Oregon softball signs former Georgia Tech All-ACC catcher Emma Kauf
As it aims to return to the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2018, the Oregon softball program made a significant addition on Wednesday to bolster its 2024 squad.
Ducks’ coach Melyssa Lombardi announced that UO has added former Georgia Tech catcher Emma Kauf as a graduate transfer. The three-time All-ACC selection will join Oregon with one year of eligibility remaining.
“We are thrilled to welcome Emma to the Duck family,” Lombardi said in a press release. “Emma has been one of the top catchers nationally over her career. She is an experienced athlete who played against tough competition in the ACC. She is an elite hitter and gives us another lefty in our lineup who can hit for power and average.”
In 51 games last season, Kauf slashed .354/.446/.627. She hit 14 doubles, seven homers, drove in 33 runs, and stole 13 bases on 14 attempts.
In 175 career games over three collegiate seasons, she boasts a .344 batting average.
Kauf will help Oregon replace All-American catcher Terra McGowan, who has exhausted her eligibility.
Transfer portal background information
The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.
The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.
Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.
The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.
A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.
The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.
