Arizona women’s basketball loses five players to transfer portal following season-ending loss
Following a disappointing end to the season with a 71-69 loss to NAU in the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, the University of Arizona women’s basketball saw five players enter the transfer portal. This included the Wildcats’ core, built of leading scorer Jada Wiliams along with starters Breya Cunningham and Skylar Jones. As the portal remains open and more names are expected to join, Katarina Kneževic and Jorynn Ross shared their decisions to step away from the program as well.
Despite Tuesday being the first official day for women to enter the transfer portal, Williams announced her departure from Arizona on Monday, March 24 on X/Twitter. This was also after the second round of the NCAA Tournament that concluded on Monday.
Williams, a 5-foot-8 guard who has played two seasons for the Wildcats, started in 58 of the 64 games she’s played in. Additionally, Williams was named to the 2024 All Pac-12 Freshman Team and was a 2023 McDonald’s All-American, amongst other accolades. Williams led Arizona in scoring this year, averaging 12.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. She shot 37.1% from the field and was the second-highest free-throw percentage shooter in the Big 12 at 86.2% (75-of-87).
One day after Williams’ announcement, other notable names joined her in leaving. Through the current transfer-portal cycle, starters Cunningham and Jones announced their decision to depart Arizona on Tuesday morning. Freshman reserve Kneževic also joined in entering the portal that day, the third Wildcat to do so.
Cunningham was the Wildcats’ second leading scorer following Williams, averaging 11 points shooting 56% from the floor, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. She served as a key defender, leading Arizona as she collected seven rebounds per game. Additionally, Cunningham was named as an Honorable Mention to the Big-12 All Conference Team.
Jones, a 6-foot guard, appeared in 32 games for Arizona in her sophomore season, starting in 25. Jones was the third-leading scorer for the Wildcats this season, putting up 10.7 points, three rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. For the 2024-2025 season, she shot
49.2% from the field and 35.1% from the 3-point line. Jones also led Arizona with 52 total steals, averaging 1.6 per game, tying Williams.
After playing only one season in Tucson, Kneževic, a freshman from Belgrade, Serbia has decided to find opportunities elsewhere. The 6-foot forward has three more years of eligibility left. Despite seeing limited minutes on the floor, the absence of Sahnya Jah allowed more play time for Kneževic. Through Kneževic’s lone season with Arizona, she has averaged 2.8 points and 1.9 rebounds in her average 11.5 minutes of play per game for the Wildcats. Prior to Arizona, she had experience competing for the WBC Crvena Zvezda, WBC Art Basket and WBC Partizan.
The separation of Arizona’s team has not stopped there, as 6-foot-3 forward Jorynn Ross has also announced her name in the portal on March 28, via Instagram. The University of Pepperdine transfer spent one season with the Wildcats, appearing in 18 games. Through those matchups, she averaged 1.1 points in 6.2 minutes of play.
Notably, Ross did not play in the WBIT game against NAU, along with Williams. Even with a solid backcourt made of Lauryn Swann, Paulina Paris and Mailien Rolf, there is still uncertainty in what Arizona’s next steps are. The portal remains open until April 23.
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