Kate Koval will play for Baylor after receiving an NCAA transfer waiver last week, the university announced Saturday. The 6-foot-5 center left LSU after the school signed Anna Minaeva, a Russian player who had previously played professionally in Moscow.
Koval, who is from Kyiv, Ukraine, said her father serves in the Ukrainian military. She announced plans to leave LSU after the transfer portal had closed and appealed publicly to the NCAA for permission to transfer.
In a social media post, Koval wrote, “For me, this war is not distant or abstract.” She also said people close to her had been killed or injured in Russian attacks and that places where she grew up and began playing basketball had been destroyed by missile strikes.
NCAA rules allow an out-of-window transfer when an event outside an athlete’s control, unrelated to athletic opportunities or participation at the current school, requires the athlete to leave immediately. A Baylor spokesperson said it was not yet clear whether Koval would be eligible to play immediately because classes at Baylor began in late August.
Koval joins a Baylor team undergoing significant roster changes before coach Nicki Collen’s sixth season in Waco. The Bears went 25-9 last season and did not experience major transfer-portal losses, but four starters graduated. Baylor had signed three other transfers and did not have any freshmen in its incoming class.
Koval is expected to join a roster that includes Taliah Scott, who led Baylor with 20 points per game last season, and Marcayla Johnson, who is coming off her freshman season. She will be the team’s second 6-foot-5 player, alongside Lorena Awou, who transferred from NC State in January.
