USC Women's Basketball: Grad Student Transfer Guards Becoming Fast Friends
Your USC Trojans will be boasting some new Ivy League transfer students with some intriguing athleticism when their 2023-24 season kicks off this fall. And best of all, it seems that a few of the former Ivy League rivals are already getting along famously.
During a comprehensive interview, Jenn Hatfield of The Next details how former All-Ivy honorees-turned-USC Trojans guards Kaitlyn Davis, formerly of Harvard University, and Kayla Padilla, formerly of the University of Pennsylvania, have already become fast friends in their short time as teammates together.
Hatfield reveals that the bonding began when they happened to each take their official tours of USC on the exact same weekend.
“We just clicked right away,” Forbes reflected.
“We saw each other in the uniforms and we were taking pictures, and … we just had a special moment,” Padilla said. “A lightbulb went off, and we were like, I think we’re both going here. Like, how could we not? It seemed like the perfect fit.”
In fact, Forbes helped talk Padilla into ultimately taking the jump and making a commitment during the final evening of their official tour. They made the announcement while visiting head coach Lindsay Gottlieb at her house. Their families, Gottlieb's bench, and various USC players were in attendance.
“They both had poker faces,” Gottlieb noted, but added that after they revealed their intention to join USC as graduate transfers, “it prompted a sort of an impromptu dance party amongst the team, the families, everyone there. It was joy. It just, it felt right.”
Padilla, a Torrance native, is the more decorated of the two new guards. A four-time All-Ivy selection, she was also the 2019-20 Ivy Rookie of the Year and a 2023 All-Ivy Tourney honoree. Last season, in 29 contests, the 5'9" guard averaged 17.7 points on .413/.386/.855 shooting splits, 4.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 0.8 steals a night.
Forbes was an All-Ivy selection in 2021-22, and like her new teammate was an All-Ivy Tourney selection this past spring. The six-footer actually began her NCAA career at the University of California at Berkley, but really blossomed upon transferring to Harvard. Last year, the Folsom native averaged 13.7 points on .415/.401/.744 shooting splits, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 0.8 steals a night.
Here's hoping their friendship translates to some wins on the hardwood for a Trojans club that finished with a respectable 21-10 record, but a disappointing 62-57 overtime loss to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in the first round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
