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At the stroke of midnight, Saturday, July 31, 2023, the University of Houston officially joined the Big 12 Conference.
That means the former member of the American Athletic Conference (AAC) will be competing in a Power 5 conference with familiar and not-so-familiar softball competition.
The Cougars will renew old rivalries with Baylor, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and Texas and Oklahoma as well as continue ones that they had in the AAC in Cincinnati and Central Florida.
And Houston, in most sports, will get to start new rivalries with existing Big 12 programs in Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and West Virginia (which doesn’t have a softball program) as well as against recent program additions like Arizona, Arizona, BYU and Utah.
Quite the daunting lineup of teams to face in conference, to be sure, and University of Houston Softball Head Coach Kristin Vesely, coming off a 20-30 record in 2023, realized the team would need to be upgraded in talent to matchup with teams in its new conference starting next Spring.
So, along with the eight quality players on the roster returning for the 2024 season, what’s the best way—or at least the quickest— to get talent in your program instantly?
Atop the list would have to be the transfer portal and that’s exactly what coach Vesely and staff did, getting nine transfers this summer—let us repeat that number: NINE!— with talent coming from within Texas as well as from outside Power 5 universities including Arizona State, Cal, Maryland, Michigan State and Tennessee among others.
Below is a look at each of the incoming transfers and what they look to bring to the Cougars softball program for next season, the Cougars first in the upgraded and upsized Big 12. Note: the following player info as well as the images and photos are courtesy of Houston Softball.
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Tamya Waiters – P – UT Arlington
Waiters joins Houston following a year at UT-Arlington. She made 17 appearances in the circle, including four starts, earning a win and posting a complete game in 37.1 innings pitched.
Waiters was named the 2022 DFW All-Metroplex 5A Player of the Year, Texas All-State Softball Team Pitcher, Texas Girls Association Softball Legacy Team and earned a Dallas Morning News Athlete of the Week honorable mention twice.
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Paris Lehman — P – Nicholls
Lehman lands in H-Town after playing in one season at Nicholls, making a team-leading 37 appearances in the circle and 18 starts. She posted five wins, 52 strikeouts and two saves while tossing six complete games.
In her preps career, she helped Tupelo High School win the 6A Mississippi State title in 2017 and played club softball for Mississippi Bombers Gold.
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Mandy Esman — INF – Michigan State
After playing a season for the Spartans, Esman arrives in Houston having made 46 starts during her lone collegiate season. In 132 at-bats, she posted a .265 average while tallying 16 extra-base hits and 19 RBIs.
Esman was a NFCA High School All-American in 2021 and a NFCA All-North Region First Team honoree in both 2021 and 2022 during her four years at Gull Lake High School.
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Jazmyn Rollin — INF – Arizona State
Rollin comes to Houston after two years at Arizona State and three seasons at Mizzou. A career .295 hitter, she’s played in 189 games, making 166 starts. In addition to her near-.300 average, she’s also posted a .418 on-base percentage and a .597 slugging percentage, along with 40 home runs and 123 RBIs. Last season, Rollin hit with a .306/.372/.560 slash and hit 10 home runs.
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Lair Beautae – INF – Tennessee
Beautae joins the Cougars following two seasons at Tennessee, helping the team sweep the SEC Championships in 2023. Across her pair of seasons, she’s hit .276 with 52 runs and 23 extra base hits while adding 15 stolen bases.
Beautae was the No. 19 overall prospect and the No. 16 infielder in the class of 2021 by Extra Inning Softball and was the No. 55 overall prospect according to Softball America. A two-sport student-athlete in high school, she lettered in all four years in both softball and basketball.
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Zaquai Dumas – INF – Michigan State
Dumas arrives in Houston after three seasons at Michigan State. In 91 career games with the Spartans, she tallied 31 hits, including 14 for extra bases, and 26 RBIs. She also swiped three bases while scoring 26 runs.
An Atlanta native, Dumas played prep softball for Westlake High School and broke the programs stolen bases record in her sophomore year and the home runs record in her junior campaign.
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Shelby Smith – P – Seton Hall
A two-way force for Seton Hall over the last four years, Smith has amassed a 32-32 record with a 3.52 ERA in 406.2 career innings. A 2023 first team All-BIG EAST selection and a 2022 second team All-BIG EAST honoree, Smith also brings a .315 average with 15 home runs and 70 RBIs to the Cougars.
Seton Hall’s leader in innings pitched, Smith tossed a 2.87 ERA with a 16-7 record, adding 15 complete games and two shutouts with 142 strikeouts last season. She also tossed a no-hitter in a six-inning win over Providence in 2023.
In her last two seasons at Seton Hall, Smith has posted a 3.14 ERA and tallied a 27-21 record with 276 strikeouts and 34 complete games. Prior to her collegiate career, she played for seven years for Lutheran South Academy in Houston. She was a two-time All-State First Team selection in her last two years of high school after being a two-time All-State Second Team honoree in the two years prior. In her junior and senior seasons, she compiled a 35-5 record with 438 strikeouts.
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Kennedy Thomas – C/OF – Cal
Thomas, a starter for the last two years in a four-season stretch at Cal, has played in 150 games in her career, making 138 starts with the Golden Bears. In 382 at-bats, she’s tallied 101 hits for a .264 average, adding 12 doubles and 39 RBI.
Adding a .335 slugging percentage and a .326 on-base percentage, Thomas was a staple in Cal’s starting lineup since her arrival in 2020. This past season, she helped Cal reach the Regional Finals in the NCAA Tournament, the first appearance for the Bears since 2018.
Prior to her collegiate career, Thomas was a two-sport athlete in high school, playing softball and participating in track and field. In her track and field career, she ran in the 4×100 relay and finished fifth in the Capital Valley Conference Sections Discus.
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Nicole Bodeux – P – Maryland
Bodeux made her collegiate debut for Maryland last season, making a lone appearance in the circle against No. 25 Baylor. Entering in relief, Bodeux tossed two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out one while throwing 33 pitches.
Before her arrival at Maryland, Bodeux was a two-time First Team All-District selection at Fulshear High School in Fulshear, Texas. She was ranked as the No. 38 recruit and the No. 16 pitcher in the 2022 signing class by Extra Innings Softball. As a senior, she helped Fulshear reach the area stage of the UIL Texas Softball 5A Region 1 & 3 Playoffs.
— Brentt Eads/Extra Inning Softball