A closer look at three recent commitments for the Marquette women's basketball team

The Marquette women's basketball team will look very different next season.

For the first time since the 2015-16 season, Lauren Van Kleunen will not be listed on the Golden Eagles roster. A member of last season's all-Big East first team, Van Kleunen scored 1,501 points in her five seasons at MU.

Sharpshooting graduate transfer Karissa McLaughlin, who made 87 of the Golden Eagles' 120 three-pointers last season, also exhausted her NCAA eligibility. Danyel Middleton, who averaged 3.3 points in 11.8 minutes per game as a sophomore, transferred to Illinois-Chicago and Antwainette Walker, who scored 4.7 points per game, will also play elsewhere for her fifth season.

Marquette women's basketball coach Megan Duffy will welcome five newcomers next season - four freshmen and a transfer.
Marquette women's basketball coach Megan Duffy will welcome five newcomers next season - four freshmen and a transfer.

Head coach Megan Duffy has quickly retooled MU's roster for next season with five newcomers, four freshmen and a transfer. They'll join a team that still includes returning starters Chloe Marotta, back for her fifth season, Jordan King and Liza Karlen. Claire Kaifes should be healthy after missing last season with a torn ACL.

The last few months have seen the commitments of 2022 guard Kenzie Hare, Xavier transfer guard Nia Clark and 2023 prospect Halle Vice.

Here is a closer look at those three players:

Kenzie Hare

The 5-foot-9 guard from Naperville North (Illinois) High School was committed to St. Louis, but head coach Lisa Stone was fired in March. Duffy and her staff quickly pounced when Hare was released from her letter of intent.

"They liked my competitiveness," Hare said. "They liked how I shoot the ball. They liked how I'm a great teammate."

Hare visited MU's campus in late March and committed a few weeks later.

Hare averaged 20.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 steals and 3.1 assists per game as a senior and finished with 2,494 points in high school.

"Great teammate, super competitive, a lot of energy," Hare said when asked to describe her game. "Love to shoot the three definitely."

Hare joins Emily La Chapell, Aizahanique Mayo and Charia Smith in MU's 2022 recruiting class.

"I definitely see myself fitting in with the team," Hare said. "I think we're all super competitive. We all really love basketball. So just going out there and competing every day at practice. Then the best five go out on the floor to win some basketball games."

Nia Clark will play for Marquette after previous stops at Xavier and Miami (Ohio).
Nia Clark will play for Marquette after previous stops at Xavier and Miami (Ohio).

Nia Clark

Clark's addition from the transfer portal gives MU some more experience. She averaged 11.7 points for Xavier last season, but Musketeers coach Melanie Moore dismissed her leading scorer from the team in February for an unspecified violation of team rules.

Clark announced her transfer to MU on social media in April and graduated from Xavier in May.

Duffy secured the commitment of the 5-9 Clark for the second time. Clark played for Duffy at Miami (Ohio) in the 2018-19 season, averaging 10.6 points in nine games before suffering a season-ending injury. Duffy was hired by MU the next season and Clark transferred to Xavier.

"She will bring immediate athleticism, skill and scoring from the wing position," Duffy said when Clark signed with the RedHawks in April 2018. "We loved the success she showed both at Ben Davis High School (in Indianapolis) under legendary coach Joe Lentz and on the AAU EYBL circuit with All Ohio for J.B Bethea."

Halle Vice is Marquette's first commitment in the 2023 class.
Halle Vice is Marquette's first commitment in the 2023 class.

Halle Vice

College coaches are always recruiting and Duffy secured her first commitment for the 2023 class from 6-1 forward Halle Vice.

Vice averaged 19.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.2 steals as a junior for Pleasant Valley High School in Iowa. She was also considering Drake, Creighton and Oklahoma State.

"I'm a very versatile player," Vice said. "I have an ability to shoot. But I can also get to the rim. It kind of depends on who is guarding me.

"I'm kind of like a mismatch problem, I guess, because I'm more of a big guard. So if you have someone who is bigger on me, it'd be obviously easier to shoot but a smaller guard I can post up or get to the rim."

MU became interested in Vice when her All-Iowa Attack AAU team won the Nike Nationals last July. A scholarship was quickly offered and Vice took an official visit to MU in January.

"I'd gone to a few visits before going to Marquette," she said. "And I just feel like after I went on my visit to Marquette and obviously I saw the university, I saw the campus, I got to meet players, I kind of had that a-ha moment. I pretty much knew I wanted to go there after my visit there."

Vice is also a standout volleyball player.

"I feel like just being a multisport athlete, you kind of use the same skills throughout the different sports you play," Vice said. "So volleyball you're jumping a lot, so that would help with rebounding. But also how both sports are competitive, it just makes me more of a competitive player."

Contact Ben Steele at (414) 224-2676 or bmsteele@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenSteeleMJS or Instagram at @bensteele_mjs

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette women's basketball coach Megan Duffy adds to 2022-23 roster