Coach Yo snags two former five-stars in the transfer portal

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about what Coach Yo needs to find in the portal. I’m not going to rehash it, but suffice it to say Yo needs to hit the portal hard with great success, given all that’s leaving. I identified four major needs: star (all-around good), point guard, three-point shooter, and big.

This week, Yo closed on her first two additions, and they help address those needs.

First, she got a commitment from Elauna Eaton, a shooting guard from Arkansas who tore her ACL before ever playing a college minute and then played in 28 games as a redshirt freshman scoring 3.5 points per game while shooting 32% from beyond the arc. Eaton was ranked as the #38 player in the country coming out of high school, and Yo is hoping another offseason of recovery for her knee helps her blossom into the player she can be.

Then today, Purdue shooting guard Brooke Moore announced she will join Eaton in Oxford. Moore averaged just over ten points per game as a senior at Purdue as their first guard off the bench. She led the team in three-point percentage at 36.5% and should be asked to play a pivotal role for a team in desperate need of shooters.

Neither of these players are likely to make this team great on their own, as neither has really lived up to their five-star billing out of high school, but both are very important pieces early in portal season. Coach Yo has, as best I can tell, four scholarships remaining. I imagine she’ll prioritize bigs and point guards with those last four spots. Among those that seem possible/likely at the moment, one more player I didn’t name in the article who may be under consideration is Texas center Latasha Lattimore. Lattimore, a 6’4” Canada native was the #38 player in the class of 2021 but played just ten minutes per game on a stacked Texas team. Still, she was very highly recruited and is seen as a lockdown defender in the paint. With as much need as this team has down low, Lattimore could be an answer. Also, Coach Yo follows her on Twitter, for whatever that matters.