Ashley Owusu is ready to play basketball again.

After starting her college career at Maryland, where she became one of the best guards in the country, she transferred to Virginia Tech ahead of the 2022-23 season. While her tenure with the Hokies started strong, a broken pinkie derailed it. After the injury, her minutes decreased, and she did not play at all in the postseason.

The tension came to a head during the Hokies’ Final Four run. During the national semifinal, Owusu left the bench, which resulted in infighting with her teammates. Following the season, she entered the transfer portal once again, and now she finds herself starting again at Penn State.

“Obviously getting hurt was unfortunate,” Owusu told The Daily Collegian, “but kind of looking forward to playing here, being able to be around new people.”

While Owusu was recruited by the Nittany Lions her first time in the portal, it didn’t work out. This time, assistant coach Terri Williams – whose brother Boo Williams coached Owusu in her youth career – managed to secure the commitment. Owusu credited the familiar face as a “very important” factor in her decision.

And Owusu’s Penn State teammates already are excited about what the three-time All-Big Ten selection brings to the squad. Makenna Marisa, who has “always been a fan of her game” and wanted to play with Owusu, said as much.

“She makes her teammates around her better, and she’s an unselfish player,” Marisa said. “She’s a hooper.”

And while Owusu is ready to fit into whatever role is needed, Penn State is ready to help her thrive.

“Ashley’s going to have freedom to play, and she didn’t get that at Virginia Tech,” Williams said. “She’s going to have freedom to flourish and be the player and the playmaker that she is, here, at Penn State.”

Ashley Owusu has found a new home with Penn State women’s basketball, the Nittany Lions announced Thursday night.

This marks Owusu’s second transfer in two seasons. The 6-0 guard transferred to Virginia Tech from Maryland last offseason, but her season with the Hokies soured after she injured her pinkie finger in December. While she started the first seven games of the season, she played sparingly after she made her return from injury in January, and she did not play at all in the postseason.

After a social media spat with her Virginia Tech teammates during the Hokies’ Final Four loss, Owusu re-entered the transfer portal. She has one year of COVID-19 eligibility remaining.

Despite her winding road to Virginia Tech, she brings top-tier skills with her to Penn State. In three seasons at Maryland, Owusu was named All-Big Ten three times and was the recipient of the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, recognizing the best shooting guard in women’s college basketball.

Across all four seasons of her career, she has averaged 13.1 points, 4.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game.

“We are thrilled to add Ashley to our Penn State family,” Penn State head coach Carolyn Kieger said in a statement. “She is a game-changing player who has excelled at the highest level, especially in the Big Ten Conference.”

When choosing her transfer destination, Owusu found herself impressed by the Nittany Lions’ team atmosphere.

“I chose Penn State because of how welcoming and genuine the coaches and girls were,” she said in a statement. “I wanted to be around people that have the same goals as me, and I know that my teammates and I are going to accomplish big things this season.”

The commitments of Hailey Van Lith and Aneesah Morrow to “superteam” LSU took two of the transfer portal’s top stars are off the market.

Who is left in the portal? Just Women’s Sports takes a look.

Ashley Owusu, Virginia Tech

One of the top players in the transfer portal last season, Ashley Owusu’s decision to re-enter the portal this offseason came as no surprise after she missed the second half of the season due to injury and then apparent personal differences with the team.

A former all-Big Ten player at Maryland, the 6-0 guard was named tournament MVP in 2020 and 2021, earning all-Big Ten honors in all three years that she played in  the conference. But she played minimal minutes at Virginia Tech, appearing in just 17 games and averaging 5.1 points in 15.1 minutes per game.

There has been no word on where the guard could go next, but she has one year of eligibility remaining and could provide a boost to any team if given the opportunity.

Aicha Coulibaly, Auburn

Aicha Coulibaly was a standout at Auburn in the 2022-23 season after being named to the All-SEC second team in 2022. She finished the year just off her career best, averaging 16.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Among her standout performances: Her 26 points and seven rebounds in an upset win over then-No. 4 Tennessee.

