I started typing this post last night right before the news about Tara broke 😂
Stanford women's basketball's ability to recruit transfers has been discussed in multiple threads. SF Chronicle reporters have written about this issue in three articles this week, including Ann Killion's editorial about Tara's retirement, so the topic warrants a separate thread. (Shout out to the Chronicle for improving their WBB coverage.)
First, Marisa Ingemi of the SF Chronicle reported on April 8 that
Iriafen will graduate in June. While that's notable, this article annoyed me a little because of what's not in the article. Ingemi either didn't have permission to write yet or doesn't know whether Iriafen has been accepted into a grad school program. The article skirts around this with what I call "strategic vagueness." It's unclear if Ingemi knows, but a source asked her not to report it, or she doesn't know. The article feels a little like when a publication wants to show subscribers they have access to behind-the-scenes information ahead of when the big news breaks, even if they can't answer key questions in the initial article. It's understandable, to a point. You don't want to charge people for a subscription, but report from behind.
If she was accepted but wanted to leave, was there anything we could have done to change her mind? However, it changes
everything about how other dedicated WBB fans and I think about the situation if Iriafen didn't get into grad school. It's a whole different conversation in that scenario with questions like:
- Is getting into grad school more difficult for athletes than it used to be?
- Did Iriafen always plan to graduate in three years, or did she purposefully move up her timeline by taking more summer classes over the past two years to play somewhere else for her final season? If the latter, why? Or did she assume she'd get into grad school, so she thought it wasn't a big deal to graduate with a year of eligibility left?
Killion and Ingemi have undoubtedly spoken recently with Kate and/or Tara about the difficulties they face in recruiting transfers. It seems evident that the coaches are the primary sources for the recent coverage.
It irks me that neither Killion nor Ingemi elaborates on why it's harder for WBB to get transfers. There's no information about why grad transfers have eluded us to date other than implying Stanford grad school admissions standards make it difficult. But why has every other Stanford team I follow gotten grad transfers in recent years? Killion and Ingemi have reported Stanford was energetic in going after transfers last year but came up empty. That tidbit begs follow-up questions about how much of the issue is that Tara didn't want to pursue transfers until last year, so going 0-fer in one off-season may not be as big a deal as they're implying.
Or is the issue a conflict with the basketball season overlapping with the application deadlines? Is it something else? I'd love to know, and Killion, Ingemi, and a couple of other reporters have the access to ask. 🤷♂️
They also allude to the need for greater NIL support but don't include developments from the past year to increase the support from Lifetime Cardinal to WBB. They don't even mention what Cam got from LC. (Do they consider it a one-off because of Cam's remarkable success gathering NIL deals?)
I'll jump off this soap box for now.
*catches breath*
An article on Tuesday included a list of
possible transfer targets. It's behind a very inexpensive paywall, but I won't copy and paste.
However, the headline includes Hailey Van Lith of LSU and Tess Heal of Santa Clara, a high-scoring guard who reportedly loved Stanford in high school. Van Lith is the headliner, but I wonder if she's realistic. She was a grad transfer to LSU (she was second-team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators at Louisville in 2022-23). Is it realistic to think she can get into a Stanford grad school? No clue. Kevin Borba of (Not) Sports Illustrated recently floated the idea of Van Lith to Stanford based entirely on an interview Van Lith gave about choosing LSU, in which she claimed to have also considered Stanford. No Stanford source was provided to support that claim. Ingemi may just be echoing that speculation.
Don't get me wrong, though. It would be great to add Van Lith. She was best as a shooting guard at Louisville and a superstar there.
Heal from Santa Clara is intriguing. I've watched only two short highlight videos, and I think she's good, but I wasn't blown away. I need to look for more. She'd be an undergrad transfer and might be an easier target.
There are a couple of Ivy League graduate transfers on the list who I didn't know about. They look like legitimate ACC-level players.
There's a new portal entrant from Tuesday who should be considered: Timea Gardiner of Oregon State. (Also, let's have a moment of silence out of respect for Scott Rueck. His roster is falling apart because OSU was left behind. He'd have a Final Four contender if everyone stayed.) Gardiner is a sophomore, and we offered her in high school. I found this quote of her describing herself: "I’m a big advocate for gender and racial equality, especially in sports. I’m currently getting a degree in Architectural Engineering, so I love everything nerdy."
She'd really help us when we play four-out, one-in with Iriafen inside. Let's make it happen! Maybe we can convince Iriafen to wait (assuming she was admitted to a grad school) to see if we can get transfers who significantly elevate our ceiling for next season. Either Princeton's Kaitlyn Chen or Van Lith would move the needle in a big way. Heal and Gardiner or one of the forwards from the Ivies might be compelling enough.
stanford.rivals.com
