UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast: Bruins Land Elite Scoring Transfer Guard

The UCLA Bruins just improved from being a Final Four team to a true national championship contender after earning the commitment of one extremely valuable shooting guard from the old Pac-12.

UCLA landed former Utah Utes shooting guard Gianna Kneepkens. The news was first reported by ESPN's Alexa Philippou.

Breaking: Former Utah star Gianna Kneepkens has committed to @UCLAWBB, she told ESPN

A 3x-time 1st-team all-conference selection, Kneepkens bolsters a Bruins team that remains in the Final Four conversation after the program's first-ever berth last monthhttps://t.co/CnIwYXLINg pic.twitter.com/pxxxivL5ze
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) May 1, 2025

In this episode of the UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast, UCLA Bruins On SI beat writer Tom Cavanaugh breaks down how important the transfer addition of Kneepkens is to next year's team. One that was already returning a handful of impact players will not add an elite scorer to its roster.

You can watch the episode below:

Kneepkens spent four seasons with the Utes and will be using her final year of eligibility in Westwood. She played just eight games in her sophomore season (2023-24) and will retain the year of eligibility to use with the Bruins.

This past season, she averaged 19.5 points on 50.4% shooting with 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. She shot a stunning 44.8% from the 3-point arc on 6.8 attempts per contest. She was a polished free-throw shooter at 89% and is going to be a top scoring threat for next year's group.

Adding Kneepkens to an already star-studded roster is going to be problematic for the rest of the Big Ten. UCLA will be returning senior guards KiKi Rice and Gabriela Jaquez alongside defending Defensive Player of the Year, senior center Lauren Betts. This team is going to be special next season.

Kneepkens is the scoring surge that the Bruins needed to get past a team like UConn, the program that ended the Bruins' season in the Final Four this past March with a 34-point blowout defeat. With UCLA's latest addition, this group has an opportunity to flip the score in a game such as that.

UCLA was already the preseason No. 1 team in the country, but after the news of Kneepkens joining the team, it is a no doubt decision that they are the best in the country going into the season in early November.

It will be interesting to see how head coach Cori Close manages the scoring with this team due to so many different players being elite scoring threats. Kneepkens is likely the starting shooting guard alongside Rice, Jaquez, Betts, and returning senior forward Angela Dugalic.

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