Levelled up.

Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced that she would be joining UCLA women’s basketball via Instagram and X on Thursday morning. The junior, who was named to the 2026 Naismith Trophy Watch List, averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season.

ESPN ranked Brown as the fourth-best transfer prospect in the nation, making her the highest-profile transfer that the Bruins have acquired thus far.     

Almost the entirety of Iowa State’s roster left Ames, Iowa, following the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, with Brown being the final of the nine transfers to announce her new home. Center Audi Crooks, largely considered to be the best player in the portal, joined Brown in the exodus from Iowa State, ultimately landing at Oklahoma State. 

This season, the Cyclones struggled to maintain their No. 13 preseason ranking and were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament, despite a roster that featured both Brown, Crooks and now-LSU guard Jada Williams.

Brown missed 11 games in the middle of the season due to a lower-body injury, but started in the 21 contests she played. She became the first Iowa State player in 11 years to record a triple-double during a Nov. 16 game against Norfolk State. Brown added six double-doubles this season as well.

The Derby, Kansas, local was the only player to start in every single game across her freshman and sophomore seasons at Iowa State. She also became one of just six Division I players since 2000 to record 400 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in multiple seasons, doing so in both of her first two campaigns in Ames.    

Joining Brown in the Bruins’ 2026 transfer class is a trio of guards – Arkansas’ Bonnie Deas, North Carolina’s Elina Aarnisalo and TCU’s Donovyn Hunter. 

Brown’s addition balances out what was otherwise a backcourt-heavy roster, and the presence of the 6-foot-2 Cyclone on the interior will aid fellow forwards freshman Sienna Betts and senior Timea Gardiner.

Her offensive versatility is a strength as well – Brown shot 33.8% from the 3-point line this past season while also recording 111 assists across 21 games played, both of which were the highest numbers from any non-guard on her team.

As the dust settles from the results of UCLA’s roster reconstruction, the biggest storyline could be not in who coach Cori Close gained but what she did not lose. The Bruins were the only school in the Big Ten not to have a single outgoing transfer with the portal closing to any entrances Monday.

Close and her staff’s ability to retain its entire returning roster – albeit limited given the high quantity of graduates – is rare in today’s college landscape. 

The strong cultural foundation the Bruins have built combined with new transfer talent, significantly boosted by the addition of Brown, has the makings of a stronger 2026-27 campaign than fans and media initially may have predicted.