Purdue women's basketball offseason tracker: Portal targets set to visit
Coach Katie Gearlds and her staff welcome more transfer prospects to campus
The roster currently has seven players available for the 2025-26 season.
The Boilermakers need more.
This week could help increase those numbers. Five players are expected on campus through Monday, according to a source.
Katie Gearlds has signed Taylor Feldman, who played three seasons at Northern Arizona and brought back Madison Layden-Zay, who sat out last season after playing four years for the Boilermakers.
WEDNESDAY
Ronnie Porter (Wisconsin): A 5-foot-4 point guard started her career as a walk-on and appeared in 88 games, including 62 starts in three seasons. She averaged 4.6 assists the last two seasons.
WEEKEND
Edessa Noyan (Virginia): The 6-3 forward from Sweden started 23 of 26 games last season. She was sidelined with pneumonia from Nov. 17 through Dec. 9. Averaged 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. Member of the U20 Swedish National Team roster for the 2024 Nordic Championship and FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket Championship.
Lexus Bargesser (Indiana): Appeared in 29 games, averaging 3.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 17.4 minutes. The 5-9 guard from Michigan scored a season-high 11 points against Bellarmine.
Tanyuel Welch (Memphis): The 5-10 combo guard from Indianapolis missed the 2022-23 season after suffering a torn ACL, meniscus, fractured bone, and a dislocation of the knee cap in July 2022. However, Welch bounced back after missing 18 months. She appeared in 30 games with 25 starts this season, averaging 10.8 points. 4.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
MONDAY
KiKi Smith (Arkansas): The 5-7 guard was named the 2024 NJCAA DI Women’s Basketball Player of the Year and First Team All-American before transferring to Arkansas. Started 22 games for the Razorbacks, averaging 10.2 points and shooting 40.6% from 3-point range (58 of 143). Scored 20 or more points three times, including 23 against Alabama. Had five games where she made four or more 3-pointers.
Tentative 2025-26 Roster
Seniors: Madison Layden-Zay, Taylor Feldman (transfer from Northern Arizona)
Junior: McKenna Layden
Sophomores: Lana McCarthy, Kendall Puryear
Freshmen: Avery Gordon, Keona Douwstra
The one player that I like on all the players coming in is Lexus Bargesser from Indiana— she is very athletic— can run. And a good defensive player. She was the one player that I wrote about a month ago that we should get. —- I hope it happens. —- As for as the other players—- I don’t have a clue—- but—- I do trust Katie for doing a good job on this portal process.—-She has done very well— every team out there is wanting to find a 6’5” center— good luck with that—they just do not exist in the portal— —- 5’8” is the norm.— I think everyone has been waiting to see what happens in this portal stuff and now it is going to.— The players that we lost coming in and the ones that transferred out— don’t blame anyone on that— that is the way life in sports is right now—- and you know what— I kinda like it— for me it is exciting— and if you look at what the coaches don’t have to do anymore—- home visits— years of recruiting and then that can go up in flames with the money thing that is going on. Just like that we can have a brand new players team—- I love it— just like the football team—a big part of it is going to be brand new—- so in ending— I can’t wat to see the team that is put together— Go Boilers !!! —- Ed from Wanamaker