After receiving a transfer waiver from the NCAA last week, Kate Koval found her landing spot. The 6-foot-5 center will play for Baylor, the program announced Saturday. A Baylor spokesperson said the program is optimistic she’ll be eligible for the season opener.
The Kyiv, Ukraine, native left LSU after the program signed Anna Minaeva, a Russian player who had played professionally in Moscow. Koval, whose father serves in the Ukrainian military, later announced her intention to leave LSU, but the timing came after the close of the transfer portal, prompting her to make a public appeal to the NCAA.
“For me, this war is not distant or abstract,” Koval wrote in her social media post. “People close to me have been killed and wounded in Russian attacks, and places where I grew up and first began playing basketball have been destroyed by missile strikes.”
NCAA rules only approve transfers outside of sport-specific transfer windows pending an “exigent event outside the student-athlete’s control unrelated to athletics opportunities or participation at their current institution that demands the student-athlete’s immediate departure from the institution.”
Koval’s addition is significant for the Bears, who are in a major revamp heading into coach Nicki Collen’s sixth season in Waco, Texas. Baylor avoided major losses to the transfer portal following last season’s 25-9 campaign, but it lost four starters to graduation. Collen had signed three transfers aside from Koval, as the Bears had no recruits in its freshman class.
When Koval hits the court, she will pair with Taliah Scott, who led Baylor in scoring (20 points per game), as well as Marcayla Johnson, who is coming off a strong freshman season. Koval will be the second 6-5 player on the Bears’ roster, joining Lorena Awou, who transferred from NC State in January.
Koval “can be a decision-maker on the perimeter both as a scorer and facilitator, which will expand our offense,” Collen said in a news release. “Her shot-blocking ability will help anchor our defense. She is an elite student with a big heart for others, and our fans will love her on and off the court.”