Indiana women’s basketball landed its third recruit of the offseason out of the transfer portal Saturday, as forward Zania Socka-Nguemen committed to the Hoosiers, according to her post on X. She previously entered the portal Wednesday.
Socka-Nguemen played her freshman season for UCLA, averaging 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. She appeared in 16 of the Bruins’ 37 contests, but did not play against the Hoosiers on Jan. 4 in the lone matchup between the two schools in 2024-25.
Indiana originally made Socka-Nguemen's final four schools — alongside the University of Tennessee and Michigan — ahead of her decision to commit to UCLA on Oct. 27, 2023.
Socka-Nguemen was ranked as a four-star and the 30th overall recruit in the 2024 HoopGurlz Recruiting Rankings, according to ESPN. She played club basketball in the 2023 Nike Girls EYBL circuit for Team Durant 17U as she earned McDonald’s All-American honors.
Socka-Nguemen, who hails out of Silver Spring, Maryland, joins guards Chloe Spreen and Phoenix Stotijn as players to choose the Hoosiers since the season ended. All three players have three seasons of eligibility remaining.
With Lilly Meister entering the transfer portal and Karoline Striplin exhausting her eligibility, the 6-foot-3 Socka-Nguemen will likely slot into a starting role in the frontcourt for the Hoosiers. Indiana head coach Teri Moren now has 10 players — five returners, three transfers and two incoming high school recruits — on her squad.
Moren and her coaching staff still have just over a week and a half to continue to add to their roster until the transfer portal window closes April 23.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball offseason.
