Five players are leaving the Idaho women’s basketball program, according to Jordyn Rolli, the assistant director of athletic communication.
The team finished a disappointing 2022-2023 season with a record of 13-17 (9-9). Idaho hoped to revitalize the once dominant women’s basketball program with new Head Coach Carrie Eighmey. Her first season was full of transfer players, six total, and only five returning players, with just one starter coming back to the program.
Eighmey coached the young team to a record of 15-16 (8-10) in her first season at Idaho, a worse record than the season prior. People might attribute the shortcoming to young players, injuries and the transfer portal, hoping that Eighmey’s second season will tell a different story.
However, this spring has proved that the 2023 transfer exodus will ring true in 2024 with a third of the current roster entering the portal.
“The transfer portal has become a reality in college basketball. The landscape of college sports is constantly changing,” Eighmey said in an email to the Argonaut. “As coaches, we have to be willing to adapt. What we are seeing right now is a change in how basketball teams are built. More than ever, teams will have more of a transient-nature because of both the transfer portal and NIL (name, image and likeness).”
Madelynn Muniz, Janna Kilty, Aspen Caldwell, Georgia Gray and Kennedy Johnson will not be returning to Idaho basketball. Johnson, who transferred to Idaho from University of California Santa Barbara last season, entered the transfer portal.
Johnson finished her junior season First Team All-Conference in the Big Sky and led the Vandals with 434 points, averaging 14 points per game. She started every game of the 2023-2024 season. She also ranked fifth in the Big Sky for scoring and sixth in rebounding. Losing a player of that caliber will have a definitive impact on the Vandals next season.
“Kennedy was a very successful and impactful player in our program this past season. It’s never ideal to lose a first team all-conference player, but it’s the world we are living in now,” Eighmey said. “Teams all over the country lost significant contributors on their rosters. In the same way you might lose a student-athlete to the portal, you also have opportunities to utilize the portal to fill in holes in your roster.”
Freshman Madelynn Muniz also entered the transfer portal. Muniz saw no action for the entire 2023-2024 season. She has committed to Cal State Fullerton. Freshman Aspen Caldwell also entered the transfer portal. She played in every game of the season, averaging 2.6 points per game. She had a career-high 13 points against Walla Walla University in the season opener.
Eighmey confirmed that Georgia Gray and Jenna Kilty are also in the transfer portal. Gray, a junior who transferred to Idaho from Dodge City Community College, only played in the season opener against Walla Walla, scoring four points and grabbing two rebounds. Kilty, a senior who transferred from Portland State University, played in 13 games last season, with a season-high 14 points against Chicago State University.
“I think one of the keys to building a great team in the current landscape is to continue to recruit high character student-athletes who want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. I also think it’s important that we continue to provide our student-athletes with a great experience,” Eighmey said. “We will spend a considerable amount of time working to build strong and meaningful relationships within our program during our summer workouts. One of the challenges of building a new team is the limited amount of time we have to build team chemistry. So, it’s super important that we are intentional about that. It’s also super important to familiarize our new team with the university and the community of Moscow.”
Eighmey has signed four transfers for the 2024-2025 season. Tyler McCliment-Call will join the Vandals for her senior season from Stephen F. Austin State University. Olivia Nelson is a fifth-year transfer from the University of Central Missouri. Jennifer Aadland is a fifth-year from Augustana University, and Hope Hassman is a sophomore from Cal State Fullerton University.
“The four committed newcomers are all high character young women. They have similar growth mindsets, and great work ethic,” Eighmey said. “They are all competitive and want to be part of something bigger than themselves. We believe they will all help us continue to build a successful program.”
Eighmey and the Vandals are working to comeback from a season riddled with inconsistency and recover from a rotating roster that resulted from the transfer portal. Eighmey looks to build a foundational culture for the Idaho women’s basketball program, hopefully creating more stability within the program and gain her first winning season.
Joanna Hayes can be reached at [email protected]
Jerry Hughes
Loss of Hope Butera to an ACL surgery was a difficult injury to recover from. If she had been healthy throughout the season, the record would have been better.