Kendall Dudley is staying in the Big Ten but traveling across three time zones. Dudley is transferring from UCLA to Michigan, she announced on Thursday.
Dudley, a 6-foot-2 forward, appeared in all 37 games as a freshman, averaging 12.4 minutes, 1.9 points, and 2.3 rebounds per game. She shot 47 percent from the field, with all but nine of her shots from inside the arc.
She fills an immediate need for Michigan, which has several talented guards but is thin in the frontcourt. Michigan appeared to acknowledge the news with a celebratory social media post.
Dudley is from Manassas Park, Virginia, and played at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. before traveling across the country for college. She did not have a 247Sports ranking, but the recruiting service did evaluate her coming out of high school: “Dudley’s specialty is her activity on both ends of the hardwood,” wrote director of scouting Brandon Clay. “She will rebound, run the floor, make an open jumper, and defend whoever is placed in front of her. That multitude of skills, coupled with Dudley’s length, makes her one of the more multi-faceted weapons in the class.”
In UCLA’s lone game against Michigan last season, Dudley scored four points in nine minutes off the bench. The Bruins finished 34-3 last season, losing only to USC (twice) and Connecticut in the Final Four. They return most of their top players and are ranked first in ESPN’s “too-early” top-25 poll for next season. It’s fair to assume Dudley’s transfer was at least partly influenced by her wish for more playing time. She will likely face her former team once next season, in Ann Arbor.
Dudley played in UCLA’s five NCAA Tournament games but did not score. Her best performances came in back-to-back games in Hawaii, when she posted a combined 17 points and nine rebounds in two UCLA wins.
Dudley is Michigan’s first transfer addition this offseason. Reserve center Yulia Grabovskaia entered the portal not long after Michigan’s season ended with a loss to Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines finished 23-11. They bring back star freshmen Olivia Olson and Syla Swords, among others.
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