Janiah Barker Commits To Transfer To UCLA from Texas A&M

LOS ANGELES – Texas A&M transfer Janiah Barker announced Tuesday she would be transferring to the University of California – Los Angeles. 

Barker, originally from Marietta Georgia, was ranked as the No. 1 forward and No. 3 overall in the ESPN HoopGurlz class of 2022, making her the highest-ranked recruit to join the Aggies. 

Barker originally committed to the University of Georgia before de-committed when former Georgia coach Joni Taylor announced she would be taking her coaching talents to Texas A&M. Barker, along with a few others, decided to follow her.

The 6-foot-4 forward spent two seasons at A&M before entering the transfer portal. In her freshman campaign with the Aggies, Barker averaged 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, and recorded 19 blocks and 20 steals. Despite appearing in only 19 games due to a hand injury, she was named SEC Freshman of the Week twice. 

In her sophomore year, she averaged 12.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, and recorded 20 blocks and 38 steals.

In this year’s NCAA March Madness Tournament, the Aggies ranked No.11,  fell in the first round to the No. 6 University of Nebraska Cornhuskers in a close game with a final score of 61-59. 

UCLA entered this year’s tournament ranked as the No. 2 seed and advanced to the third round of the tournament before falling to Louisiana State University 78-69.