Michigan State women's basketball adds former Oregon forward Grace VanSlooten via portal
East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State women’s basketball earned a transfer portal commitment from former Oregon forward Grace VanSlooten on Monday. She has two years of eligibility remaining.
VanSlooten (6-3) spent two seasons at Oregon before entering the transfer portal on April 3.
The Toledo, Ohio, native averaged a team-best 15 points on 39.6 percent shooting as a sophomore last season. She also averaged 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and a team-high 1.1 steals per game.
VanSlooten earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 honors last season.
VanSlooten started all 31 games as a sophomore, and 30 of 32 games as a freshman. She averaged 13.2 points (on 46.5 percent shooting), 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and one steal per game in her first season at Oregon.
VanSlooten received Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honors following her first year in Eugene. She was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week four times that season, and Pac-12 Player of the Week once.
VanSlooten became just the third player in Pac-12 history to earn both player and freshman of the week honors in the same week when she did so on Dec. 26, 2022.
VanSlooten scored a career-high 29 points in a 84-67 loss to Ohio State on Dec. 21, 2022. She then scored 26 points in two of the next three games.
A former five-star prospect, VanSlooten was the No. 13 player in the 2022 class, per ESPN. VanSlooten earned McDonald’s All-American honors as a high school senior. She played her first three seasons of high school basketball at Toledo (Ohio) Notre Dame Academy before transferring to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy for her senior season.
VanSlooten scored 1,094 points in three seasons at Notre Dame Academy.
VanSlooten was also named to the United States’ 2023 U19 FIBA Women’s World Cup roster. She started all seven games on the road to Team USA’s third consecutive gold medal in the event. Prior to that, VanSlooten won gold with the United States’ U18 team during the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship.
VanSlooten represents Michigan State’s first transfer portal addition of the offseason. The Spartans lost starting point guard DeeDee Hagemann to Ole Miss via the transfer portal, as well as former transfer guard Gabby Elliott, freshman reserve guard Bree Robinson and junior reserve guard Lauren Ross.
Michigan State will also lose starting guard Moira Joiner and backup forward Tory Ozment to graduation. The Spartans, however, will add a three-women freshman class next season.
Michigan State finished 22-9 (12-6) with an NCAA tournament appearance in Robyn Fralick’s first season in East Lansing.
