After initial reports surfaced Monday, rumblings were confirmed the next day regarding Sierra Calhoun’s departure from Ohio State for another Big Ten school.
In an announcement made Tuesday, Rutgers acknowledged Calhoun’s addition to the Scarlet Knights women’s basketball team as a graduate transfer for the 2018-19 season.
The senior guard had been expected to return for her fifth year of eligibility, saying so March 19 after OSU’s 95-78 loss to Central Michigan in the NCAA tournament.
She was Ohio State’s top scorer left from the 2017-18 campaign, averaging 11.6 points and shooting 35.8 percent on three pointers while starting all 35 games.
Calhoun’s switch to Rutgers is a homecoming of sorts for the Brooklyn, N.Y., native. She starred in high school at Middle Village (N.Y.) Christ the King, starting out as a freshman at Duke in 2014-15 before transferring to the Buckeyes.
After she sat out the 2015-16 season, Calhoun developed into a top shooter for OSU across her 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns. As a sophomore, she averaged 9.5 points and shot 38.6 percent from deep in 35 games — all starts.
Ohio State takes a hit with Calhoun’s departure. The Buckeyes currently return fifth-year senior forward Makayla Waterman and junior guard Jensen Caretti in addition to former walk-ons Savitha Jayaraman and Karlie Cronin, who were placed on scholarship halfway through the 2017-18 season.
Between five graduate transfers and four incoming freshmen, OSU added an influx of nine new players throughout the offseason. Ohio State signed forward Aaliyah Patty, guard Janai Crooms and forward Dorka Juhasz among the freshmen. The Buckeyes then hit the graduate-transfer market hard with Ball State guard Carmen Grande, Cleveland State guard Ashanti Abshaw, Bowling Green guard Carly Santoro, LaSalle guard Adreana Miller and Pacific guard Najah Queenland.
