After an underwhelming season from the Oregon Ducks women’s basketball team, which finished last in the Pac-12 at 11-12, forward Grace VanSlooten entered her name in the transfer portal.

On Monday, she announced she will be joining Michigan State next season.

With Oregon entering the Big Ten next year, it should be beneficial for the Spartans to have a player who will know the Ducks’ tendencies. With Iowa’s Caitlin Clark heading to the WNBA, the Hawkeyes light could start to dim, and other Big Ten teams like the Spartans can start to brighten.

VanSlooten led the Ducks in scoring (15.0 points per game) this past season, outscoring all but one Spartan, guard Julia Ayrault, who led Michigan State with an average of 15.4. VanSlooten also averaged 7.1 rebounds per game. The only Spartan who recorded more this past season was, again, Ayrault.

The 6-foot-3 forward comes from a tough Pac-12 conference that she was able to thrive in. VanSlooten was named an All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention for both the 2023-24 and 2022-23 seasons. She averaged 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in that 2022-23 season, her freshman campaign.

VanSlooten was ranked 18th in the transfer portal by ESPN’s Charlie Creme. Prior to Oregon, VanSlooten was a McDonald’s All-American in 2022 and was a five-star prospect coming out of high school.

Adding VanSlooten is a big step for Spartans coach Robyn Fraclick, who will be entering her second season at the helm. Fans can only hope VanSlooten can help fix the scoring holes left by two of the Spartans’ top-three scorers this past season — guards Moira Joiner and DeeDee Hagemann, who recently announced she would be transferring to Ole Miss.

Next season, the Spartans and every other Big Ten team have to beat out four new teams that they are not as familiar with, including a USC team that lost just six games this past season. VanSlooten could give Michigan State quite the edge when facing not only Oregon but also teams the former Duck was used to going up against in the Pac-12.

VanSlooten also provides some relief to a Spartan team that lost two vital players following a successful 2023-24 season.

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