WBB: 2024 Transfer Portal Recap
Wisconsin lost some players via the transfer portal last year...how did they fare with their new teams?
The transfer portal has turned college sports upside down and, quite honestly, not always for the better. The old transfer rules were too draconian and punished the players needlessly, but the new transfer “rules” are taking a hatchet to roster continuity and leaving some players, who receive bad advice, left without a home.
Anyways, this isn’t an op-ed about the NCAA being useless, the transfer portal being Too Much, and NIL agents being actual criminals…it’s a post about the players Wisconsin lost in the transfer portal ahead of last season and how they fared at their new school!
Here are the players who transferred out of Wisconsin before Marisa Moseley’s final season and their new schools :
Sania Copeland —> Kansas
Ana Guillen —> Yale
Imbie Jones —> Nevada
Tessa Towers —> Ball State
Sacia Vanderpool (grad transfer) —> North Dakota State
You may remember that the Badgers had two players transfer in before last season, Carter McCray (from Northern Kentucky) and Tess Myers (Duquesne), as well. Neither will be on the roster for the 2025-26 season, as McCray transferred to West Virginia and Myers graduated.
Sania Copeland —> Kansas Jayhawks
30 games played (29 starts)
33.0 mpg, 5.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.5 bpg
36.3% FG (53-of-146), 30.9% 3P (25-of-81), 51.9% FT (27-of-52)
Kansas finished the season 16-14 overall, 6-12 Big 12
Copeland had the lowest PRPG! (basically points over replacement) of any KU player at -0.1
Her advanced stats were all average to bad, including an 80.8 ORtg, 44.9 eFG%, and 26.4% turnover rate
Her defensive numbers were much better than her offensive ones when looking at any advanced metrics or value ratings
Copeland was the biggest loss for Wisconsin as she was most likely going to be a member of their starting five or, at worst, the first guard off the bench. If you watched her play at Wisconsin as a sophomore, you know what her season looked like as a junior for KU.
Ana Guillen —> Yale Bulldogs
22 games played (1 start)
16.0 mpg, 2.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.6 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.4 bpg
44.3% FG (27-of-61), 0% 3P (0-of-9), 50.0% FT (4-of-8)
Yale finished the season 4-23 overall, 3-11 Ivy League
Guillen’s advanced stats, much like Copeland’s, were all quite bad
Her PRPG! was -0.2, her ORtg was 83.3, her turnover rate was 26.9, and her eFG% was 44.3
Guillen’s 3.0 steal rate was very good
With three seniors departing and a pair of players entering the portal, Guillen could be in line for a big increase in minutes in 2025-26, but she was just a bench/depth piece this past year and not a particularly valuable one.
Imbie Jones —> Nevada Wolfpack
30 games played (19 starts)
21.4 mpg, 6.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.1 bpg
47.1% FG (90-of-191), 25.0% 3P (4-of-16), 69.6% FT (16-of-23)
Nevada finished the season 11-21 overall, 6-12 Mountain West
Jones’ advanced numbers were all pretty average and her PRPG! of 1.3 was fourth best on Nevada’s team
Her ORtg was 97.0, eFG% was 47.8%, and an 18.0 turnover rate…not bad, but not exactly good either
Jones was a true sophomore this past season and the player that Wisconsin lost who I think has the potential to be the most impactful departure. I can see her as an All-MWC performer next year.
Tessa Towers —> Ball State Cardinals
17 games played
4.2 mpg, 2.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.1 spg, 0.1 bpg
47.5% FG (19-of-40), no 3P attempted, 25.0% FT (1-of-4)
Ball State finished the season 27-8 overall, 16-2 MAC (conference champs), MAC Tournament champs, 12-seed in the NCAA Tournament
The 6-foot-5 Towers was a deep bench piece for Ball State who didn’t really play enough for her advanced stats to mean much. Her rebounding rates were quite good in limited action though.
Towers was also the player who posted on TikTok about the alleged mental/psychological abuse she suffered under Marisa Moseley. Moseley ended up “resigning” at the end of the season and UW said their investigation didn’t turn up anything, but there is certainly more to the story than Moseley/UW are admitting to.
Sacia Vanderpool (grad transfer) —> North Dakota State Bison
13 games played (1 start)
2.3 mpg, 0.6 ppg, 0.2 rpg, 0.2 apg, 0.1 spg
57.1% FG (4-of-7), 0% 3P (0-of-1), no free throws attempted
NDSU ended the season at 21-12 overall, 11-5 Summit League, lost in Super 16 of WNIT
Nowhere near enough playing time to discuss any sort of advanced stats with Vanderpool so, uh, yeah. That’s that on that!
There you have it, folks! The five players that left UW via the portal last year all had varying levels of success. In case you were wondering about this year’s transfer out class, they have all found new homes now.
Tessa Grady —> Coastal Carolina
Gracie Grzesk —> Green Bay
D’Yanis Jimenez —> Coastal Carolina
Carter McCray —> West Virginia
Serah Williams —> UConn
Ronnie Porter —> withdrew from portal and is coming back to Wisconsin!
We’ll see how they all did at their new spots in about 365 days’ time.