Transfers are once again expected to make a big impact for Texas Tech women's basketball in the 2026-27 season.
The Lady Raiders signed five players out of the transfer portal, part of rebuilding a roster with one returner who saw action.
The group, made up of four seniors, provides plenty of experience to mesh with six incoming freshmen.
Tech coach Krista Gerlich has already seen positives from summer workouts.
More: Gerlich talks Stephanie Okechukwu development, eligibility "They have bonded really well," Gerlich said of the new roster.
"They are really tight, so I love that piece of it.
They're on the same page, but it's difficult to instill your system because you don't have (more) returners to show them.
Jalynn (Bristow) is the one returner, so her voice needs to be really loud.
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"The progress has been really great.
It'll be a work in progress.
It's certainly not gonna be the same as last year when we first start, but it's gonna be fun to watch this group develop." Kiki Smith, a senior guard who transferred from Purdue, suffered a season-ending injury, Gerlich told the Avalanche-Journal in an interview July 15.
Here's what the coach said about the other transfers.
Rhema Collins: FIU transfer Collins isn't yet in Lubbock, but she has a good reason.
A native of the Bahamas, Collins competed for her home country in the FIBA AmeriCup 2027 Centrobasket Qualifier from July 12-18.
The 6-2 forward averaged 16.8 points and 8.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists at the international competition.
In her lone season at FIU, Collins was Conference USA player of the year with a conference-best 17.7 points per game.
She posted 14 double-doubles in 2025-26.
Collins spent two seasons at Ole Miss to begin her college career.
"She has a chance to be a lot like Snudda (Collins') impact," Gerlich said, referencing last season's Big 12 sixth player of the year.
"I think she has that type of ability.
She can be a double-double in our league." Tahys Da Silva: Salt Lake CC transfer Da Silva played her first two seasons at Salt Lake Community College, where she was the team leader in points (14.2), assists (3.9) and steals (2.7) in 2025-26.
The 6-foot guard led the conference with 84 3-pointers.
Da Silva's two brothers play professional basketball in the family's native France, per Texas Tech.
"She's gonna be a really nice shooter for us," Gerlich said.
"She can really score the ball." Destinee Hooks: New Mexico transfer Gerlich has seen firsthand what Hooks can do.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard put up a game-high 24 points on 10-of-18 shooting in Tech's 82-57 win over UNM last season.
The year before, Hooks poured in 28 points as the Lady Raiders edged the Lobos 75-68 at United Supermarkets Arena.
The all-Mountain West Conference selection led UNM with 13.4 points per game, to go with 3.3 rebounds.
"Destinee Hooks is gonna be special," Gerlich said.
"We played her twice in the last two years when we played UNM, and she had 20-point games against us.
She's gonna be special." Jalayah "Bunny" Ingram: UTRGV transfer Ingram earned her nickname.
The 5-9 senior guard from Houston brings athleticism and bounce to the Lady Raiders.
Ingram was the Southland Conference's newcomer of the year and earned all-conference first-team honors after averaging 16.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists.
She led the Vaqueros in points, assists and steals (1.5).
"She's just a really good athlete," Gerlich said.
"She's really fast.
She can jump.
She can spring.
She can score the ball.
It's gonna be fun to see her do it at this level, because she was pretty dominant at the mid-major level." This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Get to know Texas Tech women's basketball's 2026-27 transfers.
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