Former Gamecocks forward Sahnya Jah announces transfer destination

Former Gamecock Sahnya Jah, who entered the transfer portal last month after being away from the team since February “due to conduct detrimental to the team,” has a new college home.

Jah has committed to Arizona, she announced Monday night on her Instagram page. “Respect it,” Jah wrote in her caption, adding a #BearDown hashtag.

Jah, a freshman and former four-star recruit from Virginia, formally entered the transfer portal March 18 ahead of South Carolina’s first NCAA Tournament game.

But she’d been away from the No. 1 Gamecocks women’s basketball team since Feb. 8. USC announced that day Jah would be “out indefinitely due to conduct detrimental to the team” and her status would be day to day moving forward. Staley declined to elaborate on why specifically Jah had been disciplined.

Jah did not appear in a game for South Carolina after that discipline and did not dress out with the team at home or travel with the Gamecocks to road games. She ended her USC career having appeared in 16 games and averaged 9.1 minutes and 3.1 points per game off the bench.

Staley said in a March 18 statement that while it was “unfortunate” Jah’s time with the program was short, she and USC wished the outgoing transfer forward “the best in the next steps of her career.”

Staley elaborated on those comments in a March 21 news conference ahead of South Carolina’s run to a 2024 national championship.

“I wish her well,” Staley said. “She’s allowed me to be a part of that process, finding another school that fits her and will welcome her. Once you’re a part of our family, you’ll always be a part of our family, whether you stick out the four, three, two, I don’t know how many years you could possibly be in our program. ... But she’ll always have me as a resource.”

Arizona, which will enter its first year in the Big 12 in 2024-25, is coached by Adia Barnes. The Wildcats were 18-15 and 8-10 in the Pac 12 last season and won an NCAA First Four game before losing to No. 6 Syracuse in the first round of the tournament as a No. 11 seed.

Arizona’s made four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under Barnes (who’s entering her ninth season) and reached the national championship game in 2021, losing to Stanford.

Jah is the only player to date to transfer from South Carolina’s 2023-24 roster.