Rumors have the 6-0 guard heading to Texas A&M, but Coulibaly has yet to make her commitment known.

Diamond Johnson, NC State

Another star in the portal who has yet to announce her commitment, Diamond Johnson led NC State in scoring last season with 12.3 points per game. But she was limited to 22 games due to an ankle injury, and she also missed both the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

The sixth-ranked recruit in the class of 2020, the 5-5 guard played her freshman year at Rutgers, where she made the all-freshman team. She then transferred to NC State, where she was named the ACC Sixth Player of the Year in 2022 while helping the Wolfpack to the Elite Eight.

Ashley Owusu is keeping her skills sharp, as she showed off in a social media video posted Saturday.

The highlight reel shows the high-profile transfer in a gym practicing her dribbling and shooting. Her slick ball-handling is grabbing attention — and fueling speculation about her next destination.

Owusu transferred to Virginia Tech from Maryland last offseason, but her season with the Hokies soured after she injured her pinkie finger in December. While she started the first seven games of the season before the injury, she played sparingly after she made her return in January, and she did not play at all in the postseason.

After a social media spat with her Virginia Tech teammates during the Hokies’ Final Four loss, Owusu re-entered the transfer portal. The 6-0 guard has one year of COVID-19 eligibility remaining.

Longtime NBA player Jamal Crawford complimented Owusu’s latest video, as did WNBA free agent Te’a Cooper, who said Owusu looked “so tough.”

Former Maryland teammate Angel Reese, who transferred to LSU last offseason and then led the Tigers to the national championship, also applauded Owusu’s video.

“This bout to be so scaryyyy,” Reese tweeted.

Could the pair be headed for a reunion at LSU? While it’s possible, Owusu is remaining mum on the subject.

The day before the video dropped, Owusu tweeted: “It feels so good to be back in the gym.” In the replies, someone asked her to drop details of her next stop, to which she replied with laughing emojis.

In three seasons at Maryland before transferring to Virginia Tech, Owusu was named All-Big Ten three times and was the recipient of the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, recognizing the best shooting guard in women’s college basketball.

The 2023 WNBA draft is here, but some big-name prospects are not.

While many of the brightest stars in college basketball having declared for the draft, others have opted to return for another year, taking advantage of the extra year of COVID-19 eligibility. Just Women’s Sports takes a look at some of those who are running it back.

Rickea Jackson, Tennessee

Rickea Jackson became the first domino to fall in the list of players opting out of the 2023 draft, announcing her intention to return to the Vols before the NCAA Tournament even began.

Before her decision, she was projected as the No. 3 overall pick by Just Women’s Sports analyst Rachel Galligan, making her choice all the more surprising. But her return is big for Tennessee, as the first-team All-SEC selection led the team with 19.6 points per game while adding 6.2 rebounds per game.

Elizabeth Kitley, Virginia Tech

Kitley announced her decision to return in the middle of the national championship game, but it still counted as headline news for Virginia Tech fans.

A former five-star recruit and two-time ACC Player of the Year, Kitley led the Hokies in points, rebounds and blocks per game last season as Virginia Tech made its Final Four run. She’s also the all-time leading scorer in program history.

Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech

Georgia Amoore is another Virginia Tech senior who opted to run it back, meaning that three of the Hokies’ starting five players will take the court together next season.

Amoore had a standout regular season, averaging 16.1 points and 5.1 assists while leading the team to the ACC tournament title. She’s better against better opponents, making her decision to stay a good sign for the Hokies.

Charisma Osborne, UCLA

While Charisma Osborne opted into the 2023 WNBA draft, she later withdrew her name, instead electing to use her extra year of eligibility. As reported by the New York Times, she even was told by a WNBA coach that the decision to remain an extra year could be a smart move.

Osborne will provide a boost for UCLA, as she has averaged 15.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game throughout her first four years with the Bruins. She also helped the team to a Sweet 16 appearance this year, and will link up with freshman point guard Kiki Rice next year.

