The UCLA women’s basketball team has gained its first transfer of the offseason in former Utah star Gianna Kneepkens.
The 6-foot guard was an All-Big 12 first-team selection as a junior last season after averaging 19.3 points, five rebounds and three assists per game. She started in every game she played and shot 50.4% from the field.
Kneepkens entered the transfer portal March 28 and indicated in an Instagram post what she was looking for in her next step.
“I am taking my grad year to pursue the education that comes from the unknown, seeking a difference that will enhance my educational and athletic journey,” Kneepkens wrote.
Kneepkens is the only transfer to come into the UCLA program this offseason after the Bruins lost all four freshmen in addition to Janiah Barker and Londynn Jones to the transfer portal.
Barker landed at Tennessee while Jones went to crosstown rival USC.
Jones was one of the best 3-point shooters on the team, but Kneepkens could help fill the void after shooting 44.4% from range last season.
Utah lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to ninth-seeded Indiana. The Utes had a coaching change in November when former coach Lynne Roberts became the head coach of the Sparks.
The Bruins will also be adding incoming freshmen Sienna Betts, the 6-foot-4 younger sister of Bruins All-American center Lauren Betts who is regarded as one of the top high school players in the country, and Lena Bilić, a 6-foot-3 Croatian guard who averaged 18 points per game with European club ZKK Tresnjevka 2009.
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