List of UConn Out-Transfers

[Artifact]

The name,'Kristen Walters', is one who has impressed me the most. A guard who played very little, was recruited out of Colorado. She was huge for UConn. Herself a high school McDonald All American, thru tournament play, convinced four other McDonald A.A. to sign on to UConn & coach Auriemma. Their mission was to overtake #1 Tenn. & win a Championship. Win they did, Kirsten 's knee was so bad that after 2 years, she had to drop out of basketball. Those four players had a nick name, 'Tassk'. Thank you, Kristen !

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Nothing wrong with your points, a couple of thoughts -

- transfers out do not threaten Geno's legacy because, after all, they left for reasons that don't reflect negatively on the program. While I don't think that the exact reasons for most players choosing to leave is definitively known, you have probably nailed it. Certainly, there were no overtones of dissatisfaction with the program.
- I thought very much that the dig that started this whole line of commentary was related to Geno taking transfers in, as opposed to transfers out. The remark made no sense, and there is absolutely no shame to be found (that I can see) in accepting transfers. Unless you are out enticing them (of which there are coaches that have been accused), but that is clearly not an issue wth UConn.

The out-transfers are completely different from the in-transfers. Britney Hunter was a special case. Apparently, she was down to UConn and Duke, and somehow decided on Duke. But after lots of botched medical maneuvers, including too many cortisone shots, she bailed from Duke, and asked Coach Geno to take her in. Coach knew that she was hobbled- permanently. But he wanted her before her decision, and honored his offer of a scholarship. She couldn't play more than a few minutes a game, and practice regularly either. But the coach took her in anyway. Again, very honorable treatment by the program.

Of course, EDD was a completely different case. nuff said on that.

As Coach Geno pointed out in his interview with NH Register, he hasn't changed his strategy or policy on in-transfers. Just felt that these particular individuals fit in at this particular time. That answered a lot of questions. Having said that, Duke's coach wasn't totally off-base when she suggested that UConn was taking in more transfers because "talent is down." She's right. Didn't have a real center, and not enough height for the front court.

But anyone suggesting that this is somehow illegitimate is off her rocker.

 

[Wally East]

The name,'Kristen Walters', is one who has impressed me the most. A guard who played very little, was recruited out of Colorado. She was huge for UConn. Herself a high school McDonald All American, thru tournament play, convinced four other McDonald A.A. to sign on to UConn & coach Auriemma. Their mission was to overtake #1 Tenn. & win a Championship. Win they did, Kirsten 's knee was so bad that after 2 years, she had to drop out of basketball. Those four players had a nick name, 'Tassk'. Thank you, Kristen !

"Keirsten Walters"

She was ranked 14th by Blue Star.

 

[JavaMan]

Vowelguy, you could be up all night putting the list together of all the players that didn't transfer

Maybe not!
____________________________

Some more crazy UConn streak numbers
Sunday, January 15, 2017

I'm not sure why I didn't research this before but with a pair of long flights as I return home from Dallas, I did some checking and according to my math there have been 68 Huskies who have played for four seasons for Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey and 52 of them have been a part of at least one 30-game winning streak while each and every one has been on a Connecticut team with at least one 10-game streak.

[FULL ARTICLE] from our favorite stat stuffing beat reporter.

​

 

[trb123]

I was researching UConn transfers via Google, and found a Boneyard thread from 2012 (which I had started!).

Depending on whether you count EDD, Ekmark is - I believe - the 20th/21st transfer in the Geno era.

