The University of Utah women’s basketball team has added three student-athletes to the 2018-19 roster. Head coach Lynne Robert made the announcement on Wednesday.
Sarah Porter, Ola Makurat and Julia Brosseau are the new additions.
“I love who we are bringing in,” Roberts said. “The landscape is changing here. We have had three really solid years, and now it is time for us to pivot to being great and this group is going to help us achieve that.”
All three student-athletes are transferring from other schools with Porter coming to Utah as a graduate transfer out of UC Santa Barbara. Makurat (Liberty University) and Brosseau (University of Maine) will have to sit out the 2018-19 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
“We have had great success with the redshirt transfers here,” Roberts said. “You look at Megan Huff and Daneesha Provo who were our two leading scorers last season coming out of their redshirt year and it is just a testament to that developmental year. We see it is as a positive and that is how we approach it.”
The trio rounds out a new class of Utes that will take to the court in 2018-19. Niyah Becker, Dre’Una Edwards, Lola Pendande and Andrea Torres signed National Letters of Intent in November and will enter the season as true freshmen.
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Julie Brosseau, Guard, 5-9, Repentigny, Canada (Maine/Montmorency)
Heading to Utah after helping the Maine Black Bears to an NCAA Tournament berth last season … played in 66 games in her two seasons at Maine, starting 31 … ranked fourth in the America East Conference in three-pointers per game (2.2) … scored a career-high 29 points that included seven made threes at Ohio State last season … her seven threes against the Buckeyes tied a school record for threes in a game … led the Black Bears in three-point shooting in back-to-back seasons … averaged 11.3 points and 3.1 rebounds per game in 2017-18 … averaged 6.8 points per game as a freshman … scored in double-digits 27 times at Maine, including four 20-point outings … scored 500+ points in just two seasons at Maine … came to Maine from Repentigny, Quebec where she played at Montmorency with current Ute Maurane Corbin … was rated the fourt-best player in Canada in 2016 by Crown Scout Magazine … helped her team to three-straight CCAA National Championships, earning first-team CCAA All-Star honors.
Roberts on Brosseau: “I love recruiting versatile athletes that can score, and Julie is that. She will fill a need for us at guard play because we are young and will play an important role for us. She can shoot it and she has a quick release. She knows how to play in space and has a great sense of the game.”
Ola Makurat, Forward, 6-3, Warsaw, Poland (Liberty/Sport Championship School)
Comes to Utah from Liberty where she helped the Liberty Lady Flames to a Big South title and NCAA Tournament berth last season … played in 64 games in two seasons at Liberty, starting in 27 … back-to-back seasons shooting 80-percent or higher from the free throw line … averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 rebounds as a sophomore in 2017-18 … scored a career-high 20 points at Gardner-Webb this last season … had 11 games in double-digits as a sophomore, including two double-doubles … started 23 games as a true freshman, earning Big South All-Freshman team in 2016-17 … came to Liberty from the Sport Championship School in Lomianki/Warsaw in Poland … got international playing experience with the U18 and U20 national teams.
Roberts on Makurat: “Ola is athletic and can really shoot the ball. She gets to the basket and has a good feel for the game. Her passion to get better and play at a higher level is something we always look for in a recruit. Her athleticism and ability to score makes her a Pac-12 caliber player.”
Sarah Porter, Guard/Wing, 5-10, San Diego, Calif. (UC Santa Barbara/Horizon Christian Academy)
Comes to Utah after playing two seasons at UC Santa Barbara … saw action in 60 games, earning 43 starts … solidified herself as one of the best three-point shooters in the Big West Conference, ranking in the top-15 in the league in back-to-back seasons … third on the team in scoring in 2017-18 (9.0 ppg), also averaging 3.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game … started 26 games in 2016-17 … tied for second on the team in scoring with 10.2 points per game … shot 41-percent from the three to rank second in the Big West and 27th in the country … set a UCSB single-game record with nine three-pointers against UC Riverside in 2016-17 … came to UC Santa Barbara after playing her freshman season at Ole Miss … was first-team all-state, all-league and all-San Diego at Horizon Christian Academy … set the school record for threes made in a game and joined the 1,000-point club.
Roberts on Porter: “She fills an immediate need for us as a shooter, but she is also academically driven. She is passionate about becoming a lawyer and helping underprivileged kids as a career and I think it is cool to have someone come in with that kind of drive as a student-athlete. On the court, she is a classic shooter and is confident in her ability. She is an athlete and in this league when you have someone that can make baskets like that it will help you.”