Less than three weeks before the Florida Gators women’s basketball team was set to kick off its 2024-25 campaign, the squad has already lost one of the most impactful players on its roster.
Florida’s 2023-24 leading scorer and graduate guard Aliyah Matharu has officially entered the transfer portal, per On3 Sports. This will mark the fourth school of Matharu’s career, as she had previously played for Mississippi State and Texas prior to joining UF in 2022.
After sitting out the 2022-23 campaign due to NCAA transfer rules, Matharu broke out and turned into a star for the Gators this past season. The Florida floor general led her squad with 19.0 points and 2.7 steals per game while shooting 40 percent from the field.
Matharu also had numerous staple performances for the Gators in the 2024 SEC Tournament, including a career-high 35-point outing that powered UF to an upset victory against Vanderbilt.
While the timeline of Matharu’s transfer process currently remains unclear, On3 reported that the grad transfer guard is “hopeful [to] be eligible to play in December at a new program.”
With Matharu’s departure, Florida will now be missing five key players from last year’s rotation. Forward Faith Dut and guards Leilani Correa and Zippy Broughton graduated from UF and are now set to play overseas, while guard Alberte Rimdal transferred to Nebraska in April.
The Gators will look to fill these newfound voids with a fresh batch of young talent. Florida’s highly touted freshman duo of Liv McGill and Me’Arah O’Neal will likely receive significant reps this season, while 2024 All-SEC Freshman Team honoree Laila Reynolds is expected to step into a larger leadership role this for the Gators.
Contact Jack Meyer at jmeyer@alligator.org. Follow him on X @jackmeyerUF.
Jack Meyer is a fourth-year journalism major and the Assistant Sports Editor for The Alligator. In his free time, he enjoys reviewing music, spending time with friends, playing video games and going to the gym.
