Minnesota women’s basketball coach Dawn Plitzuweit was looking for productive size in the transfer portal this month and appears to have gotten what she wanted, and more.
After getting a commitment from Penn State’s 6-foot-6 center Gracie Merkle on Monday, Plitzuweit announced Tuesday that Northwestern forward Tayla Thomas will join the Gophers next season, as well.
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Leah Harmon, a 5-foot-6 point guard from Central Florida, was the first to commit last week, and Thomas rounds out the three-player transfer class.
“From the moment I stepped on campus, it felt like home right away,” Harmon said in a UMN release. “The energy, the culture, everything about the program stood out. The coaches believe in me, and I believe in what we’re building.”
The Gophers return three starters from their first NCAA Tournament team since 2018, and first Sweet 16 group since 2005. They finished 24-9 overall, fourth in the Big Ten with a 13-5 conference record, and ranked No. 15 in the final Associated Press poll.
Thomas, a 6-foot-3 forward from East Orange, N.J., averaged 9.7 points and a team-high 7.2 rebounds as a sophomore last season and has two years of eligibility remaining.
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She and Merkle will fill the hole left in the blocks when Sophie Hart and Finau Tonga, both graduate students, exhausted their eligibility in the Gophers’ Sweet 16 loss to eventual champion UCLA on March 27. Merkle averaged 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds for Penn State as a junior last season.
Thomas had five double-doubles last season, including 11 points and 18 rebounds in a 79-72 victory at DePaul, and a career-high 30 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-68 home loss to Loyola Chicago.
“She’s a very versatile post player who brings athleticism, skill and the ability to rebound and finish plays at a high level,” Plitzuweit said in a release.
