Linking this as it’s not pay-walled, but this is aggregated from the Washington Post:
Yulia was listed at 6’5". That might’ve been a slight exaggeration but she was at least 6’4".
A few odds and ends here:
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If you were concerned about more impending departures this off-season, you can find most importantly Olivia Olson, Syla Sword, and Mila Holloway but also Te’Yala Delfosse, Macy Brown and Alyssa Crockett in the comments on Kendall Dudley’s IG post giving her “Go Blue’s!” and “Welcome to the family!” (Sofilkanich hasn’t posted)
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In terms of transferring in general, I think Olson is just atypical, she’s not going to be chasing a bag. She committed here as a Sophomore. She recruited Swords. She recruited Holloway.
“I wanted to go somewhere where they hadn’t won a championship before, and I wanted to be a part of building that,” Olson told The Michigan Insider. “… I was the first commit, and I wanted to help build a special class. I wanted to help build something cool here and something that hadn’t been done before.”
- Just a rough recap of where we are (no idea of what starting lineups will be):
Returning Starters - G/F Olson, G/F Swords, G Holloway
Returning rotation players - G BQD
Returning fringe rotation players - G/F Delfosse, G Brown, F Crockett
Departing Starters - F Hobbs, G/F Kampschroeder
Departing rotation players - C Grabovskaia
Departing fringe rotation players - C VanTimmeran
Incoming Transfers: F Kendall Dudley, C Ashley Sofilkanich
Incoming Freshmen: G McKenzie Mathurin (#37), F Jessica Fields, F Ciara Byars (#65)
obviously we can pencil in the three returning starters. I’m not sure what the expectation for Sofilkanich should be. She’s obviously way more successful than Grabovskaia had been coming in (and I think Grabovskaia proved a cromulent backup big), but Torvik has the Patriot as faaaarrrrrr below CUSA (where Grabovskaia came from). She’ll be a junior, so she has two years, but I don’t think it’s a sure thing that she’ll be a positive starter (I assume the intention here is to start her, but things happen).
Dudley’s strongest asset at UCLA this year was rebounding, so I think she’ll help shore up any deficiency in Sofilkanich there, and Swords and Olson are both solid rebounders. BQD’s role is probably pretty well defined at this point (backing up the three freshmen), and Delfosse has the height to work into the forward rotation but is pretty willowy. There’s obviously the opportunity for Fields and Byars to get minutes if they can play, and maybe Mathurin is just too good to sit.
Still seems like Brown and Crockett are outside looking in.
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she’s not 6’5" on Torvik!
That’s a sad story.
BTW- there is a separate women’s college basketball thread.
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Thanks, Dylan! There wasn’t much to find for either in YouTube yesterday.
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I’m pretty sure this changed over the year, with Byars rising, but Michigan wound up having all 3 2025 recruits being in the ESPN Top-100. Mathurin leads the way at #37, Byars is #65, and Fields is #99.
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Some of those passes were nice! The FDU court is an abomination.
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I missed an interesting detail about Ashley Sofilkanich’s commitment. Michigan has been recruiting her younger sister, Taylor. Michigan made Taylor’s Final 9 and is ranked at #38 by ESPN. She’s listed at both 6’4" and 6’5", on different sites.
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I’m pretty interested to see how she does
POTY in the Patriot league as a sophomore, obviously had to move up
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https://x.com/umichwbball/status/1911960564575727686
https://x.com/seattlestorm/status/1911959019394416739
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I was pleasantly surprised that Sedona Prince went undrafted (some mocks had her getting drafted in the 1st round). She has a long list of allegations, and she wasn’t all that impressive when I watched her play.
That’s awesome! I hope she makes the team.
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It looks like both Macy Brown and Alyssa Crockett were at this event, so maybe they’re staying put:
Jordan is the kind of player you can always cheer for and wish they have the best pro career possible. Hope she can create a role for herself as Naz has with Atlanta. What’s the likelihood she makes the roster?
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I thought I heard she had a job lined up on Wall Street. Will be interesting to see what she chooses to do. Perhaps my all time favorite M women’s player.
Hard to tell. Seattle remade their roster to be competitive. Not every WNBA picks can make the team. They have cut 1st round picks in the past. 2nd/3rd round picks tend to be a long shot to make the team.