Knights announce 4 transfer additions
New UCF women’s basketball coach Sytia Messer is beginning to make her mark on the program a little over a month after arriving in Orlando.
Messer announced the addition of four transfers Monday: Michigan forward Taylor Gibson; Kansas State guard Rachel Ranke; Gulf Coast State guard Morgan Robinson-Nwagwu; and Georgia Southern guard Mya Burns.
“I’m excited about each player that we have coming in,” Messer said in a release. “Each one plays a different position and has a ton of winning experience. I’m looking forward to coaching and developing these young ladies.”
Gibson appeared in three games off the bench for a Michigan squad that reached the Elite Eight last season.
A 2021 McDonald’s All-America game nominee, Gibson helped lead Bishop McNamara (Md.) to its first Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship in 2020 during her junior season.
“I chose UCF because of coach Messer, her winning mindset and vision for the program,” Gibson said. “Her success is well known, and her style of play fits my skill set.”
Gibson is the youngest of the four transfers. She’ll be joined by two seniors in Burns and Robinson-Nwagwu and one redshirt senior in Ranke, who spent five years at Kansas State.
Ranke missed last season due to injury but still finished her career with the Wildcats ranked sixth in career 3-point field goals (230) and holds the school record for career 3-pointers made by a player 6 feet or taller.
She was just the third player in Kansas State history with 1,000 career points, 300 career rebounds, 200 or more 3-point field goals made and 100 or more steals.
“I chose UCF because I wanted to be a part of a winning culture and a great environment,” Ranke said. “I’m excited to start this new era with coach Messer.”
Robinson-Nwagwu spent two years at Auburn before
transferring to Gulf Coast State College after a coaching change at the SEC school.
She played in all 29 games as a freshman at Auburn and made 14 appearances as a sophomore. Last season, she started all 29 games at Gulf Coast State College, averaging 20.2 points while shooting 41% from the field.
Robinson-Nwagwu led the NJCAA in free throws (165) and was fifth in points per game and sixth in total points (587).
“I chose UCF because I felt it is going to be the right fit for me and I love the campus and environment,” she said. “I also believe that coach Messer, with her background and experience, can help me get to where I want to be.”
The last transfer is Burns, who played in all 82 contests while making 66 starts over the last three years at Georgia Southern.
She averaged 11.7 points and 5.3 rebounds as a junior last season and shot a team-high 79% from the free-throw line.
Burns, who chose UCF over Rutgers, ranked 16th in the Sun Belt in scoring, fourth in freethrow percentage, 12th in 3-point field goal percentage and eighth in 3-point field goals made.
“I chose UCF because I liked the location and the campus,” Burns said. “I believe coach Messer is used to winning and will keep it going at UCF while making me individually better.”
Messer was hired in early April following the departure of Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who became the women’s basketball coach at the University of Georgia.
The four additions to UCF’s roster needed to be made for a number of reasons.
Once Henderson left but prior to Messer’s arrival, a number of Knights entered their name in the NCAA transfer portal, including AAC player-of-the-year Diamond Battles and AAC 6th-player-of-theyear Brittney Smith.
Battles and Smith joined Henderson at Georgia along with Henderson’s daughter Savannah, a 4-star recruit from Timber Creek who spent the spring with the Knights.
Senior forwards Jnaya Walker and Destiny Thomas and junior guard Alisha Lewis decided to enter the transfer portal as well. Thomas is the only one still listed on the team’s online roster for the next season.
Additionally, fifth-year seniors Tay Sanders and Masseny Kaba exhausted their eligibility last season.
Just seven members of UCF’s 2021-22 squad that won the AAC championship are set to return next year, according to the team’s online roster: Thomas, sixth-year senior forward Neila Luma, senior guards Ahna Burney and Asia Todd, redshirt junior guard Kiera Brown, junior forward Ashton Verhulst and sophomore guard Laila Jewett.
While all have appeared in games over the years at UCF, just Thomas, Burney and Luma played significant minutes last season.