Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1545007
3 8 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 6 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M M any challenges lie ahead for new Penn State women's basketball coach Tanisha Wright and her staff, but there was one problem that greeted her upon her arrival in late March: the impending opening of the transfer portal. Penn State ended up losing all nine of the players who had remaining eligibility. Its two best players — guard Kiyomi Mc- Miller and center Gracie Merkle — resur- faced at Florida and Minnesota, respec- tively. Three other players on last year's team exhausted their eligibility, leaving Wright with an empty roster. Faced with an urgent need to replenish, PSU's new staff hit the portal while also hoping to bring in some high school talent. As of mid-May, those efforts had yielded six players — one high school recruit and five transfers. Penn State's incoming freshman is four-star point guard Kamrah Banks of Indianapolis. Listed by Rivals as the No. 78 overall prospect and No. 16 point guard in the 2026 class, she averaged 20.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.4 steals per game as a senior at Crispus Attucks High. Banks was originally committed to the University of Central Florida but reopened her recruitment after the Knights made a coaching change. She said that Wright's WNBA experience — she played in the league for 14 seasons and coached there for five — impacted her decision. "Me being a guard who likes to make plays and play fast — that's what Coach wants to do," Banks told Rivals' Talia Goodman. "She showed me some clips of her WNBA team, and that playing style really fits. I feel like I'll be able to fit within the system very well." Wright called Banks "a proven leader with the ability to create for herself and others." "She's the first athlete to believe in the direction that Penn State women's basket- ball is headed," the first-year PSU coach added. "We are excited to get to work." Aside from Banks, Penn State's current roster consists entirely of transfers. Of the five players who have arrived via the por- tal, four are from Power Four schools. Junior guard Devyn Quigley spent the past two years at NC State, where she was part of the Wolfpack's sprint to the Sweet 16 in 2025. She averaged 8.3 points on 40.3 percent shooting from the floor as a freshman, seeing action in 33 games. Her stats declined as a sophomore, with the New Brunswick, N.J., native averaging 4.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Quigley was the No. 47 overall player in the 2024 recruiting cycle according to ESPN HoopGurlz. Wright said her ad- dition was "a major step forward for the Lady Lion program." Penn State brought in two more guards with Power Four experience in graduate Enjulina Gonzalez and sophomore Eva Black. Gonzalez will be playing for her fourth school, having spent two seasons at Mer- cer followed by one year apiece at Miami (Ohio) and Georgia. While with the Red- Hawks in 2024-25, she made 27 starts and averaged 16.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. Playing for the Bulldogs last season, she appeared in 32 games, av- eraging 3.2 points and 1.7 rebounds. Black saw action in 30 games as a fresh- man at Vanderbilt, averaging 2.8 points and 2.3 rebounds for a Commodores team that earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and reached the Sweet 16. In the frontcourt, the Lady Lions have brought in a pair of 6-foot-4 forwards in senior Cristen Carter and junior Petra Božan. An Indianapolis native, Carter stayed home to play for Butler and spent two sea- sons with the Bulldogs before moving on to Georgetown last year. She played in 30 games and started five for the Hoyas, av- eraging 4.6 points and 4.1 rebounds. Božan is a native of Croatia who spent the past two seasons at Nebraska. She played in all 32 games and averaged 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds as a sopho- more. ■ WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Lady Lions' Rebuilding Effort Starts With Six Additions M AT T H E R B | M AT T. H E R B @ O N 3 . C O M Four-star Indianapolis point guard Kamrah Banks became Tanisha Wight's first high school recruit as head coach at Penn State when she signed with the Lady Lions in April. PHOTO COURTESY PENN STATE ATHLETICS 2 0 2 6 - 2 7 W O M E N ' S B A S K E T B A L L R O S T E R * No. Name Pos. Ht. Elig. Hometown High School/Club/Last College 0 Devyn Quigley G 5-10 Jr. New Brunswick, N.J. Manchester Township/NC State 3 Kamrah Banks G 5-9 Fr. Indianapolis, Ind. Crispus Attucks 4 Petra Božan F/C 6-4 Jr. Split, Croatia KAZL Split/Nebraska 6 Eva Black G 5-11 So. Manchester, N.H. Tabor Academy/Vanderbilt 11 Enjulina Gonzalez G 5-9 Gr. Miami, Fla. Miami Christian/Georgia 24 Cristen Carter F 6-4 Sr. Indianapolis, Ind. Ben Davis/Georgetown * As of May 15