Transfer Portal Opens

[MikeADore]

The transfer portal officially opens today (March 25), and it’s bound to be wild and wooly. There are already more than 200 players in the portal. Those early entrants are grad students and players who have lost their coach, so they were allowed to jump in and beat the rush.

I have no clue who Vandy might be interested in or even if the coaches will sign anyone. Right now we’re sitting at 13 players, so if no one transfers out, it’s a pretty crowded roster. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two of our players move on, but I have no inside info on that.

Here are a few big girls who have already thrown their names in the hat. I’m sure there will be others starting today:

Serah Williams, 6’4, Wisconcin
She’s the best of the bunch so far. All Big-10 and has all the tools. Unfortunately, she also has all the attention that goes with that, including UConn and South Carolina. Would be a tough get for Vandy but has the potential to be a true program changer.



Gracie Mirkle, 6’6 sophomore, Penn State
Big and talented, but I wonder if she could fit into Vandy’s defensive scheme. Averaged almost 17 points this season on a bad team. Has the body to battle SEC bigs in the paint. Is she quick enough or fast enough? Reagan Beers manages it at Oklahoma for about 20 minutes per game, and Audi Crooks is a star at Iowa State, but they’re not having to sprint all over the place on defense. Mirkle could be worth the gamble just to finally have a big defender who can carve out space on the boards.



Ashley Sofilkanich, 6’3 sophomore, Bucknell
Has a nifty skill set around the basket. Moves well but doesn’t appear to be a banger in the paint. Does have long arms, and she can score. One of the most intriguing things about her is that she has a 6’5 sister, Taylor, who has Vandy on her Top 10 list for the class of ’26. Teams like Duke, TCU and Stanford are also on that list.



Some highlights.



Little Sister Taylor Sofilkanich



Caitlin Weimar, 6’4, N.C. State (Boston U)
She’s a center/power forward who left Boston University after graduating and leading the Terriers with 18.7 ppg, 10.6 rpg and 2.8 blocks per game. She chose to go to N.C. State but got injured in the pre-season and sat out the whole season. She appears to be healthy now and has decided not to stay at State, which had a 6’6 kid from Sweden step into the post position and play very well as the season went along. This could be Vandy’s best bet of the four I’ve listed based on her athleticism.

[VandyJim]

Mike, thanks for the information. Fingers crossed.

[MikeADore]

Just a couple of SEC notes: Freshman Taliah Scott has entered her name in the portal from Auburn. She's the scoring guard who transferred from Arkansas but was injured a few games into the season and missed the rest. Great shooter but very much a volume shooter. I don't think she and Mikayla would be a good combo.

Also, the Davis twins have entered the portal out of Georgia. They're freshman guards who were highly rated coming out of high school. Both are good. No clue what their plans could be.

Also, 6'7 Clara Silva has entered the portal out of Kentucky. Just a freshman and showed potential to be a good player, but she is caught behind sophomore Clara Strack and not likely to pass her for playing time. Silva has a "do not contact" note with her portal entry, which could indicate she knows where she is going or maybe that she or an agent want to be the ones making the contact.

[MikeADore]

[MikeADore]

Saw her play one time, and she's a good player on a good team.

[MikeADore]

Looking for her fourth team.

[MikeADore]

Remember her from the Vandy-Arizona game at the Acrisure Classic in California? She's a good player, but I have the same question about her that I have about some of the other bigs on this list. Vandy requires things from post players that many teams do not, namely the athleticism to cover a lot of territory at the back of a full-court and half-court pressure defense. The bigs who combine that with the size and strength to be a stopper in the lane are few and far between. I'm not sure Cunningham can do both.

[MikeADore]

For what it's worth, Vandy got in with a late offer to her as a high schooler, but she announced her commitment to Indiana a short time later. She didn't get a lot of playing time on Indiana's veteran team. I have no idea if coach Ralph will be interested, but she's a nice player.

[MikeADore]

Ain't the portal grand?

[MikeADore]

Probably the new leader in the clubhouse for best talent in the portal. If I had to guess, I'd be looking at the West Coach schools. A one-year JuJu replacement at USC or ride the glory train at UCLA? Wherever she goes, she will likely be well compensated.