Indiana women’s basketball head coach Teri Moren sat down with On3’s Talia Goodman and the Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman for a wide-ranging interview on the transfer portal, the program’s new roster this past week
The Hoosiers saw plenty of roster attrition this past offseason, losing stalwarts Chloe Moore-McNeil and Sydney Parrish to exhausted eligibility while others such as Lexus Bargesser, Lilly Meister, Henna Sandvik and, most notably, Yarden Garzon, left through the transfer portal.
Asked about
that portal activity, Moren said that while talent retention is a priority in her program, having to lean on the transfer portal to “revamp” her team has been refreshing in a way.
“As disappointing as it was early on, it’s kind of in a strange way, you have new faces, you have new people in your program, it has rejuvenized me in a strange kind of way also,” Moren said. “I love to teach, I love the practice components of what I get to do every day.”
Over half of Indiana’s roster is new, Moren noted, and it’s been interesting for her to coach a new crowd as opposed to a team that’s seen the way she operates before.
Asked about standouts and specifics on Indiana’s new roster, Moren said that her staff has always been very intentional on putting together a cohesive roster that can play together and harkened back to her postgame comments after losing to South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament last season when she said she wanted the Hoosiers to get bigger and more athletic across the board.
Moren added that it was too early to tell for the roster as a whole but made note of Shay Ciezki and Lenee Beaumont, the lone returners from 2024-25’s team.
The Hoosiers addressed the five spot in the portal by signing former UCLA forward Zania Socka-Nguemen, a former McDonald’s All-American in the class of 2024 and a top high school target for Indiana at the time.
“I think Z [Socka-Nguemen] is gonna be special, you know, inside in that five spot,” Moren said. “She’s gonna have a great opportunity in front of her to sort of be the anchor on the low block for us.”
Asked for follow-up on Socka-Nguemen, Moren praised her athleticism, work ethic and basketball IQ while noting that Indiana will be counting on her for immediate minutes in the frontcourt.
“I think she’ll be a fan favorite as well,” Moren said. “She has a great personality, but I do think that our fans will be really entertained by just how athletic she is.”
Watch the full interview with Indiana head coach Teri Moren here.
