UCLA basketball lands first transfer since winning NCAA title
UCLA women’s basketball took its first step into the transfer portal season with the addition of Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas, who averaged nearly a double-double in her first season in the SEC.
The 5-foot-9 combo guard averaged 10.2 points and nine rebounds last season with the Razorbacks along with 1.5 steals per game. The Australian will have three years of eligibility remaining and could be part of the Bruins’ starting lineup next season.
Coach Cori Close said before the team’s NCAA Tournament championship victory that she expected to bring in at least five transfers to replace the six seniors and graduates who exhausted their eligibility, including the entire starting lineup.
Deas started 32 games as a true freshman, finished second on the team in scoring and was only one of two players with a double-digit scoring average.
Arkansas guard Bonnie Deas, left, joins the UCLA women’s basketball team.
(Michael Woods/Associated Press)
As a rebounding guard, Deas could fill the role Gabriela Jaquez played for the Bruins this season.
Deas helped Australia win a silver medal at the 2025 FIBA Under-19 Women’s World Cup by averaging 12.3 points and 7.7 rebounds.
UCLA returns only guards Christina Karamouzi, Lena Bilic as well as forwards Sienna Betts, Amanda Muse and Timea Gardiner and brings in Spanish freshman guard Somto Okafor.
Gardiner is likely to return to a starting role after returning from injury, while Betts and Bilic could claim starting roles after having regular rotation spots in the postseason. The Bruins could still use a little more size and another playmaker before locking down next year’s roster.
