can, that’s how I want to do it. I’m going to try to do it. Certainly, I have to recruit the portal to be competitive,” Jensen said. “There’s just so many people in their heads. There’s a lot of agents, and there’s handlers and there’s camps. It’s hard to keep everybody happy. You’re trying to win games, but sometimes you just got to hold the line. I think with rev shares and the collectives, all of it, we’re all trying to figure it out.”
And then take Maryland, which has been bolstered by one of the top transfers this season in Yarden Garzon. After three years at Indiana, Garzon joined the Terrapins for her final season of eligibility. She is a potential first-round WNBA draft pick.
Maryland also added Oluchi Okananwa from Duke, and she has helped provide experience and stability to a young Terrapins team. For Brenda Frese, it’s simply a matter of doing what it takes to make the roster better and more competitive.
“I don’t think it’s challenged us; we’ve adapted. I think when you look at the impact that we’ve had from the transfer portal with Yarden and Saylor [Poffenbarger] and Oluchi, they’ve had quite the impact,” Frese said following Maryland’s loss to UCLA on Jan 18. “You’re building these rosters every year, and you’re trying to find the areas that you can put your team into positions to be successful.”
Last season, Maryland was also strengthened by the portal with a few impact players in Saylor Poffenbarger, Kaylene Smikle and Sarah Te-Biasu. Unfortunately for Maryland, Smikle suffered a season-ending knee injury in December, and Te-Biasu used up her eligibility. But Poffenbarger has stepped up this season, her second with the Terrapins. She’s moved into the starting lineup permanently and is averaging a career-high 10.3 points, as per Sports Reference.
As Frese continues to keep her program as one of the best in the Big Ten, the main goal is just trying to get better. If that means it’s via the portal, then so be it. In addition to Smikle, the Terrapins have two other players who were slated to be key contributors, Lea Bartelme and Ava McKennie, out due to injuries sustained this year. Bri McDaniel is also out, using a redshirt season after an injury sustained last year.
The addition of the transfers has helped keep Maryland afloat in the Big Ten despite the injuries.
“We’ve got four players out, three that were potential starters for us,” Frese said. “I think for us, it’s just continuing to have the perspective of trying to get better every single day.”
And for some teams, they watch a player whom they helped develop leave for a conference opponent. That’s what happened with Londynn Jones leaving UCLA for USC, and it’s what happened to Coquese Washington at Rutgers when Smikle hit the portal and transferred to Maryland. And after that, it was Kiyomi McMiller who departed for Penn State.
Coquese Washington saw firsthand the impact of the portal when she took over in 2022 following the retirement of C. Vivian Stringer. Nine players jumped ship that year, although that can be a common occurrence amid a coaching change. She echoes Close’s sentiment that while recruiting overall has changed, it is your ability to nurture relationships and style of coaching that can help make a difference.
”The game is always evolving. From a recruiting standpoint, the way you recruit is evolving as well. But some things remain intact, or should I say, remain important, which is relationships,” Washington said following Rutgers’ loss to UCLA last week. “Being able to build relationships, being able to connect with the players that you’re recruiting to make sure they’re a good fit for your culture and a good fit for your program.”
Coquese Washington is no stranger to finances and how that can influence a player’s decisions in the NIL landscape. She played six seasons in the WNBA and was the first-ever president of the WNBPA. While some might argue that NIL has caused a negative effect on college basketball, Washington sees it as another tool to use, an added talking point when trying to recruit players.
“You talk about location, you talk about housing, you talk about academics and majors and what you’re going to study, and you talk about NIL. It’s just another element,” Washington said. “It’s just a reality that you have to attend to that talking point and that aspect that is out there for student athletes, it’s part of your recruiting. It’s part of the recruiting dynamic … from just a growth of the game standpoint, it’s exciting to see how the game has continued to grow and the eyeballs that are on the game.”
”We do have this opportunity from an NIL standpoint, because there’s more eyeballs on the game, there is more revenue on the professional level, on the collegiate level, even down to the high school level. There are high school student athletes that have NIL deals,” Washington continued. “They have a brand, they have a face. Overall, I think that’s good for the game that so many eyeballs are on it. And these women in our game, whether it’s professional, collegiate or scholastic, they have an opportunity to have a platform, have a voice and have an impact.”
This year, Coquese Washington bolstered her roster with eight new players, six of them from the transfer portal. Those players were Lauryn Swann, Kaylah Ivey, Yacine N’Diaye, Nene Ndiaye, Imani Lester and Faith Blackstone. The only issue has been due to illness and injury; she hasn’t gotten to see her full complement of transfers in the lineup. After the UCLA game, Washington mentioned how she’s had them all on the court for only one quarter this season.
Even with the absences, she’s been pleased with the way the newcomers have immersed themselves in the program and represented the team, even if it hasn’t always been on the court just yet. For her, there’s always going to be something new for coaches to deal with; it’s just how they adapt to it that makes all the difference.
”When you look over the course of college sports, every few years something else comes that as coaches, we have to pay attention and be mindful of. At one point it was academics and being mindful of the academic progress of your student athletes … then there was the mental health aspect and then there’s the financial aspect,” Washington said. “So it’s always something that is evolving in terms of what we have to attend to as coaches. I think this financial piece is just another evolution of what we have to pay attention to.”
