Baylor’s roster now includes two 6-foot-5 players after the NCAA granted Kate Koval a waiver to transfer from LSU outside the usual portal period. The school announced Koval’s addition Saturday, though a team spokesperson said it was unclear whether she could play immediately because classes began in late August.
Koval, who is from Kyiv, Ukraine, left LSU after the school added Anna Minaeva, a Russian player with professional experience in Moscow. Koval said her father serves in the Ukrainian military.
After the transfer portal closed, she asked the NCAA for permission to move and wrote on social media, “People close to me have been killed and wounded in Russian attacks, and places where I grew up and first began playing basketball have been destroyed by missile strikes.”
NCAA rules permit an out-of-window transfer when an urgent circumstance beyond an athlete’s control requires an immediate departure and is unrelated to athletic opportunities or participation at the current school. Koval joins coach Nicki Collen’s Baylor team for her sixth season in Waco. The Bears were 25-9 last season, retained most players through the portal and graduated four starters.
Baylor had signed three transfers and no freshman recruit. Koval is expected to play with Taliah Scott, last season’s 20-points-per-game scoring leader, and Marcayla Johnson. She joins Lorena Awou, a January transfer from NC State, as Baylor’s second 6-foot-5 player.