In the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, it’s adapt or die.
Perhaps no more so than in the transfer portal, as programs shuffle rosters annually, similar to professional sports teams.
The Iowa State women’s basketball team had a lot of success last season, reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament, so coach Bill Fennelly didn’t want to shake things up too much. Still, he followed the “adapt or die” mentality this offseason by adding four transfers to the roster: Lily Hansford (Oregon State), Kenzie Hare (Marquette), Sydney Harris (TCU) and Lilly Taulelei (Massachusetts).
Fennelly said the list of transfers he was willing to add was short. It turns out that some of his roster players chose to come to Iowa State.
“We were lucky,” Fennelly said. “Four of the young men who arrived fit into our team, our culture and in many ways. We are excited about their arrival on campus.”
Fennelly has a pretty straightforward plan for how to use them.
As Fennelly said, he’s a big fan of what Purdue men’s basketball coach Matt Painter did with 7-foot-10 center Zach Edey last season to get to the NCAA title game. Purdue’s lineup also consisted of strong shooters, allowing Edey to revel in the post. He averaged 25.2 points per game in his final NCAA season.
The Cyclones were among the nation’s elite three-point shooting teams last season, ranking sixth at 38.3% and leading the Big 12. With freshman Audi Crooks as the focal point of the post attack, the team had an elite offensive attack.
To improve on that, the Cyclones added three skilled shooters from beyond the arc to complement the Crooks-led offense.
“People want shooters, we want manufacturers,” Fennelly said. “With Audi, we wanted to surround it with as many quality three-point shooters as we could find.”
- Hansford was one of the best shooters in the country last season, shooting better than 45% from beyond the arc.
- Fennelly called Hare one of the best shooters in the portal after she set Marquette’s record 91 threes as a sophomore.
- Harris also shot over 40% from beyond the arc at TCU.
- Taulelei also improved his mid-range jump.
All three guards bring multipositional value to the Cyclones. At 6-foot-3, Hansford told the Register she could play point guard, power forward or power forward if needed. The 6-foot-2 Harris brings the same style, which allows for different lineup combinations and defensive matchups next season.
Taulelei was also a huge achievement for Fennelly and her team. They were excited to add a post player to the lineup in a sport that has a high demand for quality centers and forwards. Fennelly remembers contacting Taulelei during a cruise to close the deal, hoping he wouldn’t drop his phone in the water when making his pitch to purchase the New Zealand product.
The transfers played great games. Hansford was part of an Elite Eight run with Oregon State. Harris played in the NCAA Tournament with Marquette. The four newcomers were the result of a deliberate search to create what Fennelly sees as a high-potential squad for next season.
“I’m looking forward to bringing them all together and forming a team,” Fennelly said.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: Iowa State adds four transfers to surround Crooks with solid shooting
