Gophers women’s basketball team completes transfer cycle with Cleveland State guard
Gophers women’s basketball coach Lindsay Whalen has brought another player in from the NCAA transfer portal, Cleveland State swing player Isabelle Gradwell, completing the team’s transfer cycle for the 2022-23 season.
A 6-foot-1 wing, Gradwell played four seasons for the Vikings, averaging 5.2 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists as a senior. A graduate transfer, she has one year of eligibility remaining.
“I am excited to announce the signing of Isabelle Gradwell today,” Whalen said in a statement. “Isabelle has the unique ability to play several positions and has a great outside shot. Isabelle has experience as a graduate student and will exemplify our program’s values of being a great teammate, outworking our opponents, leading on and off the floor and being disciplined in all we do.”
Whalen also received a verbal commitment from Maple Grove’s Kennedy Klick, a 5-11 combo guard who will join the Gophers for the 2023-24 season. Klick announced her decision in a Twitter post on May 19.
Gradwell joins three other transfers: forward Aminata Zie (Western Nebraska Community College), guard Mi’Cole Cayton (Nebraska) and center Destinee Oberg (Arkansas). Minnesota will have 11 athletes on scholarship in the upcoming season.
Gradwell played 115 games at Cleveland State while averaging 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds. She started 21 games as a senior and scored in double figures six times. She scored a season-high 13 points in a 70-63 victory over Northeastern in the Horizon League tournament on March 18.
The Marshalltown, Iowa, native had 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Vikings won the Horizon conference tournament in 2020-21.
University of Minnesota freshmen are moving to campus this week for the summer session, and NCAA Division I basketball teams can begin summer practices as early as next week.
