Overview
- Koval signed with Baylor on Saturday after the NCAA approved a legislative relief waiver that allowed her to enter the transfer portal outside the normal window.
- The NCAA issued the waiver for an exigent, non-athletic circumstance, which cleared Koval to be immediately eligible rather than sit out a season.
- Koval left LSU in late August and on Sept. 2 said the Tigers’ addition of 17-year-old Russian center Anna Minaeva and the personal toll of Russia’s war on her family made remaining at LSU untenable.
- LSU coach Kim Mulkey has defended the Minaeva recruitment and said she would not base roster decisions on nationality, creating a public split in how the program and Koval described the situation.
- Baylor gains immediate frontcourt depth as rosters finalize for the season and the NCAA waiver establishes a precedent for transfers granted for non-athletic emergency reasons.