IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa redshirt sophomore forward Shateah Wetering has entered the transfer portal, opening up a scholarship for Lisa Bluder to bring in a transfer.

Wetering, who is from Montezuma, was among 15 players that were on scholarship for Iowa this past season.

Women’s basketball teams are allowed to have 15 players on scholarship, while men’s teams are allowed to have 13.

Iowa will lose two players to graduation – All-Big Ten center Monika Czinano and three-year starting forward McKenna Warnock – but Iowa also has signed two players in the 2023 recruiting class, including Kansas forward Ava Jones.

However, Jones faces an uncertain future in basketball after having suffered serious injuries when she was hit by a car in November.

But even if she can’t play for the Hawkeyes, Bluder said she would keep Jones on scholarship.

There has been heavy speculation about whether Iowa would try to add a player from the portal, even before Wetering entered the portal.

One player that has been linked to Iowa is 6-foot-7 Stanford center Lauren Betts, who recently entered the portal after having played one season at Stanford.

Betts played on the same high school team in Colorado as current Iowa center Addison O’Grady.

Betts was ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the 2022 senior class.

Iowa has a huge void to fill in the post with Czinano having used up her eligibility this season.

The 6-3 Czinano was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the 26th pick overall in the WNBA draft on Monday.

The Iowa women’s basketball team is coming off a historic season in which it advanced to the NCAA championship game for the first time ever, and finished 31-7 overall.

Iowa is also led by dynamic junior point guard Caitlin Clark, who was voted the consensus National Player of the Year this past season.

Clark could play two more seasons for the Hawkeyes should she choose to use her free Covid year.

Hawkeye fans are hoping that Iowa’s success, coupled with Clark’s popularity, would entice a player to transfer into the program.

And since Bluder now has an available scholarship, the chance of adding a player from the portal would seem more likely.

Wetering played briefly in 14 games this season and averaged 1.3 points and 0.9 rebounds per game.