Former Indiana 5-foot-10 wing Bendu Yeaney, once a three-star recruit from Portland, Ore., who visited Arizona during the recruiting process, attended Friday night’s game in which Arizona upset No. 4 Stanford.
Yeaney announced on Jan. 31 that she is transferring from Indiana after playing six games with the Hoosiers this season.
Adia Barnes pursued Yeaney at Portland’s St. Mary’s Academy, where she averaged 28.3 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 4.6 steals a game as a senior in 2016-17. She was rated as a three-star recruit by ESPN and No. 80 overall by Prospects Nation.
Yeaney suffered a torn Achilles during the Hoosiers’ second-round NCAA tournament game last March against Oregon. She announced in a released statement that she left Indiana for “personal reasons.”
“I have made the difficult decision to leave Indiana and pursue opportunities to continue my collegiate career closer to home,” Yeaney said. “The health of one of my immediate family members has heightened my desire to be closer to the West Coast. I am thankful for my three seasons in Bloomington. I would like to thank Teri Moren and staff for the opportunity to wear the Cream and Crimson for nearly three seasons. I wish the program the best and continued success in the future.”
Yeaney averaged 8.5 points per game in her Indiana career and started 69 of her first 70 games with the Hoosiers prior to coming off the bench in all six appearances this season.
Barnes’ program has thrived with transfers from other four-year programs including Aari McDonald (Washington), Dominique McBryde (Purdue), Tee Tee Starks (Iowa State) and Amari Carter (Penn State). Those players will all be honored during Senior Day festivities today at McKale Center when Arizona plays Cal at noon.
Arizona junior guard Shaina Pellington is a transfer from Oklahoma who is sitting out this season per NCAA transfer rules.
Destiny Pitts, a junior guard/forward who left Minnesota’s program in January, also made a visit to Arizona on Jan. 24 when the Wildcats hosted ASU. Pitts has yet to announce where she is transferring.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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