1994: Shea Matlock (Georgia Tech)
1994: Sue Mayo (Wake Forest)
1996: Amy Hughes (Xavier)
1997: Tammy Arnold (Oregon St)
1998: Jean Clark (TAMU - Corpus Christi)

1999: Marci Glenney (Clemson)
2001: Kennitra Johnson (Southern Indiana)
2003: Kia Wright (St Johns)
2004: Liz Sherwood (Vanderbilt)
2004: Kiana Robinson

2005: Rashidat Sadiq (Oklahoma St)
2006: Kristen Phillips (Richmod)
2008: EDD (Delaware)
2009: Jess McCormack
2011: Samarie Walker (Kentucky)

2012: Michala Johnson (Wisconsin)
2012: Lauren Engeln (BC)
2014: Brianna Banks (Penn St)
2014: Sadie Edwards (USC)
2015: DeJanae Boykin (Penn St)

2016: Courtney Ekmark (Arizona St)

​

My personal opinion:
The transfers of Liz Sherwood, EDD and Samarie Walker hurt us most. Possibly costing us NCs.
Unable to evaluate McCormack and Boykin's transfers. Indirectly they screwed up our recruiting.
Puzzled by the transfers of Kennitra Johnson and Kiana Robinson. Did they find discipline here too tough? They could play at this level.
EDD transfer pisses me off most. I have no sympathy for Kia Wright either. You are 3 hrs drive from home. Not going to Mars or Jupiter.
Not that familiar with 20th century transfers.
I have no problem accepting Johnson, Engeln, Banks and Ekmark transfers.

 

[Vowelguy]

Maybe not!
____________________________

Some more crazy UConn streak numbers
Sunday, January 15, 2017

I'm not sure why I didn't research this before but with a pair of long flights as I return home from Dallas, I did some checking and according to my math there have been 68 Huskies who have played for four seasons for Geno Auriemma and Chris Dailey and 52 of them have been a part of at least one 30-game winning streak while each and every one has been on a Connecticut team with at least one 10-game streak.

[FULL ARTICLE] from our favorite stat stuffing beat reporter.

​

With the exception of the first 3 classes, every 4-year player has gone to a final 4 (26 straight classes). In fact at least 29, since KLS's class has already been.

Classes that did not win a NC:
1988-94
1999
2008

 

[Mdoggie]

EDD cost us a 150 game streak

 

[Vowelguy]

My personal opinion:
The transfers of Liz Sherwood, EDD and Samarie Walker hurt us most. Possibly costing us NCs.
Unable to evaluate McCormack and Boykin's transfers. Indirectly they screwed up our recruiting.
Puzzled by the transfers of Kennitra Johnson and Kiana Robinson. Did they find discipline here too tough? They could play at this level.
EDD transfer pisses me off most. I have no sympathy for Kia Wright either. You are 3 hrs drive from home. Not going to Mars or Jupiter.
Not that familiar with 20th century transfers.
I have no problem accepting Johnson, Engeln, Banks and Ekmark transfers.

KJ was largely kicked off the team for academic problems.
Kiana Robinson never got much playing time; I don't blame her for transferring.
Sherwood was not a good fit with Geno. It happens. She was good but I don't recall her as being so amazing that I was devastated by her transfer.

UConn had numerous recruiting problems in the mid 00s, but I don't know that they were anyone's fault. These include guard issues:
- Wolffs injuries
- 9-11 spooking Nikki Blue
- Kia Wright changing her mind
And frontline issues:
- near sure-thing Hunter picking Duke
- Goring never panning out
- Charde being a terrible fit

 

[chuck.r]

I think it's safe to say that Connecticut's out-transfers in this decade have been more talented than those in previous years. But it's also safe to say that they left because they were being displaced by even more talented players. Michael Johnson was a good player who did well at Wisconsin, but just did not do enough to break into the major playing time category at UConn. Lauren Engeln proved to be a less than impressive player, though she managed to start at a bottom-rung ACC team. Sadie Edwards saw the writing on the wall that she just would not play much for Coach Geno. She went to USC where she's enjoyed a good deal of playing time (while her UConn teammates went on a record-challenging winning streak). Boykin? We really don't know. Injury, academic problems, then not traveling with the team. No good explanation yet. Courtney Ekmark was a good player who did not play up to either the coach's or her expectations. Samarie Walker was an enigma. Again, she refused to go into a game, while some sort of dispute with the team led Coach Geno to leave her home from an away game. She played well for Kentucky, perhaps getting her mind right once there.