Sedona Prince, TCU

Sedona Prince is another player who withdrew her name from WNBA draft consideration. Prince missed their redshirt senior season with an elbow injury and had planned to exhaust their remaining NCAA eligibility to pursue a professional career.

But those plans have changed, as Prince withdrew their name from the draft. She also entered her name into the transfer portal and is headed to TCU with two years of eligibility remaining.

Ashley Owusu, transfer portal

Despite reports that she might enter the WNBA draft, Virginia Tech shooting guard Ashley Owusu has opted to remain in the NCAA. But the former Maryland standout is once again in the transfer portal after spending the second half of the season on the Hokies’ bench.

Cameron Brink, Stanford

There was never a question about whether or not Cameron Brink would return for her senior season at Stanford, despite the fact that she is eligible for the 2023 WNBA draft by a single day. As Brink told reporters last October, college is “fun.”

“Why not stay?” she asked. “I think I want to stay just because I want to just continue to be a kid. Finish my degree in four years, not rush myself.”

Ashley Owusu has entered the transfer portal, Virginia Tech confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday. 

The former Maryland standout spent the last season at Virginia Tech, but she found herself confined to the bench for the entire postseason.

When Owusu came to the Hokies as one of the top transfers last offseason, she was expected to feature heavily in the lineup. She won the Ann Meyers Drysdale award as the nation’s top shooting guard as a sophomore, and then she averaged 14.3 points per game as a junior.

But a broken pinkie sidelined the 6-0 senior guard in December, and while she returned to the court in January, her role was diminished. Owusu appeared in 17 games total, averaging 5.1 points in 15.1 minutes per game. 

“It’s been kind of up and down, especially with the injury and then coming back, and then not really being able to play,” she told The Next in early March. “Just staying confident within myself and just staying ready.”

But Owusu never appeared in the postseason, which included a Final Four run for Virginia Tech. 

Her relationships with her teammates appeared to be fraught with tension, which came to the surface after Virginia Tech’s Final Four loss to LSU. Owusu disappeared from the bench after halftime, and her teammates shaded her on social media following the loss.

While Owusu was a senior this season, she has one year of COVID-19 eligibility remaining.

Ashley Owusu came to the Virginia Tech women’s basketball team as a star transfer. But almost a year after she entered the portal, her season ended in infighting with her Hokies teammates and with Owusu reentering the transfer portal.

How did the once-promising partnership reach the breaking point? Just Women’s Sports presents a timeline of Owusu’s year with Virginia Tech, from her transfer announcement to the social media stir after Friday night’s Final Four loss to LSU.

April 5, 2022

The 6-0 guard announced via Twitter her decision to leave Maryland after three seasons.

“Unfortunately, events that have transpired on and off the court this year have led me to the very difficult but necessary decision to continue my education and basketball career elsewhere,” she wrote.

After her sophomore season with the Terrapins, she won the Ann Meyers Drysdale award as the top shooting guard in the country, which Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has won this season. In her junior season, she averaged 14.3 points and 3.7 assists per game. But she elected to spend her senior season elsewhere.

April 30, 2022

“Wassup Hokie Nation,” Owusu wrote in an Instagram post, revealing her destination for the 2022-23 season.

She joined Virginia Tech as one of the top transfers of the offseason. “I love it here,” she tweeted on July 3, and she echoed the same sentiment on Instagram with a video of herself practicing with her new team.

Nov. 7, 2022

In her first game for Virginia Tech, Owusu featured in the starting lineup, posted 9 points, 4 assists and 2 rebounds in 28 minutes in a 101-45 win against Mount St. Mary’s.

Nov. 27, 2022

The senior guard scored a season-high 21 points in 26 minutes in Virginia Tech’s 89-28 win against Longwood.

Dec. 1, 2022

Owusu broke her pinkie finger in the first quarter of the Hokies’ 85-54 win against Nebraska. She had started the first seven games of the year for her new squad, but the injury and subsequent surgery kept her out of the lineup for the next seven weeks.

