Carter Booth, who earned first-team All-Big Ten honors this past season as a freshman on the Gophers volleyball team, announced Sunday she was transferring to rival Wisconsin.
Former Gophers volleyball standout Carter Booth transfers to rival Wisconsin
The All-Big Ten first-team selection's departure comes days after Jenna Wenaas left the program for national champion Texas.
December 25, 2022 at 11:17PM
The 6-7 middle blocker told the Wisconsin State Journal that despite Hugh McCutcheon's midseason announcement that he would be stepping down as Gophers coach after the season, she hadn't initially decided to leave until last week, after she returned home to Denver and had a long discussion with her parents.
"It seems fast. It was fast," Booth told the newspaper. "This was literally, I woke up committed to Minnesota and I went to bed that night wanting to enter the transfer portal. A complete coaching change is a really big change. I think I was sort of downplaying it so I wouldn't have to make this decision.
"This is scary. Change is scary. I've been committed to Minnesota for seven years. However, I owed it to myself to explore my options."
Booth led the Gophers this past season with 1.48 blocks per set (142 total), which ranked fifth in the Big Ten and 10th in the NCAA. She started 26 of 31 matches, and set the program freshman single-match record with 11 blocks in her collegiate debut, against Baylor in August. She also made the Big Ten all-freshman team and was American Volleyball Coaches Association North Region Freshman of the Year.
In Wisconsin, she joins a team that went 28-4 this past season and lost at home to Pittsburgh in an NCAA tournament regional final. The Badgers won the national championship in 2021.
"We got to know Carter and her family when she was going through the recruiting process when she was younger and when she came and visited our camp," Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield said in a news release. "She had a great freshman season and continued to get stronger and better when a lot of players start wearing down at her age. When we saw that she was in the portal we immediately reached out to her and had great conversations and realized that it would be a great fit.
"Carter is a great competitor who is willing to work hard to reach her big dreams and goals. She is a physical presence at the net with her block and her attacking and can score off of one or two feet. She has a great future in front of her and we are glad that we will be a part of it."
Booth is the second Gophers player to transfer following the coaching change from McCutcheon to former Washington coach Keegan Cook. On Friday, Jenna Wenaas, who as a junior outside hitter in 2022 ranked third on the team in kills and digs per set, announced she was joining NCAA champion Texas. Wenaas is a native of Frisco, Texas.
Minnesota, ranked first in the nation, dealt with injury and absence against No. 3 Michigan State.
