When a coach changes jobs these days, at least some of her players usually follow her. Arizona saw the door swing wide open and most of its remaining players follow Adia Barnes to SMU. Will Becky Burke do the same moving from Buffalo to the Wildcats?
Arizona is in dire need of players. It currently has one player on the 2025-26 roster. That player is Montaya Dew, who will be returning from an injury again next season.
The questions are twofold. How many players from the Buffalo roster are in the portal and are they capable of playing in the Big 12?
UB plays at a much lower level than Arizona. The Bulls finished third in the Mid-American Conference this season and did not play a single Power 4 team, even during the nonconference season. In fact, although their schedule says their record is 30-7, the NCAA does not count the wins against DII Cedarville or DIII Buffalo State and puts their official record at 28-7.
The Bulls won the WNIT, but it no longer has the same prestige since the WBIT became the secondary women’s tournament in 2023-24. With the top 68 teams going to the NCAA Tournament and the next 32 going to the WBIT, the WNIT primarily offers spots to teams around 100 or worse in the NET. Buffalo finished No. 97 this year.
That doesn’t mean no one in the program can play at the Power 4 level. It’s just less likely.
The bigger problem is that most of the top players for Buffalo used the last of their eligibility this season. Almost every player on the roster who scored five or more points was a senior or fifth-year player. That includes two of the three who scored in double figures.
However, sophomore Kirsten Lewis-Williams was the third player to average double figures in scoring. She announced her entry into the portal on Monday, Apr. 7. That is the day that the two finalists for the Arizona job were reportedly interviewed.
Please reach out to @assist_u_ (336-486-6999) with interest. pic.twitter.com/RI3B12RZt3
— Kirsten Lewis-Williams (@Kirsten_Lewis21) April 7, 2025
Lewis-Williams averaged 13.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists against 2.3 turnovers, and 2.3 steals in 32.8 minutes per game this season. She shot 49.1 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from 3-point range this season. The 5-foot-10 guard has played at least 30 mpg and scored in double figures both years in college.
Lewis-Williams is one of seven Bulls known to be in the portal, although two of them have already committed to other mid-majors. Alexis Davis entered the portal on Mar. 25, making it less likely that she might want to follow Burke to her next stop. Her entry on the 2024-25 roster has already been removed. She is the only player besides Lewis-Davis who scored five or more points per game and wasn’t in her final year of college basketball last season.
Three other Buffalo players entered the portal over the last two days. Freshman guard Mallory Daly appeared in 22 games, playing 7.4 minutes per game. She averaged 1.2 points on 44.4 percent from the field and 28.6 from 3.
Sophomore guard Paula Lopez appeared in 37 games with 12 starts. She averaged 2.6 points in 14.7 minutes per game. She shot 41.2 percent from the field including 25.6 percent from 3. She had 1.5 assists and 1.1 turnovers per game.
Sophomore guard Makenna Shaffer is from Colorado but played her prep ball at AZ Compass Prep in Chandler, Ariz. She spent one season in junior college at Florida Southwestern State, where she had a big impact. In her only season at Buffalo, she averaged 0.7 points in 3.8 minutes per game in 14 appearances.
There is always a chance that Burke could convince some of the Arizona players in the portal to rejoin the team if their reasons for entering were related to the previous coaching staff or if money is now being made available that previously was not. Both would be promising for the program’s long-term health.
Burke stated on X that she was “already a few hours in” working the job. Her follows on the app are definitely interesting. They include a number of players in the portal from Power 4 teams. Some of those players competed in the Big 12 last year and had strong years.