Really, the one player who was not only respected, but a good player who left (EDD was a personal thing, as we all know) was Kia Wright. But she was just plain homesick, told the coach so, and the coach arranged for her to return to Queens, where she played well.

So far from being a program plagued by out-transfers, Connecticut has really never been beset by any significant wave of transfers.

Besides the 11 national championships and lots of other records, nothing about the transfers threatens Coach Geno's legacy. Duke, take note.

With one obvious exception: the 2003 class that completely jumped ship by their sophomore seasons. While the Taurasi-led squads carried the program to FF & National Championships in '03 and '04, I would contend that the complete loss of talent continuity from that '03 class left a gap that likely contributed to those three FF-less years before the arrival of Maya Moore. UConn women's teams lost a combined 17 games over that period (hard to imagine these days). Not saying there weren't other factors (like key injuries & some uneven recruiting), just that a 0 recruit class means a loss of bench strength as well as a more tenuous bridge in leadership from upperclass starters to younger players. I also know that one class does not constitute a "wave" of transfers, but it is unusual in recent program history.

This phenomenon clearly hurt North Carolina wbb last year, when that superstar class would have been juniors, and its why I think Tennessee, despite the #1 ranked recruit class incoming next season is going to feel the repercussions of the prior year's recruiting bagel for at least a season or more.

 

[trb123]

KJ was largely kicked off the team for academic problems.
Kiana Robinson never got much playing time; I don't blame her for transferring.
Sherwood was not a good fit with Geno. It happens. She was good but I don't recall her as being so amazing that I was devastated by her transfer.

UConn had numerous recruiting problems in the mid 00s, but I don't know that they were anyone's fault. These include guard issues:
- Wolffs injuries
- 9-11 spooking Nikki Blue
- Kia Wright changing her mind
And frontline issues:
- near sure-thing Hunter picking Duke
- Goring never panning out
- Charde being a terrible fit

Two thumbs up for Charde (and perhaps Ketia) for gutting it out for 4 yrs. Please note I am not praising Charde her inability to adapt to UConn style. Many are called. Few choose not to alter their game. Ketia is rarely praised for starting as a freshman.

Never liked giving Hunter a second chance. Had she not been damaged goods, she would have stayed at Duke. Was she as near a sure thing as Vaughn?

I do not remember Nikki Blue. I googled her and found that she turned down the UConn scholarship to build the UCLA program.
I have said many times that I never understood this tendency among players to spurn a UConn offer in the last decade.
Waner,Paris,Vaughn,Hunter and so on.
What bothers me is that they try to make us believe that they were making an informed decision.

 

[Vowelguy]

Two thumbs up for Charde (and perhaps Ketia) for gutting it out for 4 yrs. Please note I am not praising Charde her inability to adapt to UConn style. Many are called. Few choose not to alter their game. Ketia is rarely praised for starting as a freshman.

Never liked giving Hunter a second chance. Had she not been damaged goods, she would have stayed at Duke. Was she as near a sure thing as Vaughn?

I do not remember Nikki Blue. I googled her and found that she turned down the UConn scholarship to build the UCLA program.
I have said many times that I never understood this tendency among players to spurn a UConn offer in the last decade.
Waner,Paris,Vaughn,Hunter and so on.
What bothers me is that they try to make us believe that they were making an informed decision.

Both Hunter and Blue were strong UConn leans. I think the coaching staff thought for sure both were coming.
But Hunter was basically blocked by her parents.
And In the aftermath of 9-11, Blue had misgivings about being 3000 miles away from her family. Had she graduated a year earlier or later, I'm pretty sure she chooses UCOnn.

Though ironically there were some reports of bad chemistry at UCLA a few years later with Blue being a part of it. So who knows.

Things still turned out "pretty" well for UConn I'd say. Hard to have too
Many regrets.

