Rutgers Womens Basketball: Former Purdue Guard Tara Daye Returns Home For Her Final Year of Eligibility

Purdue Redshirt Junior Tara Daye (44) shoots over a double-team during the NCAA women’s basketball game between the Eastern Illinois Panthers at the Purdue Boilermakers, Thursday Nov. 6, 2025, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue won 82-67 | Chad Krockover / Special to the Journal & Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Rutgers women’s basketball has added its seventh commitment in the transfer portal as former Purdue Guard Tara Daye has decided to commit to the Scarlet Knights, according to a post made by The Knight Report. Daye, a native of Newark, New Jersey, who spent her high school days at University High School, is the third New Jersey native to come home and represent their state university in this portal class, joining the Pauldo twins, Mia and Mya, who spent their high school days at Morris Catholic.

Daye is no stranger to the transfer portal, as Rutgers will be her fourth school in five years. Over her career, she has spent time with DePaul, St. John’s, and, most recently, Purdue. During her lone season as a Boilermaker, Daye averaged a career-high 12.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, both of which were also team highs, while appearing in 25 games. She recorded double-digit points in all but four games she played in last season. Daye committed to Rutgers despite also taking visits to Syracuse and Florida.

During her high school years, the 5-foot-10 guard scored 1,129 career points and helped the Phoenix win back-to-back state titles in her freshman and sophomore seasons. The team would go 91-13 during her four seasons there. After graduating, Daye played one year at Blair Academy, a private postgraduate school in Blairstown, NJ. The team went 14-4 during her lone season at the school.

She played in 27 games and made 1 start during her freshman season at DePaul before joining the Red Storm for the next two seasons. She started 19 games for St. John’s her sophomore year before missing almost her entire junior year due to injury.