Two Cowgirls Enter Transfer Portal After NCAA Tournament Exit
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The Cowgirls’ roster is beginning to change as the transfer portal heats up.
In the days since Oklahoma State’s first-round loss against South Dakota State in the NCAA Tournament, the transfer portal opened and chaos is beginning to ensue in the college basketball world. While the Cowgirls had plenty of work to do in the transfer portal last year, their workload shouldn’t be quite as demanding this offseason coming off of one of the best seasons in program history.
Still, that success doesn’t make the Cowgirls invincible from losing players to the portal. Two Cowgirls have officially put their names in the portal, according to a report from 247Sports’ McClain Baxley.
OSU is losing guards Kennedy Evans and Brenna Butler. Those two played limited minutes for the Cowgirls in their time in Stillwater and will likely be going somewhere they have more opportunities to showcase their skills.
Butler was in her second year with OSU but never got on the floor much across those two seasons. She played in 21 games throughout the past two years and saw the floor for only 49 total minutes.
Meanwhile, Evans was a freshman for the Cowgirls this past season and didn’t have the role it appeared she might have had coming in. Evans was a talented player coming into college out of Legion Prep Academy where she won the Texas Christian Athletic League Player of the Year. With the Cowgirls, she played only 12 minutes across six games and never scored during her freshman year.
As OSU looks to add some depth to replace its departing players, it has also already made a splash in the portal by adding BYU transfer Amari Whiting. With so many seniors also on their way out of the program, adding a player like Whiting so early in the portal to pair with stars such as Stailee Heard and Micah Gray next season could set OSU up for even more success in 2026.
While losing a couple of young players to the portal isn’t the outcome the Cowgirls wanted, keeping the core returners around will continue to be the priority for Jacie Hoyt as she looks to build the Cowgirls into a consistent contender.
Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.