New Northwestern Coach Carla Berube Adds Transfer Portal Pieces
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First-year Northwestern University women's basketball head coach Carla Berube, fresh off an impressive 26-4 season with the Princeton Tigers, will head into the 2026-27 season missing four of Joe McKeown's top six players.
Seniors Grace Sullivan (who had a brief stint with the Dallas Wings during the preseason after going unselected in the 2026 WNBA Draft), Caroline Lau and Tate Lash all graduated.
Forward Tayla Thomas — the program's leader in rebounds at 7.2 per and blocks at 1.2 a night — transferred to Minnesota with her remaining NCAA eligibility.
Let's take a look at some of Berube's latest roster additions.
Camdyn Nelson, PG, Syracuse
Nelson played with former Big Ten assists leader Lau played at St. Luke’s School. Now, she'll compete with junior ball handler Xamiya Walton.
Walton is a long-range floor spacer (she made a Northwestern-best 38.7 percent of her triple tries last year), but questions remain about her defensive acumen.
The first transfer portal addition for Berube, Nelson struggled during her freshman season with the Orange. She has room to grow long-term and has some intriguing upside on and off the ball.
Lily Carmody, SG, Boston College
The 5-foot-11 Boston College alum is a bit oversized for a wing, and exploits that edge against shorter defenders. She averaged 12.8 points while slashing .472/.304/.829, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists a night for Boston last year.
Northwestern represents Carmody's third college program. The rising junior is a talented scorer in the post, but also a solid jump shooter and passer.
Lexi Blue, PF, Kentucky
Blue ditched the Wildcats for... well, the Wildcats, as Tali Goodman of On3 initially reported.
A top-40 recruit in high school, the 6-foot-2 forward was a key cog on last year's Sweet Sixteen Kentucky team, notching averages of 13.0 points, 7.4 boards, 2.5 steals and 2.1 dimes.
She has the size and speed to be a ruthless two-way contributor.
Jasmyn Cooper-Derba, C, Syracuse
The 6-foot-1 sophomore has a solid handle for a traditional big. She didn't get off the bench much for Syracuse, but that could change with an expanded role in Evanston.
Across 10.8 minutes a night for Syracuse as a freshman, she averaged 3.3 points on .537/.304/.737 shooting splits, 2.1 rebounds and 0.6 assists per.
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An Evanston native, Alex Kirschenbaum is also a proud Northwestern alum. He has written for Bleacher Nation, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, Hoops Rumors, Trailers From Hell, Men's Journal, and Bulls fan sites Blog-A-Bull and Pippen Ain't Easy, among others. Alex knows Zach Collins has given the Bulls some good years, but he'll never forgive the then-Gonzaga center for that very obvious goaltend against the Wildcats during the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.