Associate head coach Kate Barnosky announced her departure from the University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team for the head coaching position at Division III Babson College in August. Barnosky’s departure comes months after she was promoted to associate head coach of Wisconsin, a program that has experienced a number of changes to both personnel and staff following the end of last season.
Entering the 2023-2024 season, the Wisconsin women’s basketball team lost six players to the transfer portal or graduation. Additionally, head coach Marisa Moseley’s coaching staff went through an overhaul entering the head coach’s third season leading the program. Before the Badgers take the court, here are all of the changes from last years’ to this year’s squad.
Women’s Basketball: Five freshmen joining the Badgers this season
Coaching Overhaul
Moseley’s staff made multiple coaching changes entering the 2023-2024 campaign. Associate head coach Scott Merritt became the head coach of Grambling State University’s women’s basketball program after two years under Moseley. Merritt was instrumental in the two-year rebuild for the Badgers squad, which last year won the most conference games since the 2010-2011 season. Assistant coach Caroline Doty left UW’s program after two years on staff. At UW, Doty worked with the guards and was a part of helping Wisconsin break the single-season 3-point record at 226.
The coaching vacancies have allowed Moseley to bring in assistant coaches Margaret McKeon and Tiffany Morton to the Badgers’ squad. McKeon and Moseley have a longstanding relationship — McKeon coached at Boston University when Moseley was a player at the school. Morton most recently coached at Rice University and recruited the top-ranked recruiting class in Conference USA, before joining the Badgers this summer.
Women’s Basketball: Badgers finish rebuilding year, look to expand success in 2023-2024
Six players, including three starters not returning to the 2023-2024 team
The Wisconsin women’s basketball team lost six players to the transfer portal or graduation from last year’s squad. Of the six players, the program lost three starters in Julie Pospisilova, Avery LaBarbera and Maty Wilke.
LaBarbera and Pospisilova graduated from UW in the spring of 2023. LaBarbera transferred to the Badgers after playing four years at Holy Cross, where she was a four-time All-Patriot League selection. In her solo year for Wisconsin, the fifth year averaged 11 points per game. LaBarbera joined Boston College’s coaching staff as a women’s basketball graduate assistant June 8, 2023.
Pospisilova played four years for the Badgers and led the team with 14.1 points per game her senior year. Pospisilova signed a professional contract with Baxi Ferrol in Spain in June of 2023.
Women’s Basketball: Marisa Moseley lays foundation of success for Wisconsin
Wilke entered the transfer portal after two seasons in the cardinal and white. The 5-foot-10 guard redshirted her first year with the Badgers and started in 29 games in her sophomore campaign. In her second year at Wisconsin, the shooting guard averaged 11.8 points per game while leading the team with a 61% 3-point conversion rate. The Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, native entered the transfer portal following the 2022-23 season, and she will play for the University of Utah in 2023-24.
In addition to LaBarbera, Pospisilova and Wike, three other players left the Badgers program following the 2022-2023 season. Senior Sara Stapleton graduated from the University of Wisconsin after four years of playing for the Badgers. Sophomore Krystyna Ellew entered the transfer portal and will play for the University of Illinois–Chicago after a second-year campaign in which she averaged 9.1 minutes per game and 3.1 points per game. Freshman Mary Ferrito played in four games for the Badgers and entered the transfer portal following the season. The 5-foot-10 guard will play for the University of North Carolina–Wilmington during the 2023-24 season.
Wisconsin will gain five players from the class of 2023 who will don the cardinal and white during the 2023-24 season.
