Less than 48 hours after USC women's basketball's season came to an end with a loss to UConn in the Elite Eight, freshman Avery Howell announced that she will be entering the transfer portal. As it turns out, however, Howell will not be the only Trojan departing the program, as she was quickly joined in the portal by Kayleigh Heckel and Aaliyah Gales.
Gales was a relatively unsurprising departure. After redshirting as a true freshman, she has averaged under 7 minutes per game each of the past two years, appearing in just 24 total contests. It seemed as though Gales was never truly able to carve out a role for herself in head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's program, so it makes sense that she is choosing to look elsewhere.
Heckel, however, is a much more surprising entrant. As a true freshman this year, she averaged 16.9 minutes and 6.1 points per game. With the Trojans graduating three of their five starters and superstar Juju Watkins likely set to miss significant time with an ACL injury, Heckel, like Howell, appeared poised to player a major role next season.
With both players gone, however, USC's roster is now full of question marks heading into the offseason. Assuming Watkins is not healthy to start the year, the Trojans will return just one player who averaged more than three points per game in 2024-2025: Kennedy Smith. Expect Gottlieb to attack the portal hard this offseason as she looks to add players who can keep the program competitive while Watkins recovers from her injury.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC's Kayleigh Heckel and Aaliyah Gales enter transfer portal
