Picked up our first portal addition of the year this afternoon with former Kansas guard and senior to be Laia Conesa. This is almost certainly a depth signing.
26-27 Roster
Holdovers
Evalina Otto 6’ 2” So.
Chyra Evans 6’2” Sr
Kamryn Mafua. 6’1” So
Ella Todd 6’0” Fr
2026 Signees:
Peyton Jones 5’11” - 4* ESPN Top 100
Rylee Little 6’6” - 4* ESPN Top 100
Milika Satuala 5’10” - 4 * 2026 Utah Ms Basketball
Emma Petrie. 6’2” from Australia
Portal Additions:
Laia Conesa 5’11 Jr. Kansas (From Spain)
Lena Girardi 5’11" So. Okie State
Filipa Barros 5’9” Jr Cal Baptist (From Portugal)
Olivia Bradley. 6’1” Jr UCSB Via Australia
Portal Losses:
Reese Ross: Sr. Baylor
Avery Hjelmstad So. TCU
LA Sneed So. Okie State
Brooke Walker Jr. CU
Grace Foster Jr.
Alyssa Blanck
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I didn’t see that Blanck was in the portal, not that it matters, but you need someone to be the 13th player.
Utes announce signing of freshman 6’2” forward from [Australia.
Utah Women's Basketball Signs Emma Petrie to 2026-27 Roster - University of Utah Athletics)
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Well, Petrie seems to have range. In this linked video, I like her movement and activeness the most.
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Some thoughts:
- I wish they had show some defensive work, but she seems nimble.
- The rebounding they did show was mostly easy boards, one was over a shorter player.
- Of course it is edited, but she made all her layups! Big pet peeve of mine from last year.
- She seems to have range from behind the 3 line and some post moves.
- Reminds me of Reese Ross in watching her.
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Utes get commit from Lena Girardi from Okis State. Daughter of former MLB Joe Girardi.
The 5-11 freshman, and daughter of Joe Girardi, averaged 7.8 points per game this season while shooting 40% from deep. She was rated as a 4-star prospect coming out of high school.
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This might be a direct result of Okie recruiting over her with LA Sneed going there. She played in 28 of OSU’s 34 games, all coming off the bench, and averaged 14 minutes. Interesting to see how that comparison plays out this year.
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And another commit!
I know its at a lower level, but a 5’9 guard that pulls in 10 boards a game tells me all i need to know about how hard she plays.
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Another one from Portugal…aha.
In this linked highlight video, she seems to have a pretty quick shooting release, an understanding of passing lane, and has a pretty fluid hip/feet movement.
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So far, in the front court we have 2 of Evans, Little, Petrie, and Otto starting with the other 2 backing up and Mafua as depth. At the 2/3, we have whoever rises to the top of Todd, Jones, Satuala, Girardi, and Conesa, and then Barros as the point guard. Id love to see us add another point guard and then BPA with whatever spots are left.
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From the video, it looks like she even has a clue on how to feed the post in both the pick and roll and otherwise.
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Another commit 6’1” Jr Olivia Bradley from UCSB via Australia.
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Looks pretty agile and has some range. This is from 2 years ago.
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Ive gotta hand it to Gavin and company…theyve done a really nice job filling out this roster. Still gonna need some players to step up, but I really like what weve done so far.
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Yes, seems like maybe(?) they have upgraded in a couple of positions.
I wondered all year long why Mafua wasn’t playing, and now I read in that DesNews article that she was struggling with injury most of the year. I didn’t think that was it because she seemed to be in uniform more often that not. Her being available might be the biggest “add” of all.
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Waiting for the pudding. Haha
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Crooks just committed to Ok State.
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Crooks is a one dimensional player, score inside (which of course she is very good at), but is slow and can’t really move her feet on defense. Sneed will rack up some assists if she can improve her passes to the post.
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I never trusted Crooks. It had to be said.
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