Nebraska WBB Signs Three Transfer Players

The women’s basketball program signed three transfers today to go with three incoming freshman for the 2020-21 season. After losing four seniors to graduation and three players to transfer (three post players, one point guard, a wing and two guards), Amy Williams needed to bring in a big group and she did.

Graduate transfer Micole Cayton, junior-to-be Bella Cravens and sophomore-to-be Nailah Dillard will join incoming freshmen Ruby Porter, Annika Stewart and Whitney Brown as the newest Huskers on the roster this fall. Four of the new players are guards and two are post players.

Micole Cayton

Cayton, a 5-9 guard from Stockton, Calif., played for Cal. She originally signed a letter of intent for Nebraska in 2015, but changed course when Connie Yori resigned. Cayton was an honorable-mention All-Pac-12 Freshman Team selection in 2016-17. She appeared in just four games over the next three seasons for the Bears because of knee injuries and is expected to have at least two years of eligibility remaining. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in education at Nebraska.

Cayton, when healthy, is a scoring threat and a quick, athletic guard. Hopefully, she can get past her injuries and get on the court.

Bella Cravens

Cravens, a 6-3 forward from Laie, Hawaii, will be a junior for the Huskers in 2020-21. She earned honorable-mention All-Big Sky accolades as a sophomore at Eastern Washington after averaging 10.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks for the Eagles as a sophomore in 2019-20.

After graduating one post and losing two others to transfer, Cravens is a much needed addition to the Husker roster. She made 43 starts for Eastern Washington and based on her statistical production, she appears to be well-rounded player who can contribute both on offense and defense. She averaged 10.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Of special interest, she also averaged 1.68 blocked shots. If she can continue that, it will be fun to watch her and Kate Cain swatting shots.

Nailah Dillard

Dillard is a 5-9 guard from Sacramento, Calif. She appeared in 23 games at Texas Tech as a true freshman in 2019-20. She averaged 3.6 points and 1.7 rebounds in just under 10 minutes per game.

Her recruiting profile paints the picture of a physical, uptempo guard who is willing to pressure on defense. That very much fits the mold of guards Amy Williams has recruited of late.

The Freshman

Ruby Porter is a 5-10 guard from Australia. If she is half as impressive as Nebraska’s current Australian player (rising sophomore Isabelle Bourne), she will be a very welcome addition to the roster.

Annika Stewart is a 6-3 forward who played her senior year of high school in Minnesota. Her older sister was a starter for Iowa when they reached the Elite Eight in the 2018-19 season.

Whitney Brown is a 5-8 guard from Grand Island who will walk-on to the Husker program. She was noted as a prolific scorer.