With the NCAA season now ending, the transfer portal has now opened, allowing teams to improve on their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. While this has helped some of the sides, others might get affected because of their valuable players choosing to leave for greener pastures. This phenomenon is now faced by Purdue University, which has seen numerous players leave after the opening of the portal.

The latest victim of this has been a libero who was supposed to be in their class of 25′ as their latest recruit, Aniya Warren. She had committed initially to Indiana before deciding to cancel that agreement to go to Purdue. Now it seems that she has decided to join the Wisconsin Badgers instead. This decision probably was taken by both parties after the Badgers lost two defensive specialists/liberos in junior Gulce Guctekin and redshirt freshman Saige Damrow. Although it was a good decision, the side seems to have come at the cost of Purdue.

A journalist named Dennis Punzel, who covers the sport for the Wisconsin State Journal, revealed the news. He wrote on X, “Newest @BadgerVB is Aniya Warren, a 5-8 libero from Benet Academy in Lisle, Illinois. Recently decommitted from Purdue.” Thus, it was quite a blow for Purdue, who have seen numerous talented players depart from their side after the opening of their portal.

This includes four major players who played a very crucial role this season in the team. The first one on the list is Lourdes Myers, a redshirt senior who has spent five years on the team as a middle blocker but now is looking to spend her last year elsewhere. Another middle blocker, Lindsey Carr, has also announced her intention to leave the team.

Chico Chicoine, an outside hitter who has been the most decorated freshman in Purdue history, is also set to leave the team despite enjoying impressive stats of 3.08 kills and 2.95 digs per set last season. The opening of the portal seems to be calamitous for Purdue, for whom the problems don’t seem to be ending.

Purdue’s biggest loss in the portal

While every player leaving Purdue is definitely a blow to the strength of their team, the most significant departure will be of outside hitter Eva Hudson, who joined the Kentucky Wildcats for her last season. This was confirmed by the Wildcats’ official X account which said, “Santa came early, and he brought us another Wildcat!! Welcome home, Eva Hudson!” The player had entered the portal at the end of the season, which came as an immense blow to Purdue.

Hudson was named this season’s Midwest Regional Player of the Year, an accolade backed up by her stats. She made 4.81 kills per set while having a hitting percentage of .287 this season. Hudson was also named on the All-Big Ten team and has earned all-conference honors in each of her three seasons.

This is why the player was considered such a top prospect when she entered the portal, with many teams showing interest in acquiring her services. Eventually, it was Kentucky who won the race, and the player will spend her last season there. However, this will be heavily detrimental for Purdue, who will now have to replace the best player in their team. Thus, they are expected to be more active in the portal to find their replacement.