Iowa women's basketball lands Georgia transfer Jocelyn Faison

IOWA CITY — The transfer portal may have closed, but Iowa women's basketball marches on with its roster reconstruction.

The Hawkeyes have landed Georgia transfer Jocelyn Faison, who announced her commitment April 28 via social media.

Iowa's third acquisition of this cycle comes eight days after the transfer portal closed April 20 for those wanting to enter. Teams, however, can still add players after that deadline — and many like Iowa will.

A sophomore-to-be with three years of eligibility remaining, Faison visited Iowa City the weekend of April 25 as Jan Jensen hunts for depth pieces ahead of her third season at the helm.

A 6-foot-1 guard out of Atlanta, Faison appeared in 25 games last season for a Georgia team that won 22 games and earned a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Faison averaged 7.8 minutes, 1.3 points and 1.4 rebounds per contest while shooting 35.7% from the field. She played double-digit minutes 10 times.

Faison will link up in Iowa City with former Georgia teammate Dani Carnegie, who kicked off the Hawkeyes' portal cycle with a commitment on April 11. Oklahoma State transfer Amari Whiting announced she was heading to Iowa on April 15, giving Jensen and staff a good starting base.

With Iowa losing Addie Deal, Emely Rodriguez, Teagan Mallegni, Callie Levin and Kennise Johnson to the transfer portal — along with departing seniors Hannah Stuelke, Jada Gyamfi, Feuerbach and McCabe — the Hawkeyes were always going to need several acquisitions that range from depth pieces to key contributors.

Bringing on Faison alongside Carnegie and Whiting makes this Iowa’s first three-acquisition offseason of the portal era.

While Faison has lower expectations than Carnegie or Whiting when it comes to immediate impact, ample opportunity still exists for Faison to find a productive role in her new home.