Purdue Women's Basketball Nets Transfer Pledge From 6-foot-5 Center

The Purdue women's basketball team has added to its frontcourt. On Sunday, the Boilermakers picked up a transfer commitment from 6-foot-5 center Anjela Minja. She becomes the sixth transfer pledge for Katie Gearlds and her staff this offseason.

Minja, a native of Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, spent last season at Gulf Coast State College (Panama City, Fla.), which competes at the junior college level. She was with the program for two seasons and averaged 7.8 points and 7.7 rebounds per game for the Commodores.

In her first season with Gulf Coast State, Minja averaged 3.5 points and 4.4 boards per contest.

Purdue has been looking to add to its post presence for the 2026-27 campaign. The Boilers have been eyeballing agile players who work well in the paint, providing a size and strength advantage down low. They also value players who can score in one-on-one matchups.

There will be room for improvement for Minja, especially transitioning from the junior college level to the Big Ten. But she will join rising sophomore Avery Gordon, a 6-foot-7 returner from last year's Purdue squad.

She will also be joined by Averi Aaron, a 6-foot-1 forward who can play in the post but can also space the floor with her three-point shooting. Minja will provide depth for the Boilers down low.

With Minja's pledge, Purdue's roster is now up to 13 players for the 2026-27 campaign. The Boilers have added six from the transfer portal this offseason: Aaron (Louisiana Tech), Hannah Wickstrom (UC-Riverside), Aysia Proctor (North Texas), Jelena Bulajic (USF), Kyndall Hunter (Houston), and Minja (Gulf Coast State).

Purdue has six international players on the roster

Purdue Boilermakers head coach Katie Gearlds in the second half against the UCLA Bruins. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

During the offseason, Purdue has done an excellent job adding international talent to the roster. With Minja's pledge, the Boilermakers now have six players on the 2026-27 squad who are from outside the United States.

All three members of Purdue's 2026 recruiting class come from overseas. Gearlds and her staff are bringing in Keona Douwstra (Netherlands), Maya Zilbershlag (Israel) and Katarina Sediva (Slovakia) as freshmen.

From the transfer portal, Purdue landed Wickstrom (Australia), Bulajic (Montenegro) and Minja (Tanzania).

Purdue only returns four players from last year's team: Gordon, McKenna Layden, Saige Stahl and Taylor Henderson. Henderson is the only one of that group who did not play, suffering a season-ending injury before the first game.

The Boilermakers are coming off a 2025-26 campaign in which they finished with a 13-17 record. They earned a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, but were defeated in the first round of the event.

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