That was quick. Former Iowa pitcher Jalen Adams entered her name into the portal on June 2. She publicly announced her intent to transfer on June 5. On June 7, she was listed by D1 Softball as an Arizona commit.
Adams is a big get for the Wildcats, certainly the biggest pitching transfer in the Caitlin Lowe era. The senior-to-be is a four-star transfer recruit with a score of 94, according to Softball America.
The rankings say Adams is a considerable upgrade for the Arizona bullpen, far surpassing the ranking of any of the four pitchers who left after the season. The Wildcats’ top transfer pitching loss according to SA’s rating system is Ryan Maddox with a three-star rating and a score of 87. All four of Arizona’s transfer losses in the circle are rated as three-star recruits with scores between 85 and 87.
Her accolades and stats point to a major upgrade, as well. Adams came to Iowa as the Iowa Gatorade Player of the Year. She backed it up when she became a Big Ten All-Freshman honoree in 2023, finishing with a 2.02 ERA in 34 appearances. She made 23 starts as a rookie and pitched 159.2 innings. The innings pitched ranked fourth in the conference.
As a sophomore, she again pitched 159.2 innings in 30 games with 25 starts. She went the distance in 17 of those starts. She had an ERA of 2.59 and threw a no-hitter against Michigan State.
This year, she dropped her ERA back to 2.18 in 198.2 IP. She made 38 appearances and had 30 starts. She had 20 complete games for the Hawkeyes and went 25-6. At the end of the regular season, she led the Big Ten in multiple statistical categories and was top 10 in eight.
Heading into the Big Ten Tournament, she led the league in starts (29), complete games (20), and innings pitched (194.1). She was second in wins (25), fourth in ERA (2.02), fifth in batting average against (.206), sixth in WHIP (1.07), and ninth in strikeouts (128).
Softball America had Arizona in competition with Missouri and UCF for Adams. She told the paper from her hometown of Fort Dodge, IA that she just wanted to see what happened.
“There are no hard feelings,” she told the Messenger News. “There is no animosity. This is a personal choice to put myself out there and see what happens.”
Adams went on to tell the Messenger News that she was looking for a place where she could be the ace. Arizona certainly gives her that opportunity.
“I’m down to my last year now,” she told Eric Pratt of her hometown paper. “I’m ready to challenge myself in a different way and see if I can make a bigger impact on a team and at a school where it may be more difficult at first to break (into the top end of the rotation), but will help me grow and push me in an even more competitive environment.”
It comes after a big season when Adams earned All-Big Ten Second Team and NFCA Midwest Region Second Team honors.
Iowa went 35-18 overall and 15-7 in the Big Ten to earn the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. The Hawkeyes were upset by No. 11 Penn State in their first conference tournament game.
Adams delivered on the field despite an unsettled season for the Hawkeyes. Head coach Renee Gillispie left just a month before practice started, purportedly for medical reasons, but reports say that assistant coach Brian Levin had been reaching out to administration about a “toxic culture” under Gillispie for months. Levin was named interim head coach, but he was fired after confronting players and threatening to leave the team when three players knelt for the national anthem at a game in Arkansas. He also sent text messages to recruits warning them to look elsewhere. The team finished the season under assistant coach Karl Gollan.
Adams becomes the second pitcher to join the Wildcats from the Big Ten. Jenae Berry left Indiana and will land in Tucson next season.