 

[pinotbear]

We have yet to mention Ivana Stepovaya, the Slavic Slammer. When Goring failed to pan out, so many of us pinned our hopes on Ivana, with visions of an immense mix of Sveta's wit and Margo Dydek's shoe size. Alas, it was not to be.. yet, in the quiet of the wee hours of the off-season, I sometimes find myself wondering - what if?

 

[JS]

KJ was largely kicked off the team for academic problems.
Kiana Robinson never got much playing time; I don't blame her for transferring.
Sherwood was not a good fit with Geno.

Since we've got some time, here are slightly different takes on these.

-- Kennitra Johnson. Didn't understand KJ was pushed to leave. Geno was taken by surprise when she did. She'd been benched earlier for failure to meet goals on and off-court but buckled down and worked her way into the rotation, ending up with good freshman and sophomore years.

Her departure during the off-season has been attributed to a whole bunch of things. Homesickness; mother's illness back in Indiana; always wanted to go to Purdue and didn't because Carolyn Peck left.

Geno later seemed to feel she got lost, that classes of one were no good because of the isolation (later examples turned out otherwise, of course), implied that the staff hadn't adequately known what was going on with her. Regarding the KJ communication vaccuum and departure, he said "That was bad."

No doubt about the academic problems once at Purdue. She moved on again.

Kiana Robinson. Yeah, PT. Behind that, though, was more than just inability to crack the talent ahead of her. Serious doghouse there, for reasons that were never publicly clear; seemed more push than jump. I'd been talking with Q during her HS senior year (his pre-'Cuse gig) in order to file BY reports; got quite the favorable impression, but what would one expect.

Liz Sherwood. Not so much fit with Geno (who wanted her to stay) as, from her point of view, lack of fit with the UConn system as she saw it. Role model, a role she couldn't see herself filling, was Jess Moore -- uber-athletic (Alaska state triple-jump champ) center who moved in a blink from top of the key to low post and back again. Liz wasn't moving anywhere in a blink, more like an observable progress. Plus, like KJ, she'd really wanted to go somewhere else (Vandy in her case) but got talked into going for a better program by advisors.

 

[UcMiami]

JS - good stuff, but my memory of Liz was that she was sort of a last minute desperation recruit after other players (Hunter?) chose not to come to Uconn, and it was a mistake that he vowed not to make again. I never got the sense he wanted her to stay because she just wasn't buying in at all.

 

[Vowelguy]

Since we've got some time, here are slightly different takes on these.

-- Kennitra Johnson. Didn't understand KJ was pushed to leave. Geno was taken by surprise when she did. She'd been benched earlier for failure to meet goals on and off-court but buckled down and worked her way into the rotation, ending up with good freshman and sophomore years.

I recalled her being told not to come back, but it was basically after KJ had decided to leave, so I was off on that. But does look like the Soph year was fraught with problems.
Geno Does His Part

 

[Florida Fan]

I liked Brianna Banks hustle. She was a defensive demon. Without injury, she would have earned significant minutes. And she was an asset for PSU.

 

[msf22b]

I was always interested in the Kiwi girl, Jess McCormack, as we had lived in NZ for two years.
She was a transfer in from the University of Washington;
went home to undergo surgery for an injury and never returned...

She played a little Netball and BB after that in Australia but around 2013, dropped completely off the radar screen and has not shown up since around then.

Lived in Hamilton, a lovely old town an hour South of Aukland, that I know well; having had my own concert disaster there.

Wonder what she's up to at age 27.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Does that mean he does not consider EDD as a transfer out? She did not go to any final fours, but she certainly has had success playing basketball.

Of course, he doesn't consider EDD. She basically just visited UConn and nothing more. He literally didn't have an opportunity to even coach her here in Storrs.

 

[Buzzyboy]

The out-transfers are completely different from the in-transfers. Britney Hunter was a special case. Apparently, she was down to UConn and Duke, and somehow decided on Duke. But after lots of botched medical maneuvers, including too many cortisone shots, she bailed from Duke, and asked Coach Geno to take her in. Coach knew that she was hobbled- permanently. But he wanted her before her decision, and honored his offer of a scholarship. She couldn't play more than a few minutes a game, and practice regularly either. But the coach took her in anyway. Again, very honorable treatment by the program.

