Despite making back-to-back NCAA Tournaments and earning All-Big Ten honors, Michigan women’s basketball star Laila Phelia is leaving Ann Arbor.
According to basketball insider Talia Goodman, Phelia has entered the transfer portal. The junior guard has at least one more year of eligibility remaining.
“BREAKING: Michigan’s Laila Phelia has entered the transfer portal, a source tells @TheNextHoops,” Goodman wrote.
Phelia averaged 16.8 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, earning First-team All-Big Ten honors with the Wolverines in 2024. The team finished with the sixth-best record in the conference though and were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in an overtime loss to Kansas.
“This is a massive addition to the portal. Phelia averaged 16.8 ppg and 3.6 rpg for the Wolverines as a junior. Would be a really big get for any team,” Goodman wrote in a follow-up post.
College hoops fans were shocked upset to see Michigan’s prized junior leaving, especially now that conference rival Iowa is losing megastar Caitlin Clark:
“Woahhhhh I thought Laila would be a Wolverine for her whole career,” one user wrote.
“Michigan is the new Maryland. Elite coaches that have completely lost their players. Culture and coaching,” another lamented.
“Whoa. That’s a big one,” a third wrote.
The options for Phelia will be nearly endless. Any one of Michigan’s rivals could add her and see their conference title odds rise next year.
The departure of Caitlin Clark is going to open a big void in the Big Ten Conference which teams are going to be eager to fill.