Softball On SI

Duke Softball Coach Marissa Young's Daughter Enters Transfer Portal

Allison Smith|
May 30, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Florida Gators pitcher Keagan Rothrock (7) and her teammates greet fans as they enter the stadium to play the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series at Devon Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images
May 30, 2025; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Florida Gators pitcher Keagan Rothrock (7) and her teammates greet fans as they enter the stadium to play the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in the NCAA Softball Women's College World Series at Devon Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

Layla Lamar, daughter of Duke head coach Marissa Young, entered the transfer portal on June 2.

The outfielder is searching for a new home after one year with the Florida Gators program, where she only saw sporadic playing time.

In her freshman season, Lamar only started three games, made 16 appearances, and had 17 at-bats. In her brief time in the Gators' blue and orange, Lamar accumulated a .235 batting average and a .551 on-base plus slugging percentage.

However, coming out of Panther Creek High School, Lamar had a high school batting average of .585, on-base percentage of .682, and fielding percentage of .989 – placing her squarely within the top 100 in North Carolina for all three statistics.

Additionally, Lamar played for Lady Dukes Lamar 18u National, coached by her father, James Lamar, a former collegiate football and baseball player at Indiana.

Layla Lamar stands awaiting her at bat for Panther Creek HS.
In a HS game against Middle Creek, Layla Lamar hit a cycle of homers; a solo shot in the first inning, a two-run shot and three-run shot in the third inning, and a grand slam in the fifth inning. | Panther Creek HS Athletics

The Lady Dukes organization has had success placing players at various top universities around the country with Ana Gold (Duke), Jada Baker (Duke), Tyrina Jones (Purdue), and Lamar all at premiere softball programs.

Lamar committed early to Florida in sixth grade in 2018 before the NCAA rules changed. The daughter of a softball icon in Young who was a three-time All-America pitcher at Michigan, and earned back-to-back Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2002 and 2003.

Is there a possibility Lamar joins her mother at Duke?

At this point, Lamar has not announced her next steps, but she has visited Arizona.

Time will tell if she ends up at another school far away from home or if she decides to return to North Carolina and play for the historic program that her mother built at Duke.

Duke head coach Marissa Young during the game against Georgia at Durham Regional game in Durham, North Carolina on May 18.
May 18, 2025; Durham, NC, USA; Duke head coach Marissa Young during the game against Georgia at Durham Regional game in Durham, North Carolina, Sunday. Mandatory Credit: Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Under Young's tutelage, Duke accrued its first ACC championship in 2021, second in 2024, and has seen the NCAA post season from 2021-2025, with a Women's College World Series berth in 2024.

More News: Arizona Adds 4 Transfers, Including Sister of OU Softball Legend

More News: South Carolina Softball Adds SEC Transfer, In-State Native

More News: Iowa Shortstop Soo-Jin Berry Hits Transfer Portal

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Allison Smith
ALLISON SMITH

Allison Smith is an expert in leadership and organizational behavior in collegiate and professional women’s sports. Smith is a professor (Georgia State University), researcher, and writer. Smith holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee in Kinesiology and Sport Studies. Smith’s research centers on combatting the underrepresentation of women leaders in sport, lack of organizational structure for work life integration for sport employees, and lack of programming and oversight for preparing athletes to transition to life after sport. Since graduating with a bachelor’s in journalism in 2011, Smith has sought opportunities to write about sports as a contributing writer focused on the growth of women’s collegiate, Olympic, and professional sports in this new age and movement for multiple outlets including Athletic Director U, and now Forbes.com. As a former Division I and II pitcher and Division III pitching coach Smith will bring unique insight and expertise to Softball on SI.

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