The Gophers women's basketball team added two more players to their 2023-24 roster Wednesday, one via the NCAA transfer portal, the other by luring another West Virginia recruit to Minnesota.
Coach Dawn Plitzuweit — who came to the Gophers after one season coaching at West Virginia — got Wisconsin forward/center Ayianna Johnson to switch her commitment from the Mountaineers to the Gophers. Johnson announced the news on social media; the Gophers have not yet officially announced this addition.
The Gophers did announce the addition of veteran guard Janay Sanders.
Sanders, a North Carolina native, began her college career at LaSalle and played the last three seasons at Appalachian State.
The 5-11 Sanders will have one year of eligibility. She has already earned both an undergraduate and master's degree.
Sanders led Appalachian State in scoring last season (13.5) and also averaged 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals.
"Janay is a versatile guard and she brings a veteran presence to our team," Plitzuweit said in a release by the team. "Janay has a great knack for scoring, for getting to the rim to create for herself and for her teammates, and she gets to the free-throw line at a great rate."
The 6-3 Johnson is an athletic player who also excelled in track and field at Jefferson (Wis.) High School. Though she started playing basketball relatively late, she finished her career as a two-time Rock Valley all-conference player.
She averaged 16.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.5 steals while shooting 50% for Jefferson as a senior. She finished her high school career having averaged 13.9 points in 89 games.
She is the second highly-regarded recruit out of Wisconsin to switch their commitment since Plitzuweit came to Minnesota. The other was Grace Grocholski, a guard who led Kettle Moraine High School to big-school state titles in her junior and senior year. Grocholski finished her high school career with 2,294 points, 13th most in Wisconsin high school history.
