There was four players departing but now it's just three
While Te’a Cooper, Bianca Jackson, and LaDazhia Williams entered their names into the NCAA transfer portal last week, rising senior Mikiah Herbert Harrigan pulled out of the portal and will be back in the fold.
Last Tuesday, Staley had exit interviews with the players before they made the announcement they were transferring. At her Wednesday news conference to recap the season, Staley spoke briefly on those three who had decided to leave the program.
“I’m only going to speak this one time on the players that decided to transfer out. I don’t know the reasons why.
“I’m really not going to speak on Te’a or LaDazhia or Bianca Jackson. They are somebody else’s players, whether they picked a team or not yet,” Staley said. “I wish them well. I want them to find their happiness, find their bliss. If I can help them in any way, I surely will.”
As far as Herbert-Herrigan is concerned, Staley says she could have done a better job of communicating to her just how important Herrigan is to the program.
"Kiki wanted to revisit how I saw her in our program,” she said.
“When you don’t know, you tend to think the worst, like I’m not cared for, I’m not needed and that’s furthest from the truth. With maturity and growing up and understanding your worth, some players need to hear it. They need you to verbalize to them to make them feel a lot more comfortable. Kiki is one of those players that needed to hear it. She’s a tough player. You think she’s tough-minded but she’s 21 years old and sometimes 21-year-olds need to hear it in order for them to feel a certain comfort level. That’s on me. I should have done a better job at not allowing that space in which she could think negative thoughts and then give it to her support system. We are going to do a better job at just communicating a lot better.”
Staley says Herbert-Herrigan has the potential to be one of the better players in the SEC and could very well be drafted next year in the WNBA Draft.