“Very unselfish — she never really tried to go outside of what we were doing, just trying to figure it out,” Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks told ESPN in December following the injury. “She had some games where she was a little bit in a lull because she was trying to figure it out, and then you kind of see — unfortunately for us — right before she got hurt, she was starting to figure it out.

“I thought she was going to get on a roll and then she gets hurt.”

Jan. 19, 2023

In her first game back from her injury, Owusu played 21 minutes of the bench, scoring 5 points on 2-for-8 shooting. She did not play as many as 20 minutes again for the rest of the season.

Feb. 26, 2023

In Virginia Tech’s regular-season finale, a 65-52 win against Georgia Tech, Owusu played just five minutes and did not score. She would not play again for the Hokies, remaining on the bench for the entire postseason.

Two days before this game, she tweeted “freee meee” in response to a video of her playing for Maryland.

March 3, 2023

The Hokies played their first game of the ACC Tournament, but Owusu did not appear in the 68-42 win against Miami. When asked after the game what she needs to do to get back on the court, she redirected the question to Brooks.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “You’ll have to ask him.”

Virginia Tech went on to win the tournament title, but Owusu did not play in any of the three games.

Brooks told The Roanoke Times that his team found its identity while Owusu was working her way back from injury.

“Everybody can just look and see and tell that we’ve got things going in a tremendous direction,” Brooks said. “[The injury] was an unfair situation — not only for her but for us because it usually takes transfers a little while to get used to your system. And the time they’re usually getting used to it, she was out.

“During that time, we formed a different identity — one that probably would’ve been different if she were healthy and playing.”

March 31, 2023

No. 1 seed Virginia Tech made a historic run to the first Final Four in school history. During the semifinal contest, a fierce battle with No. 3 seed LSU, Owusu sat on the bench with her team in the first half but did not return to the bench after halftime in the eventual loss.

The team said Owusu “was not feeling well,” The Next’s Mitchell Northam reported. But in response to a tweet asking after Owusu’s whereabouts, teammate Kayana Traylor tweeted, “hmm idk check the lsu bench.” Traylor’s post was retweeted by several teammates, including Elizabeth Kitley and Taylor Soule.

Ashley’s father Emmanuel Owusu responded to Traylor’s tweet, writing: “Maybe you should the truth about how he hasn’t spoken to several kids in the team for months. How about the special group chat the coach has with 7 of the kids.”

Owusu’s former Maryland teammate Angel Reese, who now stars for LSU, tweeted after the game, “FREE MY DAWG @Ashleyyowusu15,” to which Virginia Tech guard Cayla King replied, “She’s been free.”

Brooks and his players were not asked about the apparent tension between Owusu and her teammates at the postgame press conference, though simmering tempers seemed to boil over on Twitter in the aftermath of the loss.

April 4, 2023

Owusu entered the transfer portal after the end of the season, Virginia Tech confirmed to ESPN. She has one year of COVID-19 eligibility remaining.

Her decision to enter the portal represents a reversal from her stance in early March, when she told The Next she planned to go pro rather than return for a fifth year.

The dramatics from the NCAA semifinal spilled over onto Twitter following Virginia Tech’s 79-72 loss to LSU.

After one user tweeted that “Ashley Owusu isn’t on the bench anymore” and questioned it, Virginia Tech’s Kayana Traylor tweeted back: “hmm idk check the lsu bench.”

The tweet was retweeted by Cayla King, Taylor Soule and star player Elizabeth Kitley, while Georgia Amoore liked the tweet as well. But Owusu’s father, Emmanuel, had words back.

“Maybe you should [tell] the truth about how he hasn’t spoken to several kids in the team for months,” he wrote. “How about the special group chat the coach has with 7 of the kids.”

And Owusu’s former Maryland teammate, Angel Reese, who played against Tech as a star for LSU, tweeted “FREE MY DAWG @Ashleyyowusu15.”

To which King replied, “She’s been free.”