Of course, EDD was a completely different case. nuff said on that.

As Coach Geno pointed out in his interview with NH Register, he hasn't changed his strategy or policy on in-transfers. Just felt that these particular individuals fit in at this particular time. That answered a lot of questions. Having said that, Duke's coach wasn't totally off-base when she suggested that UConn was taking in more transfers because "talent is down." She's right. Didn't have a real center, and not enough height for the front court.

But anyone suggesting that this is somehow illegitimate is off her rocker.

Britney Hunter always wanted to come to UConn but her Dad insisted she go to Duke. She did. Inevitably she came back and though she was limited in minutes, when she was able to play, she played at a pretty high level. Her skill set was a really high one, even after coming to UConn but as mentioned, her ability to play extended minutes was minimal. Geno and the staff thought very highly of her, to say the least but she wasn't a "charity case", she made the Huskies better when she was able to play.

 

[Chong-Master]

If one would have seen SUE MAYO play Softball in High School, some thought that she was a better Softball Player than a Basketball Player for Valley Central High School in New York

 

[CL82]

I was researching UConn transfers via Google, and found a Boneyard thread from 2012 (which I had started!).

Depending on whether you count EDD, Ekmark is - I believe - the 20th/21st transfer in the Geno era.

1994: Shea Matlock (Georgia Tech)
1994: Sue Mayo (Wake Forest)
1996: Amy Hughes (Xavier)
1997: Tammy Arnold (Oregon St)
1998: Jean Clark (TAMU - Corpus Christi)

1999: Marci Glenney (Clemson)
2001: Kennitra Johnson (Southern Indiana)
2003: Kia Wright (St Johns)
2004: Liz Sherwood (Vanderbilt)
2004: Kiana Robinson (Alabama)

2005: Rashidat Sadiq (Oklahoma St)
2006: Kristen Phillips (Richmond)
2008: EDD (Delaware)
2009: Jess McCormack (Washington)
2011: Samarie Walker (Kentucky)

2012: Michala Johnson (Wisconsin)
2012: Lauren Engeln (BC)
2014: Brianna Banks (Penn St)
2014: Sadie Edwards (USC)
2015: DeJanae Boykin (Penn St)

2016: Courtney Ekmark (Arizona St)
​

Nice list. I filled in McCormack and Robinson.​

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Nice list. I filled in McCormack and Robinson.​

I don't think Sadiq ever showed up at UConn, did she? Didn't she have some academic issues that caused her to not arrive? McCormack had injuries, and then went back to her native New Zealand to play netball.

Lauren Engeln was a sometimes player with a poor Boston College team, then was kicked off the team for some rules violation.

Michaela Johnson was a starter for a subpar Wisconsin team, but was hobbled by serious knee injuries.

Kia Wright was the only one who came back to haunt UConn. She was the one who took the last-second 3-point shot that defeated UConn at home, marking the last time UConn has lost to an unranked team. Though St Johns was subsequently ranked in the top-25, and played well after that.

Though she took off from Storrs, I wish the best for Ekmark. Her future teammates are playing well now, and I hope she can give them a big lift in 17/18. Seemed like a great kid with a lot of tools, who didn't gain traction her first year at UConn.

 

[CL82]

Though she took off from Storrs, I wish the best for Ekmark. Her future teammates are playing well now, and I hope she can give them a big lift in 17/18. Seemed like a great kid with a lot of tools, who didn't gain traction her first year at UConn

I have always suspected that the year Courtney home schooled to emphasize basketball may have been a well intentioned mistake. I wish her the best.

 

[Purduke]

I don't think Sadiq ever showed up at UConn, did she? Didn't she have some academic issues that caused her to not arrive?........

Stats indicate that she played in 26 game her junior year (was a JUCO transfer in) without having any real impact. Spent her senior year at Oklahoma State, after redshirting.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I have always suspected that the year Courtney home schooled to emphasize basketball may have been a well intentioned mistake. I wish her the best.

