While Stanford men’s basketball has had some changes to their team as a result of the transfer portal, Stanford women’s basketball hasn’t been without some turnover of their own. Freshman center Lauren Betts, freshman guard Indya Nivar, and junior guard Agnes Emma-Nnopu all entered the transfer portal after the season: Betts to UCLA, Nivar to North Carolina, and Emma-Nnopu to TCU. Emma-Nnopu is a graduate transfer. She’ll be completing her Human Biology degree in the spring quarter.
This past season, Betts averaged 5.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, and 9.7 minutes per game. Nivar averaged 3.2 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.0 assist, and 12.6 minutes per game. Emma-Nnopu averaged 3.2 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 13.4 minutes per game.
On paper, Betts is the biggest loss of the bunch since she committed to Stanford as the number one recruit in the nation. While her overall minutes per game for the season doesn’t seem like a lot, she was getting more minutes down the stretch of the season once February hit and seemed to be a player who was in line for even more minutes next season. But, perhaps with Cameron Brink being the focal point of the offense, she wasn’t sure what kind of fit she’d be for next season. Still, it’s a bit surprising given the long-term trajectory she appeared to have with the program.
As for Nivar, with Talana Lepolo emerging as the clear starting point guard for the future, perhaps she felt a bit frozen out. But, she still seemed to get a decent amount of minutes at times and seemed to have the ability to play alongside Lepolo, but this is one where lack of playing time makes more sense.
As for Emma-Nnopu, playing time is likely a factor with her decision as well. Incoming McDonald’s All-American Courtney Ogden projects to get a decent run next season and likely would have eaten into any minutes Emma-Nnopu would have gotten. Emma-Nnopu has two years of eligibility left with the Horned Frogs.
None of these are players who Stanford would like to lose, but this is the nature of the transfer portal era we live in. It’ll be interesting to see who Stanford adds via the portal (if anyone) and who takes advantage of the extra minutes that are now available as a result of these departures.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