It’s unknown what has caused the rift between the teammates, although Owusu has not played for Virginia Tech since February. And while there was a lot that hadn’t been seen before on the court in last night’s games, Los Angeles Sparks’ guard Lexie Brown summed up the drama best:

As Virginia Tech has made its historic run to the Final Four, high-profile transfer Ashley Owusu has been nowhere to be found.

The former Maryland standout played in the team’s first eight games of the season before missing time with a broken pinkie finger. Yet even after her return, she has struggled to crack the lineup. While she is “staying ready,” Owusu has not played since Feb. 26.

Following the Hokies’ run to their first ACC tournament championship, during which Owusu did not see any minutes, coach Kenny Brooks told The Roanoke Times that his team found its identity while Owusu was working her way back from injury.

“Everybody can just look and see and tell that we’ve got things going in a tremendous direction,” Brooks said. “[The injury] was an unfair situation — not only for her but for us because it usually takes transfers a little while to get used to your system. And the time they’re usually getting used to it, she was out.

“During that time, we formed a different identity — one that probably would’ve been different if she were healthy and playing throughout the month of December and January because … she would have been incorporated into the system. But she’s a different type player and we had to form a different identity.”

By the time that Owusu was ready to return, Brooks said that the team was in “the middle of a heated race” in the ACC. There wasn’t room to try and “reinvent ourselves,” he said, and with others playing well it was difficult to try and find her a place.

“I know she’s frustrated, but my job is to make sure that we’re winning,” he said. “And we are. Our goal was to win the ACC championship. We accomplished that. Our next goal’s to advance as far as we can in the NCAA Tournament. Ultimately, we have to go with what we feel like is the best for our team. And ultimately, it worked.”

And as Virginia Tech has made the first Final Four run in school history, Brooks hasn’t messed with what’s worked for his team, which leaves Owusu riding the bench.

Ahead of the Final Four, Brooks talked with reporters about getting his players to buy into the program.

“I mean, it’s kind of like being a parent. You tell your kids if they act the right way, good things will happen to them. Same thing in recruiting,” he said. “Elizabeth Kitley took a blind leap of faith. Georgia Amoore took a blind leap of faith and trusted in me that if they did the things I told them to do, that everything would come to fruition. For me it’s exciting to watch them experience it.”

He knew the team “had the talent” to reach this point all they way back in the summer leading up to the season.

“They weren’t a cohesive unit during the summer, but we knew we had the makings of it just because we had so many mature kids,” he said. “And then really we hit our stride obviously with the winning streak, but when we lost to Duke, we learned a lot about ourselves. There was no yelling in the locker room after that game. I told the kids, let this sting. We’ll get another opportunity to play them, and I said, don’t let it bother us. Let it kick us forward.

“From that moment, the look in their eyes, they’ve been pure professionals. They’ve gone out, everyone understands their role and they’ve done them and they’ve starred in their roles.”

Ashley Owusu made a splash when she transferred to Virginia Tech from Maryland in the offseason. Yet the star senior has barely made a ripple for the Hokies in the latter half of the season, and she did not play at all during their ACC Tournament title run.

When asked during the tournament what she needs to do to get back on the court for No. 4 Virginia Tech (27-4), she redirected the question to coach Kenny Brooks.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “You’ll have to ask [Brooks].”

While Owusu started the year as part of the starting lineup for the Hokies, she broke her pinkie finger in early December. Since her return on Jan. 19, she has been coming off the bench — and in four of the last five games, she has not played at all, including in the team’s three conference tournament wins.

“Trying to get back on the court, trying to get back in,” she said after Virginia Tech’s tournament-opening 68-42 win Friday against Miami.

The senior guard has not played more than eight minutes in a game since the start of February and has played just 28 minutes total.

Brooks spoke in mid-February of the difficulty of working Owusu into the rotation while also managing other players’ minutes, particularly against a tough stretch of opponents. But Owusu does not seem entirely happy with the situation; a week before the ACC Tournament, she tweeted “freee meee” in response to a video of her playing for Maryland.

Still, as she waits on the bench for the projected No. 1 seed, she is doing her best to prepare, she said Friday.

“Just staying confident, just staying ready,” she said.