On Tuesday evening, UConn announced that Kentucky forward Batouly Camara would be transferring to Storrs to join the four-time defending national champions.
Batouly, 6’1″, just completed her freshman season at Kentucky, averaging just over five points and four rebounds. She is the second incoming transfer of the offseason, joining Duke forward Azurá Stevens. Natalie Butler, who played 27 games in her first year as a Husky, transferred to UConn from Georgetown following the 2014 season.
While the number of transfers has exploded in the men’s game over the last half decade, the women’s had seemed immune until recently. For UConn coach Geno Auriemma, he will now have more transfers on his practice court (3) than he had total in his prior 30 years of coaching (2, Jessica McCormick and Brittany Hunter).
For opposing programs, who have been unable to keep pace with UConn already, the prospect of more player movement must be terrifying. With Auriemma now seemingly willing to consider his transfer options, other teams must work even harder, not only to recruit and develop high-caliber players, but also to retain them.
In the summer of 2015, Auriemma told SNY “I don’t begrudge anybody if they go to another school and say, ‘Hey look, I made a mistake.’ That’s not a negative. We make mistakes in recruiting. Kids make mistakes in picking schools.”
Auriemma has had his share of players leave his program over the years, including freshman De’Janae Boykin during the 2015-16 season, but none have had much of a detrimental effect on the roster (with the exception of Elena Della Donne who never actually suited up for the Huskies). Opponents may not be as fortunate.
If Auriemma’s willingness to accept transfers reflects a long-term change in strategy, the rest of women’s basketball’s job just got a whole lot harder.