Was thinking the same thing. Just wasn't the sort of player one would have expected when she showed up at Storrs. Didn't live up to billing, and that was strange.

Good point.

 

[Purduke]

I have always suspected that the year Courtney home schooled to emphasize basketball may have been a well intentioned mistake. I wish her the best.

I guess that has become the conventional wisdom, but I remember thinking it was a really smart move when it was announced. Believe she had almost graduated HS after 3 years; it wasn't an academic issue and she had been home-schooled in the past too. What I recall was that she wanted to use the year to focus on her quickness and strength, and her father (who was also her coach in HS) was putting together a guys club team and she was also going to play on that team. I remember thinking she was lucky that her old man was her coach and that he had seen her compete with 5 other girls in HS who were all going to Div 1 schools, that it seemed it permitted him to critique what she would need to be successful at UConn and almost design a customized development program for her.

The question in my mind would be "what if she didn't dedicate that time developing her body?" At UConn she still lacked quickness and strength. Assuming she didn't blow the year off, who knows how less prepared she would have been physically. She had a bad break when she got here and just didn't seem to bounce back as quickly as probably was needed.

Anyway, no way to tell now, but I've resisted putting the a lot of the blame on her problems on that decision -- unorthodox as it was. Hopefully ASU is kinder to her.

 

[Waquoit]

Lived in Hamilton, a lovely old town an hour South of Aukland, that I know well; having had my own concert disaster there.

Talk about a small world, I was in Hamilton last night for St. Patrick's Day. Drank Good George IPA, the best beer in the Southern Hemisphere.

 

[CL82]

I guess that has become the conventional wisdom, but I remember thinking it was a really smart move when it was announced. Believe she had almost graduated HS after 3 years; it wasn't an academic issue and she had been home-schooled in the past too. What I recall was that she wanted to use the year to focus on her quickness and strength, and her father (who was also her coach in HS) was putting together a guys club team and she was also going to play on that team. I remember thinking she was lucky that her old man was her coach and that he had seen her compete with 5 other girls in HS who were all going to Div 1 schools, that it seemed it permitted him to critique what she would need to be successful at UConn and almost design a customized development program for her.

The question in my mind would be "what if she didn't dedicate that time developing her body?" At UConn she still lacked quickness and strength. Assuming she didn't blow the year off, who knows how less prepared she would have been physically. She had a bad break when she got here and just didn't seem to bounce back as quickly as probably was needed.

Anyway, no way to tell now, but I've resisted putting the a lot of the blame on her problems on that decision -- unorthodox as it was. Hopefully ASU is kinder to her.

Agree with every word of this. No blame, it just didn't work out. I do wish her the best. She seems like a great kid. I'll root for her in the same way that I am rooting for Walker right now.

(btw TOSU/KY game is a good game. KY just came roaring back it is now 62-60 TOSU.)

 

[BroadwayVa]

All those transfers and they still managed 11 NCs. How do they do it?

Because, most (not all), leaving they made the program better--no need to explain.
The only 2 I missed ---KJ Johnson--she was a good PG , 3 ball shooter, easy to talk to. Ekmark--I just generally liked her and the effort she put forth prior to arriving---her skill level never arrived--injuries??
There shall be more, that is nearly a guarantee--Uconn isn't for everyone--and some of those who left succeeded in a number of ways.
EDD--is only technically a Uconn--less than 24 hours on campus--is more like a recruit that did a verbal and pulled it back at the last moment.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I saw McCormack play several times during her Fr. year. Occasional flashes, but inconsistent. I was surprised she transferred to UConn. I didn't really expect her to become an impact player. She came to the U.S. with completely unfair and unrealistic expectations w/ comparisons to Lauren Jackson. The only similarity was they were both tall, blond and from island nations in the southern hemisphere. Nothing beyond that. She doesn't belong on a list of transfers out though because she didn't transfer, she just left the program and returned home.