This season, the Colorado women’s basketball team had its largest class of freshmen in several years.
Most of that group won’t be in Boulder next season, however.
On Thursday, guards Jadyn Atchison and Lele Tanuvasa and forward Ruthie Loomis-Goltl put their names into the NCAA transfer portal after just one season with the Buffaloes.
Another freshman, Mikayla Johnson, put her name into the transfer portal on Tuesday.
Point guard Kennedy Sanders is the only member of the five-player 2023 class that is expected to return to CU next season.
Atchison, a 6-foot-1 guard from Cedar Hill (Texas) High School, played in 14 games for the Buffs this season. She logged 51 minutes of playing time, scoring 19 points and pulling down 15 rebounds.
In her collegiate debut, on Nov. 8 against Le Moyne, Atchison had season highs for minutes (12), points (eight) and rebounds (five). She played in just 15 minutes after the Buffs got into conference play, however, and did not appear in CU’s three NCAA Tournament games.
Loomis-Goltl, a 6-foot-3 forward from Bridgeport, Neb., redshirted this season. She was rated the No. 78 prospect in the 2023 class by ESPN’s HoopsGurlz, averaging 19.4 points and 8.2 rebounds in four seasons on varsity. Her younger sister, Olivia, signed with Northern Colorado in November and will be a freshman with the Bears next season.
Tanuvasa, a 6-0 guard from Eureka, Calif., also redshirted this season. She averaged 9.9 points and 6.8 rebounds as a high school senior.
In all, five scholarship players have entered the portal since the Buffs’ season came to a close on Saturday with a Sweet 16 loss to Iowa. In addition to the four freshmen, sophomore forward Brianna McLeod put her name into the portal on Tuesday. Walk-on freshman Shelomi Sanders is also transferring.
CU had 17 players on the roster this season and at least 11 will be moving on, counting transfers and five graduates.
For now, six players are projected to return – although guard Tameiya Sadler, who has a year of eligibility remaining, is undecided on her future – and the Buffs have three incoming freshmen.
Guards Frida Formann, Kennedy Sanders, Sara-Rose Smith and Kindyll Wetta, and possibly Sadler, are projected to return, along with center Aaronette Vonleh.
Formann and Vonleh were both starters this year, while Sadler, Smith and Wetta were all key rotational players. Kennedy Sanders, who redshirted this year, was rated as the No. 75 prospect in the 2023 class by ESPN.
Incoming freshmen Tabitha Betson (a 6-foot-2 forward from Australia) and wing Grace Oliver (a 6-1 wing from Massachusetts) are both four-star recruits rated as top-85 prospects for the 2024 class by ESPN. Lola Lagerlid, a 6-0 guard from Sweden, is also joining the Buffs as a freshman.
Head coach JR Payne and her staff currently has six open scholarships.
Notable
CU senior point guard Jaylyn Sherrod will play in the College All-Star Game in Cleveland – site of the women’s Final Four – on Saturday (1:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2). … Sherrod and fellow seniors Quay Miller and Charlotte Whittaker have declared for the WNBA Draft. On Thursday, the league released a list of players who have declared for the draft, which will be held April 15.
