Welcome to the new era of women’s college basketball, where the transfer portal has become the most valuable way — usurping even high school recruiting classes — to build and sustain a program. In the last month, we’ve seen the rich get richer, contenders plug in key (and formerly missing) components while other teams lost half of their main rotations.
Here’s a look at the clear winners and losers in the 2023 transfer portal.
Winners
LSU
Added: Hailey Van Lith (Louisville), Aneesah Morrow (DePaul)
The Tigers brought in an absolute haul from the transfer portal. They already entered 2023-24 as a top-three team with Angel Reese and Flau’jae Johnson returning as well as securing the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. To then add players of the caliber of Van Lith and Morrow? Just ridiculous. Van Lith punches way over her weight on the court. The Tigers needed to add perimeter talent, and in Van Lith, they got a ballhandler, distributor, playmaker and scorer. She also brings a dose of experience and swagger that will fit in perfectly. Seeing how Morrow slots in beside Reese and what it means for the distribution of shot attempts for each will be interesting, but the flip side is that the Tigers have absolute backbreakers at every position who will be able to attack…
