Stanford Women's Basketball Losing Former Top Recruit to Transfer Portal

After two years, this highly-touted forward is seeking a new opportunity

Dec 30, 2025; Stanford, California, USA; A view of the Stanford logo on a basketball during the first half of the game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Stanford Cardinal at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images | Robert Edwards-Imagn Images

Stanford women's basketball could be in a place where they're going to be starting from ground zero. In a season where the Cardinal were supposed to compete for a March Madness spot, the team instead fell well short of expectations, not only missing the tournament for the second straight season but losing in the WBIT quarterfinals as well.

And with the program missing the mark again, some players are bound to enter the offseason looking for a fresh start. That's the case for sophomore forward Harper Peterson, who is expected to enter the transfer portal.

A four-star recruit out of Whitney High School in Rocklin, California, Peterson played two seasons on The Farm as a reserve. Playing in nine games as a freshman, she averaged 0.7 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists and improved as a sophomore this past season. As a sophomore, she ended up playing in 10 games and averaging 1.1 points, 0.7 rebounds and 0.1 assists.

Peterson's departure marks the first player from Stanford to enter the transfer portal this offseason, but she may not be the last.

Signing multiple five-star recruits last offseason, the Cardinal appeared to have new life after a rebuilding year in 2024-25. But instead, they looked more like a program that struggled to have a consistent on-court identity, which could lead to more players wanting to start fresh and seek a bigger opportunity elsewhere.

In high school, Peterson played in over 100 total games while averaging nearly 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists per game. A multi-time award winner, Peterson led Whitney to two straight Sac-Joaquin Section Division II titles.

In her senior year, she averaged 14.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks. Ranked as the 87th best player in the country during her recruitment, Peterson committed to Stanford over offers from several other prominent Division I programs.

The Cardinal now enter next season with more urgency than ever. Making the tournament for 36 straight seasons under legendary head coach Tara VanDerveer, spanning from 1988 to 2024, the Cardinal have not only missed the tournament entirely the last two seasons, but they have come up short in the WBIT as well, losing in the first round last year and the quarterfinals this year.

Now, the program needs to scramble to prove that they can still be that dominant program we have come to know over decades, in order to continuing bringing in those high level recruits.

For the first time in a long time the Cardinal may need to start from scratch, but if the program wants to return to being consistently successful, then change may be very necessary.

For more comprehensive Stanford coverage, follow us on X, @StanfordOnSI or head on over to our Facebook page and give it a like!