IOWA CITY — Iowa women’s basketball has made its second transfer-portal splash.
The Hawkeyes have landed Oklahoma State transfer Amari Whiting, she confirmed April 15 on social media after visiting Iowa City the previous weekend. The 5-foot-10 guard heads to Iowa with one year of eligibility remaining after spending one year at Oklahoma State and her first two seasons at BYU.
A veteran presence who’s started every collegiate game she’s appeared in, Whiting set career-highs last season in shooting percentage (42.5%) and 3-point percentage (32.1%). Overall, she averaged 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game for an Oklahoma State squad that went 24-10 and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Whiting reached double figures 17 times last season with three double-doubles, while draining multiple treys in eight different contests. She actually has a bit of experience with the Hawkeyes, having scored 11 points in 26 minutes against Iowa at the 2024 Cancun Challenge while playing for BYU.
Iowa’s 3-point consistency came in waves last season, particularly after Taylor McCabe went down with a season-ending ACL tear in late January. Returners Taylor Stremlow and Chit-Chat Wright had strong stretches with efficiency to match, but the entire team bottomed out with a 5-for-42 effort from deep in the NCAA Tournament.
Adding Whiting helps address that issue some, though the Hawkeyes are almost certainly eyeing another shooter in the portal. As the only senior on the roster as of now, Whiting will help replenish some of the veteran defensive stability the Hawkeyes had in Kylie Feuerbach.
With Iowa losing Addie Deal, Emely Rodriguez, Teagan Mallegni, Callie Levin and Kennise Johnson to the transfer portal — along with departing seniors Hannah Stuelke, Jada Gyamfi, Feuerbach and McCabe — the Hawkeyes were always going to need several acquisitions that range from depth pieces to key contributors.
Pair Whiting’s addition with the acquisition of Georgia transfer Dani Carnegie, and the Hawkeyes are off to a strong start barely a week after the transfer portal opened on April 6.
Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa women’s basketball lands Oklahoma State transfer Amari Whiting
Reporting by Dargan Southard, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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