How New Northwestern Transfers Can Revive Women's Basketball Program

The Northwestern Wildcats women's basketball program figures to look quite different under new head coach Carla Berube in 2026-27.

Berube arrives to Evanston hot off a 147-29 run at Princeton, featuring five straight NCAA Tournament berths during her seven seasons. The 2019-20 NCAA season did not feature a Big Dance run due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was the impetus behind the cancellation of the Ivy League's season in 2020-21.

Berube's associate coach with the Wildcats, Lauren Dillon, recently sat down with Yoni Zacks of The Daily Northwestern to explain how the club's top new transfer additions would help resurrect the program.

Camdyn Nelson, Guard, Syracuse

A 5-foot-8 guard out of St. Luke's School in Connecticut, Nelson played sparingly during her freshman collegiate season with Syracuse. Across 19 games, she averaged just 1.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.9 dimes in 9.1 minutes per.

As Dillon explained, she and Berube have had their eyes on Nelson since before her Syracuse stint.

"Camdyn Nelson is somebody that we recruited back at Princeton. She played at high school for a school that was in my league. In high school, I went to Noble and Greenough, and she went to St. Luke’s," Dillon said. "I’m familiar with that area, and I’m from New England, so I knew her and her family really well. So she was someone we wanted to get in touch with and get on campus right away. With her, she was looking for a place that fit her playing style.

"So I think she is such a dynamic point guard, and she brings a lot to the table as it comes to skill but also the type of athlete we love, and then the type of teammate and person that we know that she is. So knowing all of those things made it a really easy yes, I think, for us and for her. I think on top of the right fit, knowing that she knows our staff really well, knowing the success that coach Berube and all of her programs had had, that she also believes in a bright future for Northwestern women’s basketball, and she was ready to be the start of it."

Lexi Blue, Guard, Kentucky

The 6-foot-2 guard out of Lake Highland Prep in Florida spent her first two seasons of college ball with the other Wildcats, averaging 1.9 points and 1.2 rebounds in 10.1 minutes per.

Blue, a rising junior, will presumably see a lot more playing time with Northwestern.

"Similarly, Lexi Blue, we also recruited at Princeton, so we knew her parents, we knew her, and just like when we felt about Cam, we knew that she was going to bring athleticism and skill and college basketball experience," Dillon noted. "We also knew her staff at Kentucky, and they had awesome things to say about her and what she was able to bring to the day-to-day practice and games, and as a teammate, so equally excited for her."

Jasmyn Cooper, Forward, Syracuse

Cooper and Dillon have one critical thing in common: they both attended Noble Greenborough School in Massachusetts for their prep years.

The 6-foot-1 forward also saw limited minutes during her freshman season with the Orange, averaging 3.3 points on a .537/.304/.737 slash line, 2.1 rebounds and 0.6 dishes in 10.8 minutes a night.

"Jasmyn Cooper went to my high school, so I’ve known about her for a while. Me and my high school basketball coach are really close. His name is Alex Gallagher, and we talk weekly just about how the program’s doing," Dillon revealed. "They’re definitely a women’s basketball powerhouse, so (we) always have an eye on those players. We go way back with Jasmyn, and I think similarly, she was looking for the right fit. She is a high academic student-athlete, so I think she wanted that experience and was ready for the challenge on all levels."

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