ACC All-Freshman recipient at Louisville, former 5-star Payton Verhulst commits to Jennie Baranczyk, Sooners

It's not every day you see this, but a month-plus into the season one team's loss is Oklahoma's major gain. Payton Verhulst (6'1''-G-2003), an ACC All-Freshman member during Louisville's 2021-22 Final Four campaign and a former five-star prospect, entered the transfer portal following the first eight games and committed to the Sooners Monday. 'Boomer Sooner,' she said in a tweet with a graphic of her donning an Oklahoma jersey and the words 'Welcome Home Payton Verhulst.' From De Soto, Kan., Verhulst shot 40% from 3-point range while averaging 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds in 11 minutes per game with the Cardinals last year. She shot 42.9% overall from the field and also tallied 24 assists to go along with 21 steals. This year in eight games, Verhulst was averaging 6.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.9 assists per game. She was shooting 38.2% from the floor while playing 15.1 minutes per contest. The 6-foot-1 sophomore recently posted a career-high 16-point performance in a 100-37 blowout victory over Longwood on Nov. 25. But upon entering the portal, Verhulst didn't make the trip to Middle Tennessee over the weekend, and now it's clear why. 'She was just looking for some more opportunities to play and then just decided to transfer,' said Louisville head coach Jeff Walz. 'I've never been one to force some kid or try and force them to stay. I wasn't going to do it. We wished her absolutely the best and hope she has great success.' While she'll have to sit out the remainder of the 2022-23 season, Verhulst, who additionally had offers from the likes of UConn, Stanford and Notre Dame coming out of high school, will be immediately eligible in 2023-24. And that's obviously a tremendous boost when considering Oklahoma is set to lose stars Madi Williams, Taylor Robertson and Ana Llanusa off this year's current squad. Speaking of which, the Sooners have raced out to an 8-1 start, including a current five-game winning streak. That most recently featured a 94-65 blowout victory over Robert Morris over the weekend. They'll next take on Southern at 2 p.m. CT Sunday inside Lloyd Noble Center.
Courtesy of: 247sports.com



Tags : PAYTON VERHULST, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE, USA BASKETBALL, USA TRANSACTIONS, NCAA1