What Vera Gunaydin entering transfer portal means for Gonzaga women's basketball

After winning the WCC Tournament and getting back to the NCAA Tournament in 2025-26, for the fifth time in six years, the future feels very bright for Lisa Fortier and the Gonzaga women's basketball team.

With only one graduating senior in Ines Bettencourt, Gonzaga's young team has the potential to dominate in the new Pac-12 for the next few years - provided they can keep everyone together.

The first domino has fallen for Fortier's program; however, as Vera Gunaydin, a 5'9 guard from Ankara, Turkey, will look for a new home for her final season of eligibility.

Gunaydin, who redshirted this past season, was honored on senior night alongside Bettencourt - so her decision to enter the transfer portal does not come as a major surprise.

After two years at South Georgia Tech junior college - where she averaged 13 points and shot 33% from three - Gunaydin was signed by coach Fortier to join the Zags as a junior ahead of the 2024-25 season.

The 5'9 guard appeared in 14 games for GU in her first season, playing 70 total minutes and scoring three points with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block. She shot 1-12 from three.

Gunaydin then redshirted in 2025-26, preserving an additional year of eligibility which she will pursue elsewhere as Gonzaga's first announced entrant into the portal.

What it means for Gonzaga

13 players were on the roster for coach Fortier in 2025-26, with Gunaydin the lone Zag to not participate in a game. New rules in college basketball, as part of the House Settlement, stipulate that all players are now set to be on scholarship - eliminating traditional walk-ons - while also limiting rosters to a maximum of 15 players.

Gunaydin's departure, as well as the graduation of Bettencourt, drops Gonzaga down to 11 players heading into the offseason. The team has one commitment in the 2026 freshman class in 6'1 forward Abby Lusk from Pocatello, ID.

That gives coach Fortier some wiggle room in building this roster heading into the Pac-12 in 2026-27, although the main priority is no doubt keeping this young, very talented core together.

Lauren Whittaker was one of the most productive players in all of college basketball last season as a redshirt freshman, and while NIL money doesn't flow as freely in women's hoops as it does on the men's side, there is little doubt she could command a significant payday from a power conference program. Between Whittaker and rising junior Allie Turner - who earned All-WCC First Team honors two years in a row - Gonzaga has arguably two of the best players in the new look Pac-12, and keeping each of them in Spokane is crucial to this team's future.

But that's not all. Rising sophomore Jaiden Haile was a beast on the boards as a freshman behind Whittaker, earning WCC Sixth Woman of the Year, while fellow classmates Julia Wilson and Paige Lofing showed promise in their first years.

Rising junior Teryn Gardner was a sharpshooter off the bench, while rising seniors Zee Aokuso, Taylor Smith, Sierra Lichtie, and McKynnlie Dalan all provide leadership and stability across the roster.

Retaining this entire roster may not be feasible in the new transfer portal and NIL era, but if coach Fortier and her staff can keep the key pieces for another year, it will set them up as the early favorites in the Pac-12 in 2026-27.