Bear Down Wildcats

Report: Bendu Yeaney, Semaj Smith in transfer portal out of Arizona women’s basketball

On the day that Arizona officially signed McDonald’s All-American Paris Clark, reports also came out that Bendu Yeaney and Semaj Smith are in the transfer portal as grad transfers. The development was reported by Raoul of wbbblog.com who tracks recruiting and transfers across women’s basketball.

The addition of Smith to the portal is not a surprise. Head coach Adia Barnes said before senior day that Smith would not be back, but that the coach would help her find a good place for her final year if she wanted to play the extra year granted by the NCAA due to COVID-19. Smith had stayed at Arizona for four years despite getting little playing time after her sophomore year.

Yeaney is a bigger surprise. It was known that she would be back for a final year midway through the season and she announced as much after the senior day game. Yeaney has already removed references to Arizona and Tucson from her social media bio. About 9 p.m. on April 12, she cryptically tweeted, “You can’t trust everyone that’s my biggest lesson learned.”

It will be Yeaney’s second transfer of her career. She came to Arizona two years ago from Indiana and started for most of the past two seasons. She averaged 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season. That was up from 4.1 ppg the year before. She becomes the first player who has significantly contributed on the court to transfer from the program.

Arizona now has six returners and four incoming freshmen on the roster for next season. That leaves five available scholarships.

Irish27 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 2:49 pm

Definitley some transfers coming in. Plus, with a very talented recruiting class coming in, no surprise many have left. Adia wants the best talent.

pc in NM wrote: ↑Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:13 am Surprising!!

Report: Bendu Yeaney, Semaj Smith in transfer portal out of Arizona women’s basketball

On the day that Arizona officially signed McDonald’s All-American Paris Clark, reports also came out that Bendu Yeaney and Semaj Smith are in the transfer portal as grad transfers. The development was reported by Raoul of wbbblog.com who tracks recruiting and transfers across women’s basketball.

The addition of Smith to the portal is not a surprise. Head coach Adia Barnes said before senior day that Smith would not be back, but that the coach would help her find a good place for her final year if she wanted to play the extra year granted by the NCAA due to COVID-19. Smith had stayed at Arizona for four years despite getting little playing time after her sophomore year.

Yeaney is a bigger surprise. It was known that she would be back for a final year midway through the season and she announced as much after the senior day game. Yeaney has already removed references to Arizona and Tucson from her social media bio. About 9 p.m. on April 12, she cryptically tweeted, “You can’t trust everyone that’s my biggest lesson learned.”

It will be Yeaney’s second transfer of her career. She came to Arizona two years ago from Indiana and started for most of the past two seasons. She averaged 6.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game this season. That was up from 4.1 ppg the year before. She becomes the first player who has significantly contributed on the court to transfer from the program.

Arizona now has six returners and four incoming freshmen on the roster for next season. That leaves five available scholarships.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/basketbal ... aris-clark

This doesn't look so good. Adia's loyalty in doubt???

TheCatInTheHat wrote: ↑Thu Apr 14, 2022 8:39 am Well, from P.J. Brown's story in the Star this morning, Adia was unhappy with more than one of the players who are not returning. Adia expressed unhappiness with the team's competitiveness over the last few weeks of the season. Now, Reese, Ware, Pellington, Pueyo, and Conner are the only listed returning players. In the story today, Adia says much of the turnover is her decision. She says: "Some things should have been nipped in the bud." "You can never compromise your culture, values, and integrity." "You need people aligned with those in every way, not just one way." That's pretty strong phrasing. We should always be careful not to paint with broad brush strokes. At least one player just decided she didn't want to pursue basketball any more, some want to be closer to home, others may have decided they'll never get to play here. No harm; no foul. But, it's also pretty clear that Adia at the least nudged out some players who weren't capable of moving the program forward, and she also pretty clearly didn't like some attitudes. As to the timing of the Yeaney thing and the Paris Clark LOI, Clark verballed a while ago. Maybe there was some thought she'd still go elsewhere, and maybe Adia wanted to hang onto Yeaney as an insurance policy, whether she got Clark's signed paperwork or not. Coaches do that. But any player who insists on a guaranteed starting role, to not have their position recruited, and doesn't want to compete against all comers to improve the team would seem to have a questionable attitude. You can't expect a nice, easy, comfortable environment if you're trying to win championships. There are at least two sides to every story. Maybe Adia made assurances she shouldn't, and told somebody else something else. I've had that happen to me. In any event, some times cleaning house is a good thing. Jedd did some of it on the football team, and I imagine at least one or two affected players are unhappy. But, while it happens every year in football, it's a bit more traumatic with the smaller rosters in basketball