College Spotlight: Seven Impactful Transfers to Watch in 2022

We’ve talked a lot this summer about the transfer portal and its impacts on the college game.

But even with 1,000 players in the portal and several hundred that have found new homes, how many of these transfers will have significant impacts on their new teams?

You never know what a new set of surroundings might do for a student-athlete, but here are seven transfers that figure to play majorly important roles for their new teams…

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Hope Trautwein, P, Oklahoma

Following her immaculate game in February that earned national headlines, Trautwein entered the portal after the season and chose Oklahoma in short order. She was heavily courted by a handful of top-level teams, but ultimately chose the Sooners, where she figures to be the most experienced pitcher on the team’s pitching staff. Despite the presence of Trautwein and some top-rated young pitchers, the circle will still be one of the biggest question marks in the Sooners’ quest for a repeat and Trautwein will surely have a hearty role in the OU pitching corps.

Miranda Elish, P, Oklahoma State

Elish’s return to college softball after a year away has many intriguing pieces, the least of which is not how she’ll fare after a solid year completely away from the game. The 2021 season saw new stars bred and others’ stars fade, and all the while, Elish was on the sidelines. She “retired” in January as one of the game’s best and will certainly retain a large portion of that stature when she heads to Stillwater for her final season of eligibility. The Cowgirl pitching staff, which now includes Kelly Maxwell, Elish, and Morgan Day, will be seen as one of the deepest in the nation and Elish figures to get the ball in some high-level matchups.

*** Scroll down to read five others we think will do big things for their new programs…

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