Head coach Jacie Hoyt & Oklahoma State women’s basketball team sees seven players and counting enter the transfer portal.
What do you make of the Cowgirl portal exodus?
STILLWATER, Okla — Head coach Jacie Hoyt just won her first NCAA Tournament game before losing to the No. 1 seed UCLA Bruins in the second round.
Hoyt and her Cowgirls made their third trip to the “Big Dance” and posted a 33-2 record inside of Gallagher-Iba Arena in the past two seasons.
There has been evident progress for the Oklahoma State Women’s basketball team since Jacie Hoyt has arrived on campus.
And yet, the Cowgirls who have helped Coach Hoyt attain that success seem to be jumping the orange ship.
In the past few days, the Oklahoma State Women’s basketball program has seen seven Cowgirls declare for the transfer portal.
Hoyt and the Cowgirls also lose three players from the 2025-2026 roster to graduation/eligibility.
That leaves three Cowgirls left from the 2025-2026 roster going into the 2026-2027 basketball year.
What is causing this mass exodus in Stillwater? Hoyt seemingly has progressed each season and has continued to build this Oklahoma State Women’s program brick by brick. Now? Cowgirl basketball is down to the studs and sheets of plywood.
I’m not sure all the information on this portal exodus has been released just yet. And I’m not sure anyone outside of the program saw these portal declarations coming.
— The Cowgirls lose the following players to graduation and/or eligibility:
Micah Gray - 5’8 - Guard
Haleigh Timmer - 5’11 - Guard
Winnie Joseph - 6’5 - Center
— There are seven Cowgirls who have declared for the transfer portal:
Faith Acker - Junior - 6’2 - Center
Achol Akot - Junior - 6’1 - Forward
Tyla Heard - Soph. - 5’11 - Guard
Macey Huard - Junior (RS) - 6’2 - Guard
Favour Onoh - Soph. - 6’5 - Center
Amari Whiting - Junior - 5’10 - Guard
Jayden Wooten - Soph. - 5’6 - Guard
— The three Cowgirls who currently remain include:
Praise Egharevba - Junior (RS) - 6’3 - Forward
Lena Girardi - Freshman - 5’11 - Guard
Stailee Heard - Junior - 5’11 - Guard
After steering the Oklahoma State Cowgirls to another 20-win season and another NCAA Tournament appearance in 2025-26, head coach Jacie Hoyt now will have to confront this major roster shake-up.
With seven players entering the portal ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, including key contributors such as forward Achol Akot and guard Jadyn Wooten, it forces a near complete rebuild.
Hoyt has thrived in the portal era before though. In 2025, she assembled ESPN’s seventh-best transfer class, landing veterans like Amari Whiting, Haleigh Timmer and Achol Akot (now all gone, oof).
Those targeted additions delivered immediate depth and veteran leadership, powering the Cowgirls’ pretty good regular season and short lived NCAA Tournament run.
Going forward, Hoyt will have to lean on the same playbook and have to bet on her ability to bring another top portal class to Stillwater.
Though, with this current exodus, it begs the question…is there something else going on in Stillwater? Or is this just another case of how the new NIL era is shaping year-by-year roster ebbs and flows?