A trio of young players from the Colorado women’s basketball team are moving on.
On Tuesday, sophomore Brianna McLeod and freshman Mikayla Johnson put their names into the NCAA transfer portal, and walk-on freshman Shelomi Sanders is planning to transfer, as well. They are the first transfer departures after the Buffaloes’ season came to a close with a loss to Iowa in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
A 6-foot-3 forward from Brampton, Ontario, McLeod played in 57 games during her two seasons with the Buffs, averaging 8.1 minutes and 2.0 points.
As a freshman in 2022-23, McLeod averaged 10 minutes off the bench, scoring 2.6 points and pulling down 2.0 rebounds per game. She played a reduced role this year, averaging just 6.1 minutes and 1.4 points. She had two points and three rebounds in Saturday’s loss to Iowa.
With McLeod leaving, CU doesn’t have any players from its 2022 recruiting class remaining. The other three members of that class – Ally Fitzgerald, Lizzie Holder and Jada Wynn – all transferred a year ago.
Johnson, a redshirt freshman from Anchorage, Alaska, is a 6-foot-1 guard. Technically a member of the 2023 class, Johnson came to CU in January of 2023 and redshirted the remaining of that season. This year, she played 67 minutes in 15 games, scoring 29 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.
Sanders, the daughter of CU head football coach Deion Sanders, is a redshirt freshman who transferred to the Buffs in January of 2023 from Jackson State. A 5-6 guard from Rockwall, Texas, played 11 minutes in five games this season, recording three points, three rebounds and a steal.
CU head coach JR Payne and her staff have three open scholarship spots to work with this offseason. A fourth could open up if guard Tameiya Sadler, who went through senior day festivities last month, doesn’t return.
It’s a big offseason for Payne and the Buffs, as they also must replace four graduating scholarship seniors, including starters Quay Miller, Maddie Nolan and Jaylyn Sherrod, as well as key reserve Charlotte Whittaker.
Notable
Saturday’s game against Iowa drew 6.87 million viewers on ABC. According to Sportsmediawatch.com, it is the third-most watched women’s tournament game since 1995. Monday’s Elite Eight game between Iowa and LSU drew 12.3 million and last year’s national title game between Iowa and LSU drew more 9.92 million viewers.
