Aijha Blackwell, who was the second-leading rebounder in Division I this past season for the Missouri women's basketball team, is transferring to Baylor.
Blackwell, a 6-foot guard, averaged 15.4 points and 13.0 rebounds in her junior season at Missouri and was a second-team All-SEC selection. But the Tigers missed the NCAA tournament and lost in the first round of the WNIT, finishing 18-13.
"Our fans saw firsthand how she can impact the game with her physicality, rebounding and overall attack mentality when Mizzou played us in December," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said of Blackwell. "She has the ability to swing between forward positions and is a true mismatch for opponents with her combination of skill, speed and size.
"Aijha wants to continue to develop her all-around game and be pro-ready, and I know we can help her do that."
Blackwell, the No. 9 prospect in the Class of 2019, is the third transfer this week to commit to Baylor, joining forward Dre'una Edwards and Jana Van Gytenbeek. Edwards started her career at Utah, where she was Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2019, then transferred to Kentucky. She sat out 2019-20 and played the last pwo seasons for the Wildcats, averaging 13.2 points and 7.2 rebounds in 53 games. Van Gytenbeek spent the past two seasons as a reserve guard at Stanford, winning a national championship with the Cardinal in 2021.
Baylor won the Big 12 regular-season title this past season but fell in the conference tournament title game to Texas and was upset by South Dakota in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Bears lost three starters off that 28-7 team: post players NaLyssa Smith and Queen Egbo and guard Jordan Lewis, all of whom were selected in the WNBA draft earlier this month.
Smith and Egbo, both first-round picks, combined to average nearly 20 rebounds per game this past season, so Blackwell and Edwards should help fill that hole.