Are Wildcats' portal departures unusual? Answering that and other UA offseason questions

With the end of Arizona’s season last Sunday, it didn’t take long for positioning to start.

That means some Wildcats are leaving and others coming in.

Cate Reese, Shaina Pellington and Jade Loville have all used their five years of eligibility and are moving on. The trio is hoping to hear their names called during the WNBA draft on April 10.

They aren’t the only Wildcats leaving the program.

Five players have entered their names into the transfer portal: Lauren Ware, who sat out with season-ending knee surgery this season; Lauren Fields; Madi Conner; and freshmen Paris Clark and Lemyah Hylton.

Clark is the first McDonald’s All-American to leave the program. Arizona has only had three players who have earned this recognition – Reese, Maya Nnaji and Clark. There are two more coming to UA next season in Jada Williams and Breya Cunningham.

This is the second consecutive season with a large turnover of personnel in the offseason. After the 2021-22 season, seven players left the Wildcats.

Although this might be concerning to some, Arizona isn’t the only school losing players in the “wild, wild, west” world of the transfer portal.

Pellington was part of the last class who had to sit out a year after transferring. Now, players can play right away without asking the NCAA for a waiver.

In this new era, players can jump easily — and coaches can nudge someone to leave. Players leave for a wide range of reasons, including not being a good fit for the culture; wanting more playing time; wanting a coach who doesn’t scream; gaining better name, image and likeness (NIL) deals; not wanting to work hard; or pursing a better education. Just a few years ago, Cal lost a player to Harvard.

The Wildcats lost in the NCAA Tournament to the Maryland Terrapins, who are coached by UA alum Brenda Frese. A season ago, Maryland lost five players to the portal, or 85% of its scoring. One of those players was LSU all-everything, All-American Angel Reese. Maryland and LSU are both in the Elite Eight.

Reigning national champion South Carolina lost four players to the portal after last season, including Destiny Littleton, who ended up at the Pac-12’s USC (14.0 ppg), and Saniya Rivers, who ended up at North Carolina State (ACC’s Sixth Player of the Year, 8.6 ppg).

In the Pac-12, other schools have also lost McDonald’s All-Americans. Last year Oregon lost five total players, including three starters from its highly rated 2020 recruiting class: Maddie Scherr (Kentucky), Sydney Parrish (Indiana) and Kylee Watson (Notre Dame). Oregon State lost three key players: Kennedy Brown (Duke), Taylor Jones (Texas) and Greta Kampschroeder (Michigan).

Utah’s Alissa Pili, who transferred after three years at USC, was the Pac-12’s Player of the Year this season. Cal’s Jayda Curry — the 2021 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year — is in the portal right now.

Elsewhere, Iowa State has four players in the portal, including three-year starter and 2022 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Lexi Donarski.

How important are these transfers when they come into a program? In the Sweet Sixteen, every team had a transfer who played a key role. Many start. Iowa’s Molly Davis (Central Michigan) is a key reserve.

For Arizona, Aari McDonald, Dominique McBryde and Tee Tee Starks — foundational pieces who helped put the Wildcats back on the map — were all transfers.

Pellington transferred in from Oklahoma the same year Amari Carter joined the Wildcats as a grad transfer from Penn State. Carter helped the Wildcats win 24 games and what would have been their first appearance in the NCAAs in more than a decade before COVID-19 canceled everything.

In the 2020-21 season, Trinity Baptiste joined the Wildcats as a grad transfer from Virginia Tech, and Bendu Yeaney came from Indiana; both were key contributors to the national runner-up run.

This season, Esmery Martinez brought the Wildcats intensity, determination, points, rebounds and steals from West Virginia.

Last year nearly 2,000 players opted to switch schools. According to Chantel Jennings of The Athletic, at the start of the weekend there were already more than 600 players in the portal. Expect more to enter over the next week as teams are eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats currently have these players left on the roster for next season: Helena Pueyo, who announced Friday that she is returning for her fifth year; Martinez, who is expected to return but hasn’t shared her decision yet; forward Nnaji; and guard Kailyn Gilbert, who won a gold medal at FIBA’s U18 Women’s Americas Championship with Team USA last summer.

They will be joined by one of the top 2023 recruiting classes in the nation featuring early enrollee Montaya Dew, who was listed by ESPN’s HoopGurlz at No. 8, No. 14 Cunningham and No. 21 Williams.

With all that as the backdrop, here are the biggest questions facing the UA this offseason:

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1. Who is the new leader?

With Pellington and Reese gone, it will be time to look for new leaders and someone to fill the gap while bringing along the next group.

That will fall to Martinez — if she returns — and Pueyo.

Martinez is the protector, the one everyone goes to when they need help. She also gets her teammates going by showing what it’s like to keep fighting and never give up.

Pueyo, who was the team captain this season, will continue to lead by example. She always gives extra effort on the court, stuffs the stat sheet and guides her teammates, making sure they are in the right position.

Martinez and Pueyo could also teach the next group of leaders — Nnaji, Gilbert and the members of the class of 2023.

2. Who is the starting point guard?

With Pellington leaving, this role is up for grabs.

Arizona coach Adia Barnes hasn’t had a freshman start since Reese and no rookie starting point guard since Lucia Alonso in the 2016-17 season. But watch out for Williams, who could be next in line.

First, she must battle Gilbert for that spot. We saw glimpses of what a Gilbert-led team could look like in the West Virginia win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. When Pellington and Pueyo hit the bench with four fouls apiece, Gilbert stepped up and ran the team for more than a quarter and got UA through the rough spot. We saw the evolution of her game as she distributed and didn’t take a possession off on defense, shutting down the Mountaineers’ JJ Quinerly.

With a full summer of offseason training with Barnes and UA assistant coach Salvo Coppa, along with the time she puts in on her own, Gilbert could be even more prepared to become Arizona’s next-generation point guard.

Pueyo will still play point guard at times. With her length, vision of the court and no-look passes, she adds a different look when she’s in that position. Most likely she will remain in her spot as sixth player as that is where she feels most comfortable.

3. What is Barnes looking for in the portal?

The easiest response is more post players. After a season of playing small and shorthanded, Barnes doesn’t want to repeat that. With Ware out because of season-ending knee surgery, others had to slide into the post position, and it wasn’t always successful.

Arizona was at a disadvantage against every team that had, well … a big big. Think Stanford, Oregon State, Oregon and others.

When you look back at Barnes’ seven years as coach at Arizona, the Wildcats rarely have had a true center or even many tall players. Nnaji comes in at 6-4 and Cunningham is listed at 6-4; that’s a good start. Martinez (6-2) plays taller as she isn’t easily pushed around. Dew is also 6-2 and can play multiple positions as well.

Taller posts are always a luxury.

The other position Barnes might look for is an experienced point guard to push Williams and Gilbert in practice and guide them through the season. That might help the youngsters develop at a faster pace and prepare them for the Pac-12 season and a tough non-conference schedule that should include Gonzaga, Texas and Kansas, plus a tournament in the Bahamas.

This isn’t a new concept as guards have pushed one another in the past in Barnes’ program. A younger Pellington was much better after facing off against McDonald for two seasons in practice.

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