Purdue Women's Basketball Hosts Multiple Transfer Prospects During Busy Stretch
In this story:
Katie Gearlds and her staff have been busy over the past several days, hosting multiple high-level transfer prospects, sources confirmed to Purdue Boilermakers on SI. Three players have made recent visits to West Lafayette over the last two weeks.
UC-Riverside's Hannah Wickstrom, Rutgers' Nene Ndiaye, and international prospect and former Boston College commit Irene Oboavwoduo have all visited Purdue over the last two weeks. The Boilermakers are looking to fill multiple roster spots, as seven players from the 2025-26 roster entered the transfer portal and one, Madison Layden-Zay, was out of eligibility.
Here's a rundown of each of the three players Purdue women's basketball has hosted and what they could bring to West Lafayette.
Hannah Wickstrom, guard (UC-Riverside)
Wickstrom was one of the most dynamic scorers in the country last season, averaging 23.4 points per game, ranking fifth nationally. She shot 34% from three-point range and 48.5% from the floor. The 5-foot-10 guard was also an elite rebounder at the guard position, finishing the year with eight double-doubles and averaging 7.3 boards per contest.
Wickstrom is a dynamic shooter from every area on the floor. She can come off screens and knock down open three-pointers, but she's also capable of beating defenders off the dribble and driving to the rim or getting to her pull-up jumper.
Purdue has had issues with shooters in previous seasons, and Wickstrom would fill that void. She'd also give the Boilermakers someone who can get downhill with former guard Tara Daye entering the portal.
A rising junior, Wickstrom will have two years of eligibility remaining. She was also a first-team All-Big West selection following her sophomore campaign. The guard was on campus on Wednesday, April 15.
Nene Ndiaye, forward (Rutgers)
A 6-foot-1 forward, Ndiaye was Rutgers' top scorer and rebounder during the 2025-26 season, averaging 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest. Because she played for a program that finished 1-17 in the Big Ten, she didn't quite get the attention she deserved.
Gearlds and the Purdue staff saw Ndiaye up close on Feb. 14, as she scored 25 points on 14 shots and went 4-of-5 from three-point range. For the season, she converted on 41.9% of her attempts from behind the arc.
Ndiaye spent two years at Boston College before transferring to Rutgers for her junior season. Last year was the first time she showed off her scoring capabilities for the entirety of a season. She would also provide Purdue with another quality rebounder and a player who can knock down open shots from the perimeter.
Ndiaye was on campus for her visit to Purdue on the weekend of April 11.
Irene Oboavwoduo, guard (England)
Oboavwoduo is a 5-foot-10 guard from Manchester, England, who had previously committed to Boston College. She reopened her recruitment and visited Purdue last week. She also recently visited Tennessee.
The international guard would be an incoming freshman and would have all four years of eligibility. She would also join Keona Douwstra, Maya Zilbershlag, and Katarina Sediva as international players on the Purdue women's basketball roster.
In 2025, Oboavwoduo participated in the FIBA U18 EuroBasket with Great Britain. In the seven games, she averaged 11.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest. She's an aggressive player who likes to drive to the basket and can finish at the rim.
PROMOTION‼️🇬🇧
— Irene Oboavwoduo (@IOboavwodu9258) January 11, 2025
GB u16s beat the Hosts Turkey to claim Third Place and secure Promotion to division A next summer‼️https://t.co/VoRbiGbWvH
Full game: https://t.co/ji3KmgEGiv
Irene Oboavwoduo: 15pts, 8rebs, 4stls, 2asts
Highlights—> pic.twitter.com/u3wdlWFJK2
Get top Boilermakers stories, expert analysis, and can't-miss moments straight to your inbox for free by signing up for the Purdue Boilermakers on SI newsletter!
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
Follow SchutteDustin