News: there was a lot going on Wednesday relating to the Wisconsin women's basketball team
Not all of it was bad, though!
Whenever there is a coaching change in college basketball you can expect multiple players to enter the transfer portal. The Wisconsin Badgers women’s basketball team (who were honestly going to suffer a number of defections to the portal regardless of whether or not the coach was fired or “resigned”) is no different.
After Marisa Moseley announced that she was no longer going to be the head coach in Madison it was only a matter of time before the first domino fell. Well, on Wednesday afternoon, a pair of major dominoes went down as UW lost their entire starting front-court.
Sophomore big Carter McCray, who transferred TO Wisconsin before the season, is now back in the portal and looking for her third team in three years.
While McCray’s announcement was a bit unexpected, All-Big Ten forward Serah Williams entering the portal is something I heard about BEFORE the season even started. A player of her quality was not going to sit around in Madison for another year, without making the NCAA Tournament, and play under a new coach.
Williams posted this short message on her various social media accounts:
“Thank you Coach Mo and coaching staff for the past 3 years
Thank you Wisconsin and the Badger community for all of your support. I’m super blessed and grateful
With that being said, I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal”
Williams’ list of accolades during her three years at Wisconsin is long. While wearing the cardinal and white she:
won Big Ten Freshman of the Week four times in 2023
2023 Big Ten All-Freshman Team
2024 All-Big Ten First Team
2024 Big Ten All-Defensive Team
2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year
2025 All-Big Ten First Team
This past season she averaged 19.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.1 spg, and 2.3 bpg while shooting 49.3% from the field. She started all 30 games Wisconsin played and ended the year ranked third in the Big Ten in ppg, second in rpg, and second in bpg.
The native of Brooklyn, N.Y. will have no shortage of suitors in the transfer portal and I’ve heard rumblings that she may be thinking about staying in the Big Ten when she decides on her new team.
McCray only played one year at Wisconsin but she had a positive impact on the team in her short stint. As a freshman at Northern Kentucky, McCray was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year and made the Second Team All-Horizon League after averaging 15.7 ppg and 11.2 rpg in 22 games played.
While her counting numbers were down with UW (10.6 ppg, 7.1 rpg), her efficiency numbers stayed pretty much the same with her eFG% and points per scoring attempt going up with the lowered usage. Listed generously at 6-foot-1, McCray doesn’t have ideal height to battle in the post in the Big Ten but that didn’t stop her from routinely out-rebounding larger players.
As a player with multiple years of eligibility remaining, the Oberlin, Ohio native will also have teams lining up to try and secure her services in the transfer portal.
In other news:
it is rumored that Wisconsin will turn down a WNIT invitation despite the team being split on whether or not they want to keep playing this year
one would have to imagine that a lack of players and an interim head coach who has zero chance of retaining the position played a part in some players not wanting to play on
former Wisconsin star Tamara Moore is currently a scout with the Dallas Mavericks (read all about it in this excellent Jim Polzin piece from earlier this week) but she may want to throw her hat into the ring for the open head coaching job in Madison
while she doesn’t have any major college coaching experience, she has coached Girls AAU ball in the Twin Cities for multiple years, was head coach of the men’s team at Mesabi Range College (a small, two-year school in northern Minnesota), and was an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics’ Summer League team for one off-season.
at the absolute worst, hiring Moore would install a head coach who has a passion for Wisconsin basketball and wouldn’t make it a “stepping stone” job
I think your last bullet point is key & a factor that should not be undervalued.
Not saying that TM should be the coach, but that is a unique quality of her profile. Give her time/space to build, adjust, build, adjust… the security goes both ways.
Barry Alvarez is only 5 games over .500 (3 ties) for his career. He built, 1993, retooled, 98-99-00, retooled, & left the program in good shape.
Picking the right person (not resume) & taking the long view is a refreshing prospect.