Former Minnesota starter Mallory Heyer committed to play women’s college basketball at Oregon. She is not allowed to compete for the Ducks this season.
The rising senior will join the program as a graduate student next year.
There are a lot of unanswered questions surrounding this unusual mid-year college basketball transfer. Why did she leave? What led her to Eugene?
Why did Mallory Heyer leave Minnesota?
Nobody knows the answer to this question. Even Gophers head coach Dawn Plitzuweit was blindsided.
“Didn’t expect that. That was certainly a surprise,” she said. “At the same time, Mallory’s done an awful lot for our program over the course of the past few years. She’s done that on the court. She’s done that off the court. When she informed me of her decision, we wished her all the best.”
Heyer grew up in Minnesota. She committed to play for Minnesota out of high school.
The 6-foot-1 forward averaged 9.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 32 minutes per game during her first three seasons with the program and shot .428 from the field. Her 290 rebounds in 2024-25 was the most on the team. Heyer was the only player on the roster to record seven double-doubles.
To go even one step further, she started 102 consecutive games for the Gophers. There are only three other players in program history to start more games — a record she would’ve broken this season if that trend continued.
That trend will not continue.
Mallory Heyer surprisingly entered the transfer portal with less than two weeks until the start of the regular season. She practiced with Minnesota throughout the entire summer and through the first two+ months of the fall academic semester. And then she bounced.
“For personal reasons, I will be closing this chapter of my career at Minnesota and entering the transfer portal to find a new home as a graduate transfer. God’s plan!”
No further explanation was provided. Some people think her decision stemmed from a move to the bench. Others question whether financial opportunity (or lack thereof) played a role in the sudden exit.
She will finish her college basketball career at Oregon.
Heyer committed to Oregon on Wednesday. The Ducks are currently three games into their regular season.
Their newest transfer will not be able to join them this season. Mallory Heyer is not eligible in 2025-26. She must sit out the entire year to play for Oregon as a graduate transfer in 2026-2027.
Fortunately, her former teammates do not seem to hold a grudge.
Unfortunately, Heyer did not provide any additional information about her decision to transfer. It remains a mystery. Nobody knows what happened at Minnesota. The exact reasons she chose Oregon is unclear.
However, there is an influx of NIL money in Eugene, stemming in large part from Nike and Phil Knight. Perhaps this was a business decision. Perhaps there is